Olimpia Milano wraps up move for Diego Flaccadori

Diego Flaccadori will make his return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. The contract is for two season. After previously playing two seasons in the EuroLeague with FC Bayern Munich, Flaccadori (1.93 meters, 27 years old) returns to Europe's premier club basketball competition with Milan. He arrives from fellow Italian club Dolomiti Energia Trento, where he averaged 12.9 points, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and a 14.2 PIR in the 2022-23 edition of the BKT EuroCup.

His first taste of the EuroLeague

Over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Flaccadori was able to experience the EuroLeague for the first time in his career. In his rookie campaign, he posted 1.9 points in just 8:32 minutes on the court across 22 appearances, all of which were from the bench. The Italian guard once again played 22 games in the following season, starting four times, but his minutes reduced to 5:17 per night and his points average dropped to 1.2 points per game.

Trento was his comfort zone

Flaccadori began his professional career with Trento in his native Italy in 2014 and then remained at the club until 2019. He made his EuroCup debut with Trento in 2015-16, averaging 5.8 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and a 4.5 PIR in 15:07 minutes across 22 appearances, which included four starts. That year, Trento reached the EuroCup Semifinals but came up short against French side Strasbourg. Two years later, in 2017-18, Flaccadori and Trento returned to the EuroCup, with the Italian seeing an increase in his average minutes to 20:56 across 16 games and posting 6.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and a 4.4 PIR.

The following season, 2018-19, he began to display his talent in the EuroCup, averaging 10.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and a 10.8 PIR over eight appearances, with two starts. Then came Flaccadori's two years at Bayern, but in the summer of 2021 he returned to Trento. After a couple of down years in the EuroLeague, he hit the ground running back in the EuroCup in 2021-22, posting 10.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and an 8.7 PIR through 15 fixtures, all of which were as a starter. Last season, he had his best statistical year to date with averages of 12.9 points, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and a 14.2 PIR in 16 games. Those performances caught the eye of Milan, which has decided to bring him to the club.

Flaccadori started his career with Blu Basket Gruppo Remer Treviglio before joining Trento. In addition to helping Trento reach the EuroCup Semifinals in 2016, he also guided the team to the Italian League finals in 2017 and 2018. He has also been a member of the Italian national team.