Besiktas Istanbul inked former All-EuroCup guard Derek Needham to return to the competition with a bang on Thursday. Needham (1.80 meters, 32 years old) arrives from another Turkish club, Frutti Extra Bursaspor, who he helped lead to the EuroCup Final two seasons ago and to the playoffs last season. Over the last two EuroCup seasons, Needham has accumulated more assists (183) and steals (54) than any EuroCup player while ranking second in points (555) while starting all 41 games he played for Bursaspor.
Besiktas lands point man Derek Needham
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All told, Needham has played four EuroCup seasons since debuting with AS Monaco in 2018-19 and returning with Morna Bar of Montenegro two seasons later before switching to Bursaspor. In that five-year span, Needham's 4.4 assists per game rank fourth among all EuroCup players, his 1.2 steals rank sixth and his 11.5 points 12th. He was named to the All-EuroCup First Team in 2021-22 after posting averages of 13.1 points, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals. He and Bursaspor won three do-or-die road wins that season to reach the finals before losing to Virtus Bologna.