EuroLeague teams are rolling up their sleeves and starting their training camps. BasketNews expert pannel is doing the same and bringing you the first edition of the new season's Power Rankings.
18. AS Monaco ⬆ (last season's finish - won the EuroCup)
Champions of the EuroCup didn't inspire much confidence among our writers. The team stayed relatively quiet in the player transfer market, which could have played a role in their early pre-season rankings. Signings of Leo Westermann and, most recently, Donatas Motiejunas do not guarantee on-court success. Yet.
17. Crvena Zvezda Belgrade ↔ (last season's finish - 17)
The biggest news of Red Star's off-season were the €4M received from the government as part of financial support due to the pandemic. So, the money could be there, while the player acquisitions not so much. The Belgrade team brought in Aaron White, Nate Wolters, Nikola Kalinic, and Austin Hollins but they lost their top two players (Jordan Loyd and Corey Walden). And we tend to agree that continuity leads to success in this league.
16. ALBA Berlin ⬇ (last season's finish - 15)
ALBA is always fun to watch due to their fast-paced basketball and good spacing. However, after losing four main parts of the roster (Peyton Siva, Jayson Granger, Niels Giffey, Simone Fontecchio) and one alongside the bench (Aito Garcia Reneses), it might be difficult to play attractive basketball with ingenious decisions as famous ALBA zone defense. Newcomers Tamir Blatt and Yovel Zoosman do not seem like potential game-changers. Luke Sikma will have to take even more responsibilities, while Jaleen Smith’s signing could be a massive boost. Nevertheless, ALBA Berlin looks weaker on paper this year.
15. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne ⬇ (last season's finish - 14)
This club never fails to surprise ever since their comeback to the top level. The spotlight will be on Victor Wembenyama but Kostas Antetokounmpo will also be interesting. Besides, clinical big man scorer Dylan Osetkowski has silently become a very intriguing signing of the summer. Nevertheless, we don't predict all these parts coming together in a coherent manner and cannot see a step forward from the intermittent glories of the previous seasons.
14. Panathinaikos OPAP Athens ⬆ (last season's finish - 16)
Unlike their rivals Greek rivals, Panathinaikos underwent major changes during this off-season. They’ve lost one of their offensive leaders, Mario Hezonja, but re-signed Nemanja Nedovic and brought in eight new players. However, only two of them (Okaro White and Lefteris Bochoridis) have prior EuroLeague experience, so it may be difficult for Panathinaikos to climb out of the bottom of the standings.
13. UNICS Kazan ⬆ (last season's finish - runner-up in the EuroCup)
UNICS couldn’t keep their core, which was responsible for a successful 2020-21 campaign, making both EuroCup and VTB League finals. But Mario Hezonja’s signing brings excitement, Lorenzo Brown and Tonye Jekiri are solid, proven players, while Will Thomas will add experience. But it will be challenging to find chemistry and compete for the Top 8 after so many changes.
12. Olympiacos Piraeus ↔ (last season's finish - 12)
Olympiacos added one of the best EuroLeague perimeter defenders in Thomas Walkup and an incredible rim protector in Moustapha Fall, solidifying their defense wonderfully. Both of these additions will be significant upgrades over the retired Vassilis Spanoulis and the declining Kosta Koufos. Other than that, the Greek squad has remained virtually intact, and the enhancements mentioned above should help Olympiacos improve on their last season’s 12th spot finish.
11. Zalgiris Kaunas ↔ (last season's finish - 11)
Zalgiris continue the rebuild of the post-Sarunas Jasikevicius era with seven new faces on their roster. But if Emmanuel Mudiay joins the squad, it will be a pretty exciting team to watch. Martin Schiller has a strong Lithuanian core (Ulanovas, Kalnietis, Lekavicius, Jankunas, Milaknis) hardworking high IQ role players (Cavanaugh, Giffey). Strelnieks and Lauvergne bring some class. Meanwhile, Josh Nebo has intriguing potential. There are many ifs on Zalgiris’ side, but they should be there again, competing for the playoffs until the last round of the regular season.
10. Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz ↔ (last season's finish - 10)
Baskonia acquired one of the "hot" names on the EuroLeague market Wade Baldwin, and the Olympic sensation Simone Fontecchio. They boosted their backcourt with Vanja Marinkovic, Jayson Granger, and frontcourt with Matt Costello, Landry Nnoko. The Basques’ additions look solid but two departures of key players (Pierria Henry, Achile Pollonara) present strong setbacks. Those issues combined with potential weaknesses at the center spot do not allow us to rank Baskonia higher.
9. FC Bayern Munich ⬇ (last season's finish - 5)
Repeating last season's success will be very difficult. In fact, our panel sees the German team finishing outside of the playoffs. Bayern lost a couple of very important players but if there's someone who can go against the odds, that's Andrea Trinchieri. Nonetheless, he has a very difficult task ahead of him next season.
8. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv ⬆ (last season's finish - 13)
Fighting for the playoffs could seem like an exaggeration of this team's capabilities but we don't see Sfairopoulos falling behind the expectations two seasons in a row. His adaptive qualities are too good for that. New additions like Derrick Williams and Jalen Reynolds would not only elevate athleticism compared to last season's but they are coming as more improved players in their basketball vision, as well.
7-6. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ↔ (last season's finish - 7)
Interestingly, our panel members were dead even in votes submitted for Fenerbahce and Zenit. Thus, both teams share 6 and 7 spots.
Looking at the Fenerbahce roster, one could easily pick them for the Top 6. New signings like Polona, Henry, Akpınar, and Shayok are wisely chosen and besides, they also kept important parts of last years’ backbone. The coaching change makes for a dubious case. Looking at prior top-level coaching experiences, Sasha Djordjevic is yet to prove as the most convincing replacement for Kokoskov.
7-6. Zenit St Petersburg ⬆ (last season's finish - 8)
It’s never easy when you lose two out of three of your most efficient players. And it makes things even harder when one of those players is Kevin Pangos. Zenit found an exciting replacement for him, bringing Shabazz Napier from the NBA. They added Jordan Loyd, Jordan Mickey, and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who will give more scoring options. Zenit set the bar high last year, and it won’t be easy to repeat this success. But never underestimate Xavi’s team.
5. AX Armani Exchange Milan ⬇ (last season's finish - 3)
Ettore Messina is the equivalent of success, which he proved immediately last season. However, despite spending handsomely over the summer, Armani Exchange aren't seen as the Top 4 team in the league. And it's probably not even their fault. The remaining teams could simply be slightly superior. No. 5 spot is by no means a small achievement, but with personnel losses that they had (especially Punter and LeDay), we don't see them repeating last season's bronze medal finish.
4. Real Madrid ⬆ (last season's finish - 6)
The renewal process of the aging Real Madrid squad is underway. They brought in two Barcelona players in Thomas Heurtel and Adam Hanga and added young and talented athletes in Nigel Williams-Goss and Guerschon Yabusele. These newcomers have the potential to make Real one of the best defensive teams in the EuroLeague and help them compete for a spot in the Final Four once again.
3. CSKA Moscow ⬆ (last season's finish - 4)
Once again expected to be one of the major forces of Europe's elite competition. CSKA are a deep, experienced, and talented team. Plus, they might still be active in the coming weeks for player upgrades. CSKA appear to be just behind Efes when it comes to rankings, but, if player health will be on their side, they're a Final Four team without a doubt.
2. FC Barcelona ↔ (last season's finish - 2)
Another main candidate for the Final Four. We are not exactly super high on their off-season acquisitions but they're still one of the best teams in the league. Jasikevicius is always a plus, hands down one of the best coaches around. We don't anticipate them ending the regular season in the first place, just like they had last season, but Barcelona will remain a major problem for a lot of teams come playoffs time.
1. Anadolu Efes Istanbul ↔ (last season's finish - 1)
The champions remain our No. 1 ranked team in the league. One, they have a cup. Two, they kept their MVP. Three, their coach is a good-looking guy. All in all, as the legendary Rudy Tomjanovic said, don't underestimate the heart of a champion. And we don't intend to. Oh, and they added a quality big man to replace the departed Sertac Sanli.
