Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar announced on Wednesday that it has signed big man Greg Whittington for the coming season

Lokomotiv tabs Whittington to anchor frontline

Whittington (2.03 meters, 28 years old) spent most last season in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets. He returns to Europe after making a strong 7DAYS EuroCup debut in 2019-20 with Galatasaray Doga Sigorta Istanbul. Whittington posted 12.5 points and 48.4% three-point shooting plus 6.4 rebounds in 11 EuroCup games for Galatasaray. The season before, he led the Israeli League in performance index rating (24.6) and rebounds (9.6 rpg.) with Galil Gilboa. Whittington began his career with Sioux Falls in the D-League and has also played for Sydney Kings in Australia and Hokkaido Sapporo in Japan.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ru" dir="ltr">«Локо» подписал контракт с Грегом Уиттингтоном!🤩<br>⠀<br>👉🏻 Подробности на нашем сайте: <a href="https://t.co/ejH6gX9CJn">https://t.co/ejH6gX9CJn</a><br>⠀<br>Добро пожаловать в «Локо», Грег!💪 <a href="https://t.co/Tb8e6HMf3t">pic.twitter.com/Tb8e6HMf3t</a></p>&mdash; LOKO ЛокомотивКубань (@lokobasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/lokobasket/status/1410140099950563330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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”We got a versatile forward; he is dangerous from the perimeter and acts very well in the paint,” Coach Evgeny Pashutin said. “He is an aggressive, powerful player. He has a quick first step, makes good use of his athletic ability, loves dynamic basketball with a quick transition from defense to attack, which meets our standards.”

Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar announced on Wednesday that it has signed big man Greg Whittington for the coming season.

greg-whittington-galatasaray-doga-sigorta-istanbul-photo-arka-ec19.jpg

The first step of a new and exciting year of competition will take place on Friday, July 9 at 13:15 CEST, when Euroleague Basketball hosts the draw for the 2021-22 7DAYS Eurocup Regular Season. The draw will be streamed live on the official Euroleague Basketball channel on YouTube, on the official EuroCup Facebook page and on EuroCupbasketball.com.

This season a new format for the competition will be introduced. The draw will divide the 20 teams from 13 countries into two groups of 10 teams. They will play 18 regular-season games – nine at home and nine on the road – with the top eight teams from each group advancing to the elimination rounds.

The draw procedure divides the 20 teams into 10 seeding levels with two teams in each, in accordance with the club ranking, based on results from the previous three seasons. Teams cannot face the corresponding seed in the regular season.
### 2021-22 7DAYS EUROCUP DRAW CRITERIA AND PROCEDURE

The draw will be held according to seeds.

• The 20 qualified teams will be divided into 10 seeds with two teams in each, in accordance with the Club Ranking elaborated for this purpose.

• The performance of teams in Euroleague Basketball competitions during a three year period will be used. Each club will get 2 points for a win and 1 point for a tie or loss from the Regular Season onwards. 2 bonus points are allocated for reaching the last 16, 2 bonus points are allocated for reaching the last 8, 1 bonus point is allocated for reaching the last 4, 1 bonus point is allocated for reaching the Finals. The Club Ranking consists of the sum of the club coefficients from the last three years. The results of the worst performing team from each country/League will be added together every year to create a position for that country/League in the Club Ranking. This is the lowest possible position that any club from that country/League can occupy in the draw.

• If two or more teams have the same Club Ranking, the tie will be resolved by the total number of wins during the three year period. Should a tie persist, the final standings in the EuroLeague and if necessary EuroCup from the previous season will be used to break the tie. Should a tie persist, the final standings in the Domestic Championship from the previous season (after the playoffs) will be used to break the tie. Should a tie persist, a draw will be used to break the tie, with the Company determining the method for the draw.

• The first two teams from the Club Ranking participating in the Regular Season will be 1 Seeds, the next two 2 Seeds, the next two 3 Seeds, the next two 4 Seeds, and so on until the 10 Seeds are completed.
### GROUP DRAW RESTRICTION

The restriction when drawing the teams into groups is the following:

• Two teams from the same domestic league cannot coincide in the same Regular Season group, except when there are more than two teams from the same domestic league participating in the Regular Season. In this case, the draw will try to balance the amount of representatives in each Group until it is physically impossible to preserve the Group Draw Restrictions without blocking the draw.
### GROUP DRAW PROCEDURE

• Teams will be drawn one by one from an urn containing only teams in the same Seed, from the 1 Seeds through to the 10 Seeds, until all 20 teams have been selected.

• The first team drawn will be allocated in the Group A and therefore, the other team in the seed will be allocated in Group B.

• In case of a country restriction, either team can be directly allocated in one Group so the other team in the seed will be allocated in the other Group.

• A team may be placed directly into a Group to follow the restriction mentioned above.

Drawing the teams as explained above will eliminate all possibilities of a blocked situation.
### CALENDAR DRAW

A random computer draw will determine the final position of teams within their group.

• The Regular Season calendar draw will allocate numbers from 1 to 10 to the teams in each group. This will establish the match-ups for the entire Regular Season.

• The Regular Season games will be held according to the following chart:

Non-coincidence numbers: (when one team plays at home, the other plays away):

1 with 6; 2 with 7; 3 with 8; 4 with 10; 5 with 9.
### CALENDAR DRAW RESTRICTIONS

• Non-coincidence numbers will be allocated to teams that play in the same city/arena, so that when one team plays at home the other will play away
### 2021-22 DRAW SEEDS

#### 1 SEEDS
Valencia Basket, MoraBanc Andorra
#### 2 SEEDS
Promitheas Patras, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
#### 3 SEEDS
Gran Canaria, Joventut Badalona
#### 4 SEEDS
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, Partizan NIS Belgrade
#### 5 SEEDS
Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Lietkabelis Panevezys
#### 6 SEEDS
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Dolomiti Energia Trento
#### 7 SEEDS
Boulogne Metropolitans 92, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse
#### 8 SEEDS
ratiopharm Ulm, Turk Telekom Ankara
#### 9 SEEDS
Frutti Extra Bursaspor, Hamburg Towers
#### 10 SEEDS
Umana Reyer Venice, Slask Wroclaw


Euroleague Basketball will host draw for the 2021-22 7DAYS Eurocup Regular Season on Friday, July 9 at 13:15 CEST.

EuroCup turns a page to start new season with 2021-22 draw

Frutti Extra Bursaspor keeps getting ready for its second continental appearance ever as on Wednesday it announced the addition of guard Derek Needham for the next campaign

Bursaspor lands Derek Needham

Needham (1.80 meters, 30 years old) arrives from Mornar Bar of Montenegro, where last season he started in 10 of his 11 7DAYS EuroCup games. In over 23 minutes on court he averaged 7.7 points, 1.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.0 steals. This will be Needham's third EuroCup season with a third different team. He made his debut in 2018-19 with AS Monaco and then played with Mornar Bar.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Welcome Derek Needham👋<br><br>Kulübümüz Amerikalı point guard Derek Needham ile anlaşmaya vardı. 1990 doğumlu 1.80 boyundaki Needham aynı zamanda Karadağ Milli Takımında da forma giyiyor. <br><br>Needham&#39;a kulübümüze hoş geldin diyor, başarılı bir sezon geçirmesini diliyoruz. <a href="https://t.co/CVVFlOWe1A">pic.twitter.com/CVVFlOWe1A</a></p>&mdash; Frutti Extra Bursaspor (@BsBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/BsBasketbol/status/1410215240428572673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Frutti Extra Bursaspor keeps getting ready for its second continental appearance ever as on Wednesday it announced the addition of guard Derek Needham for the next campaign.

Joventut Badalona made a move that will keep one of its homegrown players with the club for the foreseeable future, announcing a contract extension with Joel Parra, the club announced on Tuesday

Joventut locks up Parra long term

Parra (2.02 meters, 21 years old) grew up with the club and has now added two more years to a contract that was expiring at the end of the 2022-23 season, meaning the young forward will stay with Joventut until June 2025. Parra made 34 appearances in the 7DAYS EuroCup over the last two years and has posted 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds while averaging 14:27 minutes per game last season. He also posted 3.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in the Spanish League action. Before 2019, Parra was sent on loans to Spanish lower division sides Arenys Basquet and CB Prat. He was a standout for Joventut in youth categories and won the gold medal at the 2016 U16 European Championship with Spain, as well as silver medals at the U18 European Championship in 2018 and U20 European Championship in 2019.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ca" dir="ltr">✍ Joel Parra amplia el seu contracte fins al 2025<br><br>🔒 La Penya s&#39;assegura la continuïtat del jugador format al planter<br><br>👉 <a href="https://t.co/h7WYQF1PEn">https://t.co/h7WYQF1PEn</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Badalona%C3%89sFutur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BadalonaÉsFutur</a> <a href="https://t.co/lHKxXie8Jz">pic.twitter.com/lHKxXie8Jz</a></p>&mdash; Club Joventut Badalona (@Penya1930) <a href="https://twitter.com/Penya1930/status/1409815894520442880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Joventut Badalona made a move that will keep one of its homegrown players with the club for the foreseeable future, announcing a contract extension with Joel Parra, the club announced on Tuesday.

joel-parra-joventut-badalona-photo-joventut-david-grau-ec20-b7ushjpm3347xeld.jpg

Umana Reyer Venice bolstered its frontcourt by inking center Martynas Echodas to a multi-year deal, the club announced Tuesday

Reyer adds Rising Star trophy winner Echodas

Echodas (2.06 meters, 23 years old) arrives from Rytas Vilnius, where he averaged 11.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in 36 Lithuanian League games last season, helping his team reach the final. Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, Echodas started his career with Zalgiris's youth squads. He played for Siauliai before joining Rytas in 2017. Echodas was chosen as the 2018-19 7DAYS EuroCup Rising Star. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18 EuroCup games, helping Rytas reach the EuroCup Quarterfinals that season, in which his team also won the Lithuanian Cup.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">✍️🇱🇹 Big fella from Lithuania!<br>24 anni a luglio, Martynas Echodas firma un pluriennale con l&#39;Umana Reyer!<br>💬 &quot;Sono emozionato, ho voglia di crescere e di vincere!&quot;.<br>👉 Leggi: <a href="https://t.co/RPZINbKzSe">https://t.co/RPZINbKzSe</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lastoriacontinua?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lastoriacontinua</a> <a href="https://t.co/zGK4TM1gPy">pic.twitter.com/zGK4TM1gPy</a></p>&mdash; Reyer Venezia (@REYER1872) <a href="https://twitter.com/REYER1872/status/1409849171729920003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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Echodas dominated youth competitions before making his EuroCup debut with Rytas. He helped Zalgiris win the ANGT Kaunas qualifier in 2014 and 2015, earning MVP honors in his second appearance, with 22 points and 10.3 rebounds on average. Echodas also did well in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament in both years, averaging 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4 blocks in 2014, while earning all-tournament team honors. He averaged 15.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in 2015. He was also successful with the Lithuanian youth national teams, winning a bronze medal at the 2015 U18 European Championships, and a silver medal at the 2018 U20 European Championships. Echodas has also been a member of the Lithuanian senior national team.

Umana Reyer Venice bolstered its frontcourt by inking center Martynas Echodas to a multi-year deal, the club announced Tuesday.

martynas-echodas-rytas-vilnius-photo-rytas-ec19-a5gfcdwxs4fnqj6r.jpg

Lietkabelis Panevezys strengthened its froncourt by signing playmaker Nikola Radicevic, the club announced Tuesday.

Lietkabelis adds playmaker Radicevic

Radicevic (1.96 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Trefl Sopot, where he averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 assists in 9 Polish League games last season. He started the 2020-21 campaign with Greek side Promitheas Patras, averaging 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds before joining Trefl. Radicevic has 36 appearances and averages of 6.5 points and 3.0 assists over five seasons in the EuroCup, where he made his debut in the 2012-13 season with Spanish side Cajasol Sevilla, and has last played in the competition with Dolomiti Energia Trento in the 2018-19 campaign. During his career, Radicevic also played parts of two seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade of his native Serbia, and Herbalife Gran Canaria of Spain In his career, Radicevic also played with Partizan Belgrade of Serbia, UCAM Murcia of Spain, and Rytas Vilnius of Lithuania.



Lietkabelis Panevezys strengthened its froncourt by signing playmaker Nikola Radicevic, the club announced Tuesday. 

nikola-radicevic-promitheas-patras-photo-gran-canaria-ec20.jpg

Hamburg Towers made another move in preparing for their 7DAYS EuroCup premier by signing a one-year deal with swingman Zach Brown, the club announced on Tuesday

Hamburg adds scoring punch with Brown

Brown (1.98 meters, 25 years old), arrived from Szedeak Szeged in Hungary where he averaged 17.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals in the Hungarian League last season. That was the third professional season for Brown, who has climbed up the ranks since finishing his college career at Wichita State University in 2018. 

"I have always taken one step at a time over the past few years. The move to Hamburg is now a big leap." 

He started his pro career in French third-division side Lorient and played a season with AEK Larnaca in Cyprus, before joining Szeged last season. He is now set to make his 7DAYS EuroCup debut.

<div style="display: grid; place-items: center;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Harte Arbeit, zahlreiche Extraschichten, die Liebe zum Spiel 🏀 Unser Neuzugang hat sich sportlich &amp; persönlich hohe Ziele gesetzt! Herzlich Willkommen in Hamburg, <a href="https://twitter.com/Zacharygb2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Zacharygb2</a>! 🙌 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HamburgTowers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HamburgTowers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/easyCreditBBL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#easyCreditBBL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSEuroCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSEuroCup</a><a href="https://t.co/gYhEChH402">https://t.co/gYhEChH402</a></p>&mdash; Hamburg Towers (@hamburgtowers) <a href="https://twitter.com/hamburgtowers/status/1409798809090150402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

Hamburg Towers made another move in preparing for their 7DAYS EuroCup premier by signing a one-year deal with swingman Zach Brown, the club announced on Tuesday.

Zeljko Obradovic is back in the saddle. The man who has guided teams to a record nine EuroLeague crowns returned to the place where his coaching career started, Partizan NIS Belgrade. It is where he played as a player and won his first EuroLeague title in 1992. On Monday, Obradovic spoke to the media in the Serbian capital.

"I want to thank the club president for the chance he is giving me again, to return to Partizan and to work in Partizan", Obradovic said in his first press conference in his second stint as Partizan's head coach. "The reason I came back is something that comes from within, the deepest emotions I have towards this club, and I am very happy and proud that I can again sit on the Partizan bench."

Accompanied at the press conference by club president Ostoja Mijailovic and sports director Zoran Savic, the most decorated coach in European basketball history looked comfortable and relaxed, explaining the reasons behind his return.

"For me, this was a pretty easy decision, regardless of the fact that it needed some time to be finalized", he said. Obradovic added that he does not see his move to Partizan as a risk and that his decision was much easier to make than the one 30 years ago when he abruptly ended his playing career to start coaching.

"I always said that Partizan made me. It helped me and the years I spent as a player and the two years I worked as a head coach, it led to me feeling what I feel toward Partizan. I will always say that I owe Partizan, it is not that the club owes me. I am returning to somewhere where I love to be, it is a pure emotion and I cannot wait to start to work."

Obradovic spent the last season away from basketball, a pause he took after spending seven years with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

"I am the happiest when I am on the floor," he explained. "I had a pause of more than a year. I have a tremendous desire to start working with the players and now there is the greatest challenge ahead to create a team that will be competitive in every competition we will play."

Obradovic will coach in two competitions he never coached before, the 7DAYS EuroCup and the Adriatic League, and he left no doubt what the club's goals are:

"The ambitions are the highest possible. I know what my arrival here means, I know what the expectations are. I can absolutely say that the only thing that interests us is to return to being a club that plays in the EuroLeague, to be a part of that competition. I believe that is where Partizan belongs, and where it deserves to be."

Legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic spoke to the media in the Serbian capital on Monday for the first time since he was named head coach of his beloved Partizan NIS Belgrade.

Zeljko Obradovic: 'It's a pure emotion'

Zeljko Obradovic - Partizan NIS Belgrade.jpg

Turk Telekom Ankara will put its offense in the hands of point guard Andrew Andrews after signing him for the coming season

Turk Telekom tabs Andrews at point guard

Andrews (1.88 meters, 28 years old) arrives from fellow Turkish side Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul, for which he averaged 16.1 points and 3.5 assists in the Turkish League last season in helping his team reach the playoffs. He improved those numbers to 18.2 points and 3.8 assists in the Basketball Champions League. Andrews has also played for Best Balıkesir and Buyukcekmece in Turkey, VEF Riga in Latvia, Hapoel Afula and Maccabi Haifa in Israel, and Delaware in the G-League.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">Andrew Andrews Türk Telekom&#39;da👊 <br><br>Geçtiğimiz sezon Darüşşafaka Tekfen forması giyen Amerikalı oyun kurucu Andrew Andrews&#39;i renklerimize bağladık💪 Welcome to family Andrew 👏🏻 <a href="https://t.co/4UncFRTtJu">pic.twitter.com/4UncFRTtJu</a></p>&mdash; Türk Telekom SK (@TurkTelekom_SK) <a href="https://twitter.com/TurkTelekom_SK/status/1408763214028967941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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Turk Telekom Ankara will put its offense in the hands of point guard Andrew Andrews after signing him for the coming season.