We’ve been through all 18 teams in our individual previews. Now it’s time for the one that matters. What will happen in the upcoming Euroleague Basketball season? What teams will remain standing at the Final Four? Who will be MVP? Who will win it all?
The coming season of Euroleague Basketball has, for me, three tiers. I’ve batched these teams into three groups but they are far from even. There’s the elite, consisting of five clubs. Then come the haves, which accounts for 10 teams. The have nots are few in number, just three, and hold little in the way of hope. Let’s get to it.
The elite
Here’s how I rank the top five teams in preseason, with links to their individual previews.
The Greens are, for me, the clear front runners here. Panathinaikos bring back everyone that mattered last season. In addition, they’ve brought in Cedi Osman, Omer Yurtseven, and Lorenzo Brown. This team is stacked but it might not even be the best team in Greece. That’s because Olympiacos have loaded up big time, with the most notable additions being Sasha Vezenkov and Evan Fournier. These two are the elite of the elite right now.
The teams in third through fifth are interchangeable for me. All three of AS Monaco, Real Madrid, and Fenerbahce look great. Los Blancos are the only team to drop in the overall talent level, yet they still look superb on paper.
The haves
These are the teams that don’t have the overwhelming depth of the elites yet still look more than capable of making the postseason. Once they get there, it’s in their own hands. Here’s how I rank them.
6. FC Barcelona
7. Anadolu Efes
8. Partizan
9. Virtus Bologna
10. Zalgiris Kaunas
11. Crvena Zvezda
12. Olimpia Milano
13. FC Bayern
14. Baskonia
15. Maccabi Tel Aviv
There is a drop off but it’s really not that steep. I’m not willing to go full banter with FC Barcelona yet. At the same time, I’m equally wary of proclaiming a Partizan side yet to play a Euroleague game with this unit as superstars. Everyone here has flaws. Everyone here has enough to mask them and make a run for the postseason. One of them will automatically make the playoffs of Euroleague Basketball. It will be easier for some than others but everyone in this group has a manageable situation.
BallinEurope is ramping up its YouTube game this season. Subscribe to our channel now for player exclusives, analysis videos, and much more.
The have nots
These teams just look far removed in terms of quality compared to everyone above them. I will be genuinely surprised if any of these find a way to break out of the bottom three this campaign.
16. LDLC Asvel
17. Paris Basketball
18. Alba Berlin
LDLC Asvel and Paris Basketball have both made improvements to their rosters. Alba Berlin’s roster appears to have dropped in quality. It won’t matter much. Double digit wins for any of these sides would beat the odds.
Key storylines
I’m going to break the big stories to follow over the course of the season into a series of questions.
Will anyone crash the elite?
This also doubles as whether any of the top five will wildly underperform. In terms of breaking through, Partizan have the best roster to do it but may be a year away. FC Barcelona could, if they get a newly unseen level of discipline, also make that kind of a push. The most obvious candidate for a collapse of sorts is Real Madrid. This, of course, means it now definitely won’t happen.
Can Obradovic make this work?
Partizan disappointed in Euroleague Basketball last season, having been a game away from the Final Four the previous campaign. The near total roster overhaul is an enormous move. This is clearly a better group of players on paper. The chemistry is going to take time. In a relentless 34 game season, Zeljko Obradovic may not have enough of it.
Will there be an in-season arrival of note?
Could we see another Kendrick Nunn level arrival? If so, the most likely candidate to make the move right now would be Real Madrid. Los Blancos know they aren’t quite where they want to be to contend for a place in the Final Four. A big move, especially for shooting help, might appeal to them.
BallinEurope has a book, a real life actual book called I Like it Loud, and you can buy it on Amazon now. It’s here as a book and here in Kindle form.
Who shines brightest?
The Euroleague MVP award hasn’t been won in back to back campaigns since Anthony Parker. That means Mike James already faces an uphill battle. Throw in the return of Sasha Vezenkov and he would seem a natural favourite but usage is going to come into it.
Panathinaikos and Olympiacos are both stacked. When your team is amazing, it’s hard to stand out from the pack. That might oddly hinder the likes of Kendrick Nunn, Mathias Lessort, Evan Fournier, or Vezenkov.
Instead, I’m looking at the two men with the biggest loads to carry. Facundo Campazzo for Real Madrid has a huge opportunity. He was in the mix a year ago. He’ll have more reason to be this season. In addition to him it’s Shane Larkin, who would have surely won it in the pandemic shortened season had it been concluded. The Anadolu Efes man is going to be featured even more than ever.
A couple of quick notes before the picks
The biggest obstacle for Larkin is an annoying one. Technically, the MVP award is meant to include playoff performance. I find this illogical. Everyone plays the same 34 game schedule. That’s the meat of the season. That’s what MVP should be based on.
The other big question for this season is, where will the Final Four be? This one is more a matter of frustration. It’s already October and we still don’t know. It will hopefully be Belgrade. It may yet be Abu Dhabi. At this stage, I wouldn’t rule out a surprise new name entering the mix. That’s not based on anything I’ve heard. I’m just irked that we still don’t know.
Fearless predictions
Given the rankings, you can already tell my seeding predictions for the season so let’s jump straight to the play-ins.
Anadolu Efes vs Partizan – Partizan win and advance to the playoffs
Virtus Bologna vs Zalgiris Kaunas – Virtus win and get a shot at Efes
Anadolu Efes vs Virtus Bologna – Efes get their payback and advance.
That leaves us with the following playoff scenario so let’s get right to it.
Panathinaikos vs Anadolu Efes – Panathinaikos in 4 games.
Olympiacos vs Partizan – Olympiacos in 4.
AS Monaco vs FC Barcelona – Monaco in a sweep.
Real Madrdid vs Fenerbahce – Fenerbahce in 4.
Picking against there being a Game 5 in any of them is probably the most controversial of all of those takes. Still, that leaves us with a Final Four of…
Panathinaikos vs Fenerbahce
Olympiacos vs AS Monaco
Match-ups that have both happened at the Euroleague Final Four before. This time, they’ll lead to something unseen ever in a major European final. We’re going to get the big one. Your championship pairing…
Panathinaikos vs Olympiacos.
I don’t guarantee much but I guarantee that Moshe Barda just exploded in excitement just at that being a prediction. As for the winner, well we don’t call them fearless predictions for nothing.
The 2024/25 Euroleague Basketball champions will be: Panathinaikos.
Leave a Reply