The EuroLeague point guard market has become increasingly difficult over the last few years. Very few players are available, and the costs are increasing. To understand what might happen this offseason, BasketNews analyzes some of the hottest names in the market.
In recent years, one of the constants of the EuroLeague market has been the fact that the point guard position is becoming increasingly delicate, and the market for it is shrinking, making it extremely expensive.
There are fewer and fewer players who EuroLeague teams feel are up to the task of point guard or combo guard, which has caused their prices to skyrocket.
Looking back at last summer, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens had to cough up nearly €3 million net per season to snatch Kostas Sloukas from rivals Olympiacos Piraeus and, later in the season, paid $1.5 million more to land Kendrick Nunn.
Darius Thompson was coming off a top season at Baskonia and became an extremely valuable piece of the EuroLeague point guard market.
Anadolu Efes Istanbul won the race for the player with a top-tier contract for a player who had only one EuroLeague season behind him, paying him nearly €2 million net for the first year. The following years of the deal include bonuses which increase the salary even more.
Shabazz Napier, who arrived in EA7 Emporio Armani Milan just a few months before to help the Italian side win the Italian league, was also the subject of an arms-length auction, with Milan having come to offer around $1.7 million to keep him still in Italy, sources have told BasketNews.
However, in the end, the American player was convinced by Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade's highest economic proposal, which offered more than $2 million net.
As we said earlier, few players are available, and all at extremely high market prices. Will we see the same conditions in the market for point guards and combo guards in the EuroLeague this summer, or could we see some substantial changes?
BasketNews analyzed some of the cases to see what to expect in a position that is now so crucial in modern basketball.
