Zenit St Petersburg added a big frontcourt weapon by signing big man Jordan Mickey to a one-year deal, the club announced on Wednesday. Mickey (2.03 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Khimki Moscow Region where he had a huge season, ranking seventh in scoring with 15.6 points per game, sixth with 5.8 rebounds and third with 1.5 blocks last season. That was Mickey's second stint with Khimki, where he also made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in the 2018-19 campaign. He spent 2019-20 season with Real Madrid, and in three seasons in the competition Mickey averages 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. During his time with Los Blancos, he helped the team win the Spanish Copa del Rey title.



Mickey began his professional basketball career in the NBA, where he spent three seasons with Boston and Miami. Mickey also played parts of two seasons on loan from Boston to Maine in the D-League.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">👋🏾 Please, Welcome Our New Player <a href="https://twitter.com/Jmickey_02?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Jmickey_02</a> !<a href="https://t.co/Wj25WS6SQ3">https://t.co/Wj25WS6SQ3</a> <a href="https://t.co/P39oDXtWrO">pic.twitter.com/P39oDXtWrO</a></p>&mdash; Basketball club Zenit (@zenitbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/zenitbasket/status/1412699109140672515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Zenit brings Mickey into frontcourt

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TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz added sharpshooting touch to its perimeter by signing guard Vanja Marinkovic to a three-year contract, the club announced on Wednesday

Baskonia inks sharpshooter Marinkovic

Marinkovic (1.98 meters, 24 years old) has spent the last two seasons with Valencia Basket, and averaged 6.3 points in each of his two EuroLeague campaigns. He also averaged 8.5 points on 46.9% three-point shooting in the Spanish League action last season. Marinkovic has been playing at the highest level of professional basketball since he was a 15-year old with his hometown club Partizan NIS Belgrade in Serbia. He made his 7DAYS EuroCup debut at the age of 17, and has 34 career appearance in that competition between 2014 and 2019. Marinkovic has also played for the Serbian national team at the youth categories and won medals at the European U16 and U18 championships and the world U17 championships.

<div style="display: grid; place-items: center;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">🚨 ¡OFICIAL!<br><br>✍️ 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗷𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗰, 🆕 baskonista para las 3 próximas temporadas <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoazenBaskonia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoazenBaskonia</a></p>&mdash; Baskonia (@Baskonia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Baskonia/status/1412696908171296769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz added sharpshooting touch to its perimeter by signing guard Vanja Marinkovic to a three-year contract, the club announced on Wednesday.

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UNICS Kazan announced on Wednesday that guard Isaiah Canaan will play with UNICS again next season. Canaan (1.83, 30 years old) was one of the team's key pieces in its run to the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals, scoring 14.1 points with 3.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds. His 62 three-pointers made last season were the most by any player in the EuroCup last season, and tied for second most in a single-season in competition history. Last season was his first on the European continent. Canaan has spent most of his career in his native United States, including parts of six seasons in the NBA with Philadelphia, Houston, Chicago, Phoenix, Minnesota and Milwaukee. Canaan posted career averages of 8.1 points and 1.9 assists in 235 games. He has also suited up for Rio Grande Valley, Northern Arizona and Stockton in the D-League, and also played for part of one season in China with Shandong. He is now set to make his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ru" dir="ltr">Айзея Кэнаан продолжит карьеру в УНИКСе! Контракт игрока рассчитан на один год✅<br>⠀<br>За этот сезон Айзея провёл 1278 минут на паркете в обоих чемпионатах, защищая цвета нашего клуба и набрал в сумме 682 очка🔥<br>⠀<br>Увидимся в новом сезоне! <a href="https://t.co/puc8Cfc3AF">pic.twitter.com/puc8Cfc3AF</a></p>&mdash; BC UNICS Kazan (@unicsbasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/unicsbasket/status/1412819725781016591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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UNICS keeps scorer Canaan

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AS Monaco invested in its future signing a deal with forward Armel Traore, the club announced on Wednesday

Monaco adds young talent in Traore

For Traore (2.02 meters, 18 years old) this is his first professional contract. He has been a member of Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball, and posted 15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals in the French third division this past season. Traore has played for the French youth categories, and has won silver medal at the U16 European Championship in 2019, and is currently playing at the U19 World Championships. In the upcoming season, young forward is set to make his Turkish Airliness EuroLeague debut.



<div style="display: grid; place-items: center;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">✍️ 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗼𝗿𝗲́, pensionnaire du Pôle France Basket rejoint la <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RocaTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RocaTeam</a> 💪 Jeune ailier (2,02m, 18 ans) doté de grosses qualités physiques, il dispute actuellement la Coupe du Monde U19 avec la France 🇫🇷<br>👋 𝘽𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙚 <a href="https://twitter.com/Armel_Traor35?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Armel_Traor35</a> 🇲🇨 <a href="https://t.co/T8uARDf25a">pic.twitter.com/T8uARDf25a</a></p>&mdash; AS Monaco Basket (@ASMonaco_Basket) <a href="https://twitter.com/ASMonaco_Basket/status/1412799901226909699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

AS Monaco invested in its future signing a deal with forward Armel Traore, the club announced on Wednesday.

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Whether scoring in a multitude of ways or setting up his teammates, Nando De Colo of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has always been difficult to slow down.

Since he signed with CSKA Moscow ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, De Colo has been in the 50-40-90 club of shooting excellence for a record seven consecutive seasons. He leads the EuroLeague's all-time charts in career free-throw shooting percentage (94.0%), having missed just 56 of 928 attempts. He has made 346 three-point shots, 14th all time, with none of the 13 players ahead of him having better accuracy rate than his 42.7% from downtown. That efficiency has led to De Colo winning the EuroLeague twice, earning six All-EuroLeague selections and taking home the MVP trophy in 2016.

This season De Colo became the second player to record 4,000 performance index rating points in the EuroLeague He needed just 223 games to reach this achievement and did so at the age of 33 years and 304 days. The only other player to reach that milestone was three-time EuroLeague champion Vassilis Spanoulis, who needed 322 games– 99 more than De Colo – and was significantly older – 37 years and 169 days old – when he did it.

Spanoulis's long-time running mate at Olympiacos Piraeus, Georgios Printezis, also had a significant milestone this season when he became the eighth player to reach 3,500 in PIR. Unlike De Colo, Printezis's climb up the charts was slow and steady as he needed the most games of the eight and was the second oldest among them to reach that number.

In the 2020-21 season, De Colo also became just the third player to score his 3,500th point in the competition and, as with his PIR totals, he was the youngest of the three and reached the milestone in the fewest games. Two other former EuroLeague MVPs joined the 3,000-point club last season. De Colo's former CSKA Moscow backcourt mate Sergio Rodriguez, now with AX Armani Exchange Milan, needed 282 games to get there. Rodriguez's former Real Madrid teammate Sergio Llull did it in the 286th game of this career. By comparison, De Colo achieved 3,500 points in 221 games.

Looking ahead, De Colo needs 424 points to become the third player to reach 4,000 in EuroLeague history. Based on his current career average (16.0 ppg.), De Colo would need 27 games to get there and thus join Juan Carlos Navarro and Spanoulis. Navarro needed 319 games to break the 4,000-point mark and Spanoulis did it in 303 games.

Because he is significantly younger than others so high on the list, it would not be a surprise to see De Colo ascend atop the all-time scoring and PIR charts at some point. De Colo is second all-time in PIR (4,022), trailing only Spanoulis (4,183). Last season, De Colo amassed a PIR of 602, while Spanoulis has retired.

De Colo should need more time to become the competition's all-time top scorer. He enters the 2021-22 season ranked third overall (3,576), behind Spanoulis (4,455) and Navarro (4,152). Printezis should join the 3,500-point club soon, as he ranks fourth with 3,474. None of them – Printezis, Navarro nor Spanoulis – ever had a 50-40-90 season, and De Colo has had seven, which is just another reason why he has reached PIR and points milestones quicker than anyone else. At age 34, De Colo is showing no signs of slowing down, so expect him to keep challenging for titles and records.

He may not be the biggest or strongest player on the court, but has any player been as consistently productive over such a long period as Nando De Colo of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul? Whether scoring in a multitude of ways or setting up his teammates, De Colo has always been difficult to slow down.

Milestones: De Colo climbed the charts in 2020-21

 The capital of Germany will host the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four for the third time next season as Euroleague Basketball brings the season-ending event back to the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin for the weekend of May 27 to 29, 2022.

The City of Berlin has been an outstanding partner in both previous Final Fours there, in 2009 and 2016, and has already begun the planning stages for next year's accompanying events, including the FanZone and the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Awards Ceremony.

Germany will become the first country to host Final Fours in consecutive seasons, following the 2021 edition at Lanxess Arena in Cologne. The decision to finish the 2021-22 season in Berlin is driven, in part, by the importance of Germany as a strategic market for Euroleague Basketball growth. German basketball has taken steps forward in recent years with ALBA Berlin and FC Bayern Munich both competing in the EuroLeague. Last season, Bayern became the first German club to reach the EuroLeague Playoffs.

"It's a real pleasure to announce that the Final Four will visit Germany for the second consecutive year, returning to Berlin, one of the most emblematic Turkish Airlines EuroLeague cities," Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO, said. "It is no secret that Germany is one of our most important strategic markets, with enormous growth possibilities. It is my biggest desire that after Cologne's Final Four, all of our fans will have the chance to join us for the third time in the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Arena to enjoy again the EuroLeague experience." 

 Opened in September 2008, Mercedes-Benz Arena is widely considered to be one of the best multipurpose indoor arenas in Europe and becomes the first to have the Final Four played on its courts three times this century. With a basketball seating capacity of 14,500, Mercedes-Benz Arena offers an ideal viewing experience for every ticket holder with great sightlines from every seat. In addition to hosting world-class sporting events in basketball, ice hockey, handball, mixed martial arts, boxing and esports, many of the world's most popular recording artists have also performed live at Mercedes-Benz Arena.  

"In 2022, Berlin will be the center of attention for the basketball world: the best teams will be here to compete for the EuroLeague trophy at the Final Four," Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin, said. "Berlin is looking forward to welcoming these visitors and to an exciting tournament, after also hosting this competition in 2009 and 2016. With ALBA Berlin's home court, the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin can offer a venue with international appeal that meets the highest technical standards. I would like to wish the teams, their fans, and all basketball lovers a great experience, and of course, the sports capital Berlin hopes that the arena will be packed."

Euroleague Basketball will once again collaborate with leading global venue management company AEG for the 2022 Final Four. It will be the fifth Final Four the two parties have joined forces on. On top of the two previous Final Fours in Berlin, Euroleague Basketball and AEG also worked together on the 2010 Final Four in Paris and the 2013 edition in London.

"We are excited that the Turkish Airlines Final Four returns to Berlin for a third time, further strengthening a longstanding partnership between Euroleague and AEG," Gael Caselli, Vice President, Sports at AEG Europe, said. "Both previous Final Fours left their mark as two of the most memorable events the Mercedes-Benz Arena has ever hosted. We are confident that the tournament weekend in 2022 will add to that legacy."

The capital of Germany will host the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four for the third time next season as Euroleague Basketball brings the season-ending event back to the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin for the weekend of May 27 to 29, 2022.

The Final Four will return to Berlin in 2022

Freshly-crowned Israeli champion Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv has signed point guard Keenan Evans for the coming season, with options to stay one or two more years. Evans (1.91 meters, 24 years old) remains in Israel after leading that country's domestic league in PIR with 25.8 per game last season for Hapoel Haifa. He ranked fifth in the league in scoring (18.5 ppg.), third in assists (6.4 apg.) and second in steals (2.1 spg.). After playing college basketball at Texas Tech, Evans began his professional career in the G-League with Grand Rapids and also played for Delaware before he first came to Europe with Igokea Laktasi in 2019. He led Igokea to the Bosnia and Herzegovina championship in 2020.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="iw" dir="rtl">🛂<br>לכל הפרטים &gt;&gt; <a href="https://t.co/Fh9PkIgVT5">https://t.co/Fh9PkIgVT5</a> <a href="https://t.co/ESZdmsFlyP">pic.twitter.com/ESZdmsFlyP</a></p>&mdash; Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaccabitlvBC/status/1412312940926144513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Maccabi inks playmaker Evans

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade kept one of its core pieces by signing a two-year contract extension with Ognjen Dobric, which will keep an athletic small forward with the Serbian powerhouse until the end of 2022-23 season, the club announced Tuesday. Dobric (2.00 meters, 26 years old) comes off the best season of his career, as he averaged 8.3 points on 45.6% three-point shooting, and 2.0 rebounds. Dobric grew up with Crvena Zvezda, which he joined as a teenager exactly a decade ago. He soon made his professional debut with FMP Zeleznik, before debuting with Zvezda in 2016-17 campaign. That's the season he also made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut, and Dobric has 93 appearances over four EuroLeague season, averaging 6.1 points and 1.8 rebounds. He has also won 10 domestic titles with the club, including a triple crown – Adriatic League, Serbian League and Serbian Cup – last season. Dobric is also a member of the Serbian national team.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Contract extension ❗️🔴⚪️<br><br>Jedan od najboljih igrača Crvene zvezde, reprezentativac Srbije i dete kluba, Ognjen Dobrić produžio je ugovor sa crveno-belima do leta 2023! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/kkcz?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#kkcz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeCan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeCan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CrvenoBelaPorodica?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CrvenoBelaPorodica</a> <a href="https://t.co/ksx3Wm3gpO">pic.twitter.com/ksx3Wm3gpO</a></p>&mdash; KK Crvena zvezda (@kkcrvenazvezda) <a href="https://twitter.com/kkcrvenazvezda/status/1412467694994137092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Zvezda extends homegrown forward Dobric

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Olympiacos Piraeus added Greek national team guard Michalis Lountzis to its core by signing him to a three-year contract. Lountzis (1.95 meters, 22 years old) arrives from Promitheas Patras, for whom he averaged 6.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a part-time starter in 10 7DAYS EuroCup games last season. He raised those numbers to 8.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the Greek League.

Lountzis started his professional career with Panathinaikos Athens, where he became the youngest ever player to appear in the Greek Cup Final and also made his EuroLeague debut in the playoffs against CSKA Moscow in April 2015. Lountzis made a total of four EuroLeague appearances for the Greens before moving on to Trikala and Lavrio. He will make his return to the EuroLeague this season with the Reds.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="el" dir="ltr">Η ΚΑΕ Ολυμπιακός ανακοινώνει την απόκτηση του Μιχάλη Λούντζη. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympiacosBC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OlympiacosBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreOlympiacos?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreOlympiacos</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherWeFight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherWeFight</a><a href="https://t.co/41AvaFZ5vB">https://t.co/41AvaFZ5vB</a></p>&mdash; Olympiacos B.C. (@olympiacosbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/olympiacosbc/status/1412420022446788620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Reds land Lountzis on long-term deal

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