EuroCup contenders make moves before deadline

Nearly half the teams currently in the playoff zone for the BKT EuroCup added pieces before the end of the transfer period.

At 18:00 CET Tuesday, just as the first game in Round 14 of the BKT EuroCup between Wolves Vilnius and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana is scheduled to tip-off, rosters for the 20 teams in the EuroCup will lock and there will be no more players signings or transfers for the remainder of the season. Knowing that, several EuroCup contenders made sure to strengthen their teams prior to the deadline, including four of the top five clubs in Group A.

All told, five teams signed players in the week before the deadline and two more teams made moves in December and registered the players now to debut in Round 14. The busiest team was Umana Reyer Venice, which added two players.

The last flurry of signings saw two former EuroLeague players arrive with Reyer bringing in sharpshooter Max Heidegger and Joventut Badalona signing playmaker Shannon Evans. The week before, Reyer announced the signing of big man Mfiondu Kabengele.

On Sunday the London Lions landed David Nwaba . The aforementioned players, as well as new Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul addition Marko Simonovic, are all EuroCup newcomers, though like Heidegger and Evans, Simonovic also has EuroLeague experience.

Slask Wroclaw’s latest signing, Marek Klassen, returns to the EuroCup after a limited run last season with Prometey Slobozhanske.

One move that came in mid-December, but has yet to see the player suit up for his new team, is Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv’s signing of former All-EuroCup guard Will Cummings. Cummings looks set to debut on Tuesday against London and Nwaba in a key Group A showdown.

The teams ranked second through fifth in Group A – in order Hapoel, London, Joventut and Besiktas – all added weapons who could make plenty of noise here down the stretch in the regular season.

In Group B, second-placed and reigning champion Dreamland Gran Canaria welcomes aboard 25-year-old swingman Amar Gegic, who reached the quarterfinals last season with Paris Basketball.

All of these key additions are sure to help turn up the temperature in the EuroCup over the next few months!