AS Monaco big man Donatas Motiejunas has switched agency and will be henceforth represented by Misko Raznatovic of Beobasket and Lithuanian agent Marius Rutkauskas, per BasketNews sources.

After missing out on their first opportunity to seal qualification in Game 3, AS Monaco resisted an epic comeback from hosts Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez at the Palais des Sports to make their fourth French LNB final series thanks to an 85-83 (20-26, 25-14, 23-15, 17-28) win.

One of the top EuroLeague scorers Elie Okobo is expected to continue his career in AS Monaco, sources tell BasketNews.

AS Monaco are working on the final details of the agreement with the 28-year-old forward Jaron Blossomgame, sources tell BasketNews.

AS Monaco needed the win to reach the French LNB finals, but saw hosts Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq Orthez get the best of them by 82-76 (23-21, 19-21, 23-20, 17-14) in Game 3 of the semi-finals.

Mike James is interested in reuniting with Kevin Durant and playing in Brooklyn again, according to NetsDaily.

AS Monaco jumped to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five quarterfinal series of the French LNB semifinals as they defeated Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez 79-72 (22-20, 24-15, 17-12, 16-25). 

After winning the second EuroLeague title in a row, Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes are already planning a big transfer market campaign for this summer. The team coached by Ergin Ataman has already reached agreements with Will Clyburn and Ante Zizic, while also strongly considering Josh Nebo. 

AS Monaco dismantled Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez 94-65 (25-13, 22-18, 23-21, 24-13)  in Game 1 of the French LNB semifinal series as six players scored in double-digits.

Bahcesehir Koleji Istanbul will strengthen their frontcourt by signing French center Jerry Boutsiele, according to Ismail Senol from BeIn Sports.

After three successful years with Limoges CSP, 29-year-old Boutsiele made a leap into the EuroLeague by signing with AS Monaco last year but has not seen much playing time since.

AS Monaco avoided elimination in the most dramatic fashion possible by erasing a 21-point deficit and taking down SIG Strasbourg in an overtime thriller 82-80 (14-31, 15-17, 23-15, 20-9, 10-8).

Following their 87-100 loss in Game 1 of the LNB quarter-finals, AS Monaco had their back against the wall when they were hosted by SIG Strasbourg.

John Brown III is finalizing a long-term deal with AS Monaco, sources say BasketNews.

AS Monaco saw guests SIG Strasbourg get away with a big 100-87 (24-24, 25-20, 20-19, 31-24) victory at the Gaston-Medecin in the two teams' first playoff clash ever. 

Zvezdan Mitrovic, who attended the Next Generation Tournament held in the Ranko Zeravica Arena in Belgrade during the Final Four, was interviewed by Mozzart Sport.

With nine matches played in the last round, the LNB Pro A regular-season standings were set.

LDCL ASVEL Villeurbanne (26-8) prevailed over Limoges (20-14) 79-70 (28-16, 21-19, 9-15, 21-20) and secured the first spot in the league.

EuroLeague's squad will meet eight-seeded Cholet in the first playoffs stage.

Youssoupha Fall guided his team to victory with 17 points (6/8 2PT, 5/7 FT) and 8 rebounds.

ASVEL: Youssoupha Fall 17 (8 REB), Chris Jones 13 (5 AST), Dylan Osetkowski 12, Elie Okobo 11, William Howard 10 (6 REB).

Limoges: Demonte Harper 17 (7 REB), Nicolas Lang 16 (5 REB), C.J. Massinburg 15.

AS Monaco (25-8) took down hosts Limoges (20-13) 89-88 (26-14, 20-22, 10-31, 33-21) and stayed in contention for first place in the LNB regular season. Now, Monaco and LDL ASVEL Villeurbanne are tied at 25-8, with one game left for both sides.

In order for Monaco to beat Limoges, a late fourth-quarter surge was needed after a sweeping 31-10 for the hosts in the third period. 

Mike James scored 21 points for Sasa Obradovic's squad, but Leo Westermann's 16 were as important, as the French guard scored the winning free-throw. 

Demonte Harper put up 22 and CJ Massenburg logged another 18 for Limoges.

With the two teams going hand-in-hand for the most part and Limoges holding a slight edge near the end, Monaco went on a quick 0-9 run that concluded with three-point shots from Leo Westermann and Mike James.

The planning for the next Euroleague season is officially on, and after reaching the playoffs in their first season, Monaco are ready to strengthen their roster even more.

One of the most positive surprises of the EuroLeague season, American big man Donta Hall, will remain in Monaco next season. Hall has an agreement in place to sign a three-year contract extension with the Principality club, multiple sources told BasketNews.

The news about an agreement between Hall and Monaco was originally reported by the Greek website Totalbasket. 

Hall's extension with Monaco will include NBA outs, another source told BasketNews. The big man had received interest from other EuroLeague clubs, too, and he was being monitored by at least a couple of NBA teams, sources told BasketNews.

However, his preference was to remain in Montecarlo for at least another season. 

Hall averaged 8.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 12.7 PIR per game in his first full EuroLeague season. 

Keeping the core of the team together is one of Monaco's priorities for next season, but additions are also expected. 

American guard Jordan Loyd, who played with Russian side Zenit St Petersburg this season, has an agreement in place with the Principality side for the next two seasons, sources told BasketNews.

The news about an agreement between Loyd and Monaco was originally reported by the French website BeBasket. 

In EuroLeague, Loyd averaged 13.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 14.5 PIR per game. 

Last summer, the 28-year-old guard originally signed a two-year deal with Zenit, but he's expected to officially part ways with the Russian side at the end of the VTB League season. 

Monaco are also working on re-signing American guard Paris Lee, sources told BasketNews. The former Orleans player has received interest from other EuroLeague teams, including Panathinaikos, sources told BasketNews, but his priority is to remain with Monaco. 

Lee averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 assists, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game in his rookie campaign in EuroLeague. 

As previously reported by our website, Monaco also remain one of the best-positioned teams to sign John Brown III, who's currently playing in Italy with Germani Brescia. 

The former UNICS Kazan big man might form with Donta Hall one of the most athletic and versatile frontcourts in the competition. 

Roughly 70 minutes before the decisive Olympiacos Piraeus - AS Monaco Game 5 tipped off, fans at the Peace and Friendship Stadium had already started to pack the stands. Kevin Durant and Emma Stone were still on their way to the stadium, but neither of the two playoff contenders paid attention to what was going on outside the court. 

In front of the guest team's bench, Monaco's General Manager Oleksiy Yefimov was discussing the details of the upcoming game with his associates. One of the issues to be resolved was making sure that all delegation members had been allocated their respective seats. 

As Monaco players exited the locker room for their last pre-game warmup, Yefimov didn't look nervous at all. 

"I'm proud of those guys, of the organization and the Principality of Monaco," the Ukrainian executive told BasketNews.

"The fact that we reached the playoffs was something outstanding, especially taking into consideration that our four victories against Russian clubs didn't count. We also secured our future in the EuroLeague."

As one of the cornerstones in Monaco's front office since 2014, Oleksiy Yefimov has propelled the Roca Team to unprecedented heights. At only 36, he's by far the youngest GM on any EuroLeague team. It would be unthinkable to rank Monaco among Europe's top teams five years ago. 

"I will remind you one thing," Yefimov continued. "On September 22, 2021, we still didn't have permission to host games in Monaco."

That was the first reminder that EuroLeague isn't anywhere close to the EuroCup, despite the huge leaps forward that Monaco have made over the past two seasons.

Yefimov says the biggest differences between the two competitions are in the schedule and in the way the available budget should be spent.

"In EuroLeague, the schedule is tighter and the level of physicality higher. When you play against those teams, they will capitalize on any mistake that you make," Yefimov said.

"Logistically, the most important decision we made was to spend less money on players in order to travel with a charter," he continued. "In the end, our investment paid off. Especially taking into consideration the location of French teams, it would have been impossible to maintain this rhythm without a charter."

If Game 5 in Piraeus was a final in its own right, Monaco had already played not one but three finals. The first one was lost in 2018 when AEK Athens beat them in the BCL Final Four. The next two were victorious, as Monaco swept the EuroCup final series against UNICS Kazan to win their first-ever trophy. 

Yefimov admits that it's hard for him to work out a logical explanation. 

"It's only eight years since we turned into a professional team, coming from the second division. The main reason is the passionate people who backed the project and learned from their mistakes. That's how experience works.

We had huge support from the local community, the government, and Prince Albert II himself. He likes basketball, and he used to attend basketball games with his father."

As basketball's popularity continues to grow in the Principality and their European journey gained considerable momentum, financial resources are necessary to keep the project alive and kicking.

In 2014, the Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Sergey Dyadechko became the President of Monaco Basket.

Almost eight years later, in January 2022, the torch was passed from Dyadechko to Aleksej Fedoricsev. With a firm handshake, the former president and his successor sealed the agreement, which ratified the acquisition of 46.4% of the club's shares by Fedoricsev, making him its majority shareholder. 

Fedoricsev, 66, is the founder of Fedcom, the world leader in grain and fertilizers, with an estimated personal fortune of $1 billion. His company had been the shirt sponsor for AS Monaco football club for more than 25 years.

Born in Russia but now holding only the Hungarian citizenship, the financial tycoon previously owned Dynamo Moscow and FC Rostov football clubs. 

In any case, Dyadechko has made clear that he'll keep investing in the team as a minor shareholder, despite the fact that the last word belongs to Mr. Fedoricsev.

Yefimov, a graduate of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, made one of the greatest connections of his career back in 2007. Having worked as the press officer and then the marketing director at BC Kyiv, the giants of Ukrainian basketball at the time, he was offered a job as their manager. That's where he met Monaco's current coach, Sasa Obradovic.

When the Serbian tactician moved to Donetsk the following year, he proposed Yefimov to Dyadechko as a GM. 

"Mr. Dyadechko opened a new chapter in the history of AS Monaco. When the team was in the third division, he started investing in it. Then, he became the president and brought the club to the EuroCup title," Yefimov summed up.

On the other hand, Fedoriscev was the title sponsor of AS Monaco football team for 26 consecutive years, which is the second-longest sponsorship period in European football's history.

"He's also someone who has contributed to the Principality for a long period of time," Yefimov stressed. "I'm glad that even though he played football professionally, he grew to love basketball so much that he's 100% focused on the Roca Team."

Monaco GM is positive that Fedoricsev will stick around for a long time.

"He has always had a long-term vision. I hope that he'll stay at least for as many years as the ones he spent with the football team."

Despite not having one of EuroLeague's biggest budgets, Monaco almost doubled their expenses during their maiden season at the highest level.

The club started the 2021-22 campaign with a 14-million euro budget, which is expected to increase next year. How much? That's still to be determined, Yefimov maintains.

"We will try our best to increase it, taking into consideration that the Financial Fair Play rule will change next year. This means that only half of the budget can be contributed by the shareholders, so we need to earn the other half.

For playoffs, we could allow a sponsorship with a crypto-currency platform. We're trying to explore new digital markets."

The Ukrainian says Monaco only rank 13th-14th among EuroLeague clubs in terms of budget.

"From what I've learned from open sources, only ALBA Berlin, Panathinaikos, and Crvena Zvezda are beneath us. In past summers, we were having a headache because we couldn't keep our players after successful seasons," he said.

But this season is no different. It can even be much worse, considering how great season players like Mike James, Dwayne Bacon, and Donta Hall are having. Yefimov thinks that the most important thing is that all of them are super happy being in Monaco as a place, a city, and an organization.

"I believe that they will first listen to us before they make any decisions."

After almost making the EuroLeague Final Four in the club's debut season, AS Monaco are looking to strengthen their roster for the upcoming season.

According to the French outlet BeBasket, Jordan Loyd is going to sign with the Monegasque club for the 2022-2023 season. The player is reportedly going to play on a three-year deal.

After coming back from the NBA, Loyd spent his first two seasons in Europe with Valencia Basket and Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. He then landed in Zenit St Petersburg for the 2021-2022 EuroLeague season.

The American guard averaged 13.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists for 14.5 PIR for the club in the top European basketball competition.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, all three Russian clubs were suspended from participating in the EuroLeague. Loyd then remained with the club and has been playing in the local competition.