Anadolu Efes Istanbul has completed a deal to sign All-EuroLeague point guard Darius Thompson to a three-year contract. Thompson (1.92 meters, 28 years old) arrives from Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and is coming off a fantastic Turkish Airlines EuroLeague rookie season in which he established himself as one of the best playmakers on the continent. Following the departure of Vasilije Micic, Thompson arrives as a new partner for Shane Larkin in Efes's backcourt.
Efes inks All-EuroLeague playmaker Darius Thompson
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EuroLeague assists leader as a rookie
Thompson led the EuroLeague with 6.7 assists per game and he ranked second for steals with an average of 1.7. He also posted 12.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. All of this led to the American earning 2022-23 All-EuroLeague Second Team honors as voted by coaches, team captains, fans and media. Thompson dished at least 10 assists in nine games last season and led all guards with six double-doubles. He finished the season with the seventh-best average PIR (17.1) among all players, too.
The new Efes point guard heads to Turkiye for the first time in his career. Thompson made his professional debut with ZZ Leiden in the Netherlands in 2018-19, a season that saw him go on to be named the MVP of the Dutch League. Next up was a move to Italian side Brindisi, where he remained for two seasons. During his time at Brindisi, Thompson was chosen in the All-BCL Second Team in the 2020-21 campaign. Prior to joining Baskonia last summer, he spent the 2021-22 campaign with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, which was playing in the 7DAYS EuroCup. The goal for Thompson will now be to help Efes return to the glories of a couple of years ago, when the team won back-to-back EuroLeague titles in 2021 and 2022.