With a more prominent role guaranteed as Real Madrid seek to claim the Euroleague title, and NBA dreams still burning, Dzanan Musa has a big season coming up. Can the Bosnian star prove he belongs at the top of the basketball world? Emmet Ryan fancies his chances.
The facial hair definitely ages him. Looking at Dzanan Musa, it’s hard to believe he’s still only 25 years old. There’s more than that, at Real Madrid in Euroleague he’s been reborn. The shy kid that didn’t work out in the NBA at the Brooklyn Nets is a distant memory. This is a basketball veteran in a young dude’s body. He’ll need to be that this season no matter what his ambitions are.
It’s a surprise it hasn’t already happen
That Dzanan Musa didn’t really appear in NBA rumours this off-season came as a genuine shock to me. Since the middle of his first season with Real Madrid, he had shown in Euroleague that his career renaissance was in full effect.
Last season he posted career highs in the competition in field goal and three pointer efficiency. The step up required was visible to anyone watching. It wasn’t like he was a nobody at Anadolu Efes. The man won a Euroleague title with them but it was with Los Blancos that the recovery truly took effect.
The folks in Madrid clearly recognise that. Talks on a contract extension are underway and it’s not guaranteed to have a NBA out. It likely will but, as we’ve seen in recent times with so many players, that out will likely result in a great payday for Real. Still, it’s a surprise that there seems to have been little discussion of a trip across the Atlantic this past summer.
An enhanced role
There has been a lot of roster turnover at Real Madrid this offseason. The 11 time Euroleague champions saw veteran leaders Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Rodriguez retire. Fabien Causeur has moved to Olimpia Milano, and then there are the front court losses of Vincent Poirier to Anadolu Efes and Guerschon Yabusele to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Those last two won’t impact Musa’s role but the other three will in a significant manner. While Musa was largely logging more minutes than Rudy, Chacho, and Causeur, he’s going to be asked to take a more leading role. He was somewhat spoiled in his last two seasons, being able to switch into on and off ball roles at his leisure and having time to grow into a leader.
Now, it’s time for all of that prep to come to fruition. For large chunks of the coming season, Dzanan Musa will have to be the guy. He will be the one with the basketball in hand far more than at any prior stage in his club career. Granted, he’s used to doing that with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Still it’s a step up and the onus will be on him to get more out of those around him, leading by example.
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A different man
Looking at Dzanan Musa today compared to the man who didn’t get it done with the Nets in the NBA is extraordinary. Musa was shy, inefficienct, and simply not the guy you wanted to see with the basketball. The renaissance has been wonderful to watch.
Now, when tuning into Real Madrid games while watching Euroleague I’m hungry to see him play. The man’s ability to change things up, between slashing and outside shooting, makes him fun to watch. While the recovery happened most visibly with Los Blancos, his EuroBasket 2022 display with Bosnia & Herzegovina certainly helped remind the continent who he was.
This was, after all, the man that led his nation to a FIBA U16 European title in 2015. Youth titles might get light looks for grown men but that remains the only medal, never mind title, that nation has won at the top level of European youth basketball. A good summer as a grown up in the national jersey in 2022 helped kick start the rebuild.
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The future
The immediate future, as in this season, seems obvious. Barring an enormous shock, Dzanan Musa is playing with Real Madrid until at least next summer. He’ll almost certainly have at least one more year, probably, two, on the contract to go along with that. Madrid is a great place to play basketball, that’s part of the reason Sergio Llull never left for the NBA.
Still, at 25, there’s an opportunity ahead for Musa. His versatility, maturity, and efficiency combine to make him an attractive prospect to a NBA franchise. One big season with Real Madrid, in an enhanced role, will surely only help his stock.
Having that good season is no guarantee. This is a role that Musa has been preparing for the past two years. He looks ready to step into it fully but you never know until you see it. Personally, I expect him to shine with the spotlight on him this coming campaign. A spot on one of the All Euroleague teams is definitely in reach this year. There’s so much sharing of the ball at Real that MVP is not in his near future, barring an enormous shock. Still, he’ll find a way to show out. That could see him enter the summer of 2025, aged 26, with a lot more eyes on him.
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