Baskonia and Peñarroya are in the reflection phase. It is not at all clear that the man from Egar will continue on the Vitoria bench after a season in which he has had a team capable of developing effervescent basketball but also of stumbling at key moments. He fell with Joventut, at the first exchange, in the Cup and in the league playoffs. He spent the entire season in the top eight in the Euroleague but lost that privilege at the definitive moment losing to Olympiacos and watching Zalgiris beat Bayern in Germany.
Even if you have a valid contract, there is freedom of movement. The end of the season has been a bit cold and, at the club’s dinner on Friday night, he was seen on the side of the photo and without the official club kit. Exactly the same as a few hours earlier at the autograph signing event in the club shop downtown. The cause why the safe continuity is not activated is for not reaching the Cup and League semifinals and not having entered the Top-8. This clause would allow the club to break the link with very few financial consequences.
That lack of definition in which we live now causes names to come out. He first is that of the Greek Ioannis Sfairopoulos, a coach who has been liked a lot for a long time at Buesa. Born in Thessaloniki, at the age of 56, he has worked for PAOK, Kolossos, Panionios, Olympiacos and, most recently, Maccabi Tel Aviv. There is a limitation that is the language. The owner of the club, Josean Querejeta, likes to chat with his coach after the games and in the case of the Greek that communication would not be so simple. It already happened to him when it crossed his mind to make an offer to Radoncic.
As for the squad, the options for Thompson’s departure to Armani Milan are growing. This summer he is going to get a transalpine passport as he is married to an Italian woman. He could even play for this country in the World Cup. His termination clause is around 600,000 euros and the salary that they are going to put on the table will be one million euros. Another player who could go on the market is Markus Howard, with a contract in force for another year. Having a link does not necessarily mean continuing in the squad. Are the cases, for example, of Heidegger and Hommes, who aim to leave.