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Top 10 MVP candidates for the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

Top 10 MVP candidates for the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

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27 September 20234 Mins read

David Hein

Top 10 MVP candidates for the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

The start of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season is right around the corner. Only one of the hundreds of players who take the floor in the competition this season will take home the MVP trophy. Here are 10 leading candidates for that honor going into the season.

Ondrej Balvin, Prometey Slobozhanske

Balvin was one of the biggest inside forces in the EuroCup last season, averaging 9.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists. The 2.17-meter Czech center has plenty of experience, as he enters his seventh season in the EuroCup. The 31-year-old shot 63% on two-pointers and grabbed 2.5 offensive rebounds per game in 2022-23.

Jaka Blazic, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana

Blazic has been one of the pillars of Cedevita’s return to prominence, playing three seasons in the EuroCup before spending last year with Turkish side Bahcesehir College. The 33-year-old is back with Cedevita and one of the team leaders.

J'Covan Brown, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv

Brown is spending his seventh season in Israel and third with Tel Aviv. The 33-year-old has hardly slowed down as he averaged 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and a EuroCup-best 6.7 assists last season.

Sam Dekker, London Lions

Dekker remains one of the top scorers and all-around players in European basketball as the 29-year-old averaged 18.2 points to go with 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals last season in the EuroCup. The former NBA player will be playing in the EuroCup for a third season.

Allerik Freeman, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica

Freeman has shown to be an elite scorer over the years when given the chance to shine. He averaged 18.9 points with 3.8 assists last season with Besiktas after previously playing with Umana Reyer Venice, appearing in 12 EuroCup games and tallying 9.8 points and 1.8 assists.

Derek Needham, Besiktas Istanbul

Needham spent the last two seasons with Frutti Extra Bursaspor playing for Coach Dusan Alimpijevic, who is the new play-caller with Besiktas. He knows exactly what his coach expects after averaging 14.0 points and 4.2 assists in the EuroCup last season. Needham was named to the All-EuroCup First Team in 2022 when he helped Bursaspor reach the EuroCup final.

T.J. Shorts, Paris Basketball

Shorts is another point guard following his head coach to a new team in the EuroCup with Tuomas Iisalo from Telekom Baskets Bonn. Shorts was the German League MVP for last season and also the MVP of the Basketball Champions League as Bonn won that crown. This will be Shorts’s first season in the EuroCup.

John Shurna, Gran Canaria

Shurna has been one of the rocks for Gran Canaria, entering his fifth season with the team and fourth in the EuroCup. He has averaged at least 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds over the last three Spanish League campaigns and similar numbers in the EuroCup, while regularly making more than 40% of his three-pointers over that span.

Ante Tomic, Joventut Badalona

Tomic will turn 37 in February but the center has not slowed down at all. Last season he averaged 13.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in the EuroCup. It was the third EuroCup campaign for the Croatian veteran, who had played 11 seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for Real Madrid and FC Barcelona before moving to Joventut.

Tyrone Wallace, Turk Telekom Ankara

Wallace moves to his second EuroCup team in his second season in Europe after playing last year for Paris Basketball. The 29-year-old guard averaged 15.7 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals in the EuroCup in 2022-23 and he will likely be a major leader for Turk Telekom head coach Nenad Canak.