It's hard to recall a busier spell of roster moves so early in any Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season than over past couple of months.
Rosters roller coaster promises new year novelties
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Before the start of the second half of the regular season on Tuesday, there have been no fewer than 18 new players registered by 10 different teams since November 1.
Of course, the standings offer one reason why, as just five wins separate third and 15th place. With 17 rounds left to play there is no telling how fortunes will change. So, with still five weeks to go until rosters close for good, teams are doing what they can to up the competitive balance.
Players eligible for new teams this week
With by-laws stipulating that no player could change EuroLeague teams after January 1, a sizeable number did so in advance of that deadline
Guards were at a premium as first Naz Mitrou-Long left Zalgiris Kaunas for Olympiacos Piraeus. Next, Shabazz Napier moved from Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade to his old club, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, displacing former All-EuroLeague point man Kevin Pangos, who landed at Valencia Basket. In between, Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade picked up Jaleen Smith, who had moved to Virtus Segafredo Bologna just last summer.
Virtus was part of the frontcourt action, however, as it surprised some by getting Ante Zizic from Anadolu Efes Istanbul over the weekend. That move came a couple of weeks after Zvezda had set up the arrival of Freddie Gillespie from FC Bayern Munich.
None of those moves would have been possible after January 1, but now all those players are eligible for the Round 18 games on Tuesday and Wednesday that mark the start of the second leg of the regular season.
All can be expected to have considerable impact, with Napier likely to be called upon to fill a scoring role immediately for injury-riddled Milan while his predecessor Pangos will likely be key to Valencia's attempts to improve its low ranking in both assists and, especially, three-pointers made.
Those are not the only newly-eligible players in Round 18, however. Also in the last few days, Virtus added shooting threat Rihards Lomasz, who has reunited with his Latvian national team head coach Luca Banchi, while Zvezda called back from loan tall point guard Nikola Topic, one of the most promising talents in the world.
Plenty of new faces in last two months already
All those moves within the EuroLeague that will impact teams going forward come on the heels of 10 more new players registered since November 1. The biggest mover in signing players from outside the EuroLeague has been Efes, in part because of injuries, with center Daniel Oturu, forward Mike Daum and guard Ridvan Oncel all arriving in the last eight weeks. Already, Oturu and Daum scored in double digits eight times between them in seven rounds, showing how quickly new faces can adapt.
The same could be said for Partizan big man Bruno Caboclo and Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens guard Kendrick Nunn, who in a short time are already among their teams' top performers. Edmond Sumner and Austin Hollins at Zalgiris have the potential to do the same, while new Olympiacos big man Filip Petrusev has already proven what he can do in the EuroLeague. Chris Chiozza at Baskonia, Justin Anderson at Valencia and Oncel at Efes and are lesser-known quantities poised to make the best of their first EuroLeague opportunities.
Injured stars due back soon
To that dizzying amount of moves, fans can also expect to welcome back stars who have been out for extended periods. Last week, one former All-EuroLeague selection, Vladimir Lucic, returned for Bayern. Two former MVPs, Nikola Mirotic of Milan and Nando De Colo of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, are waiting in the wings, as is former Final Four MVP Will Clyburn of Efes. That's not to mention veterans like Victor Claver of Valencia, Ioannis Papapetrou of Panthinaikos, Jordan Mickey of Virtus, Maodo Lo of Milan and Marcus Eriksson of ALBA Berlin, among other injured players who could yet impact the playoffs race.
With six coaching changes, as well, since late October, you might be wondering what teams haven't changed at all since the start of the season. There are four, to be precise, and perhaps not surprisingly they occupy spots in the top seven of the standings: runaway leader and defending champion Real Madrid, third-place FC Barcelona, fifth-place AS Monaco and seventh-place Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
With the deadline for signing non-EuroLeague players still five weeks away, on February 7, they still have time to make changes, too. But time will tell if standing pat or tinkering with rosters will be the winning choice this season.