According to the odds EuroLeague bookmakers have set, the top three favorites to win the EuroLeague title this year are Anadolu Efes, Barcelona and CSKA Moscow; with odds of 4.50, 4.50, and 5.00, respectively. Efes’ team showed dominance last year and is looking to win a back-to-back championship. The head coach, Ergin Ataman, who aims to make it to the NBA sometime in the following years, will have on his roster the same guard core that he had on his title run last season, led by his three stars Shane Larkin, Vasilije Micić, and Rodrigue Beaubois. Efes, during the summer, also added Filip Petrusev on the roster, a 21-year-old center from Gonzaga college, selected in round 2 of the 2021 draft.
Šarūnas Jasikevičius will have most stat leaders returning to the EuroLeague runner-ups, including Cory Higgins, Nikola Mirotic, Brandon Davies, Nick Calathes and Rolands Smits. During the summer, Barcelona made a big move and inked Real Madrid’s Argentinian shooter Nico Laprovíttola, who recently played well in the Olympic tournament. CSKA Moscow will also have most of its key players back on the roster, such as Will Clyburn, Ife Lundberg, Nikola, Milutinov, Johannes Voigtmann, Tornike Shengelia, and Daniel Hackett.
Olimpia Milano, which according to sportsbooks is the 5th favorite to win the EuroLeague title, surprised its fans by bringing in Jerian Grant with a 2-year contract. The 28-year guard played in the NBA for five years in teams such as the Knicks, Bulls and Wizards but didn’t draw much attention from the NBA lately. In addition, another NBA player who signed with Olimpia Milano is Troy Daniels. After seven seasons with seven different teams in the NBA, Daniels will be taking his talents to Milano to load up on Ettore Messina’s arsenal.
It would be essential to assess some underdogs with relatively high chances of competing for a final four position and a championship run despite the high odds bookmakers give for that scenario to happen. Zalgiris recently signed Emmanuel Mudiay, who was The 7th overall pick of the NBA 2015 draft. Despite his promising skills, Mudiay was not able to shine in the NBA as expected. He will be joining forces with Joffrey Laverne, a teammate of his rookie year in Denver, and will be a part of Martin Schiller’s fast-paced offence, which is potentially a good fit for his playing style. If he can adapt to the European type of basketball fast, he has the potential to be one of the top-tier athletes of the league. Zenit, after announcing the signing of Shabazz Napier, has been catching attention. Napier led Uconn to a national college championship in 2014 and was named the NCAA tournament’s most outstanding player. The 30-year-old Puerto Rican averaged seven points, two rebounds and 2.5 assists over his NBA career.
