Shabazz Napier returned to Milan after a few troubled months spent in Belgrade with Crvena Zvezda. Now that one of the weirdest transfer sagas of the recent EuroLeague history has come to an end, what will happen to Milan? Will Shabazz Napier be able to save their season once again?
There is quite a famous old Italian song performed by Antonello Venditti, which goes, "Some loves never end; they go on immense laps and then return."
Even in a less-than-perfect translation, it is a song that seems to fit rather well with one of the strangest market stories of recent months, the one concerning Shabazz Napier.
After returning to the United States and starting the 2022-23 season in the G League, Napier played for Capitanes de Ciudad de Mexico. However, during his stint in the G League, Napier continued to receive interest from Europe, especially EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.
In theory, Ettore Messina would not need another point guard.
During the offseason, the Italian team made a significant investment in Kevin Pangos, who was supposed to become the perfect replacement for Sergio Rodriguez.
However, Pangos immediately seemed to be in a fair amount of trouble between physical problems and difficulties in adapting to Messina's system.
Olimpia's management then identified Napier as the ideal player to help the team in a time of great difficulty.
The arrival of the former Portland Trail Blazers player certainly helped Milan at a very complex time. In those months, Napier was indispensable in Olimpia Milano's run to win the Italian championship.
The American playmaker averaged 15.0 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game in the Italian league during his time in Milan. After the season ended, Olimpia Milan's idea was to extend Napier.
The American player was considered an ideal element from which to start again, considering Pangos' difficulties. Even though there was a common will to continue together, a series of obstacles stood between Napier and the Italian team.
First, Napier had initially arrived on a short and not particularly big contract for Milan. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Napier was initially making around €50,000 per month when he first signed with Milan in January of 2023.
His asking price the following summer was much higher. According to BasketNews sources, after weeks of negotiations, Milan's last offer for Napier was around
