What changes has the summer brought for Unicaja Malaga?
What changes has the summer brought for Unicaja Malaga?
Last year Unicaja Malaga had a very good and deep rotation, but it seems that they lost their concentration in the most important games of the season. They managed to finish 5th in Spanish league regular season but were eliminated by Valencia in the first round of play-offs, despite winning the first game away. In Eurocup, they managed to get through top-16 but in the playoffs, they were also eliminated after winning the first game away at ALBA Berlin. Now, let`s see all the changes they`ve made in the roster for this upcoming season.
There were a lot of players that left the team and here is the list: Giorgi Shermandini, Sasu Salin and Daniel Diez left for Tenerife –ESP, Kyle Wiltjer (Turk Telekom – TUR), Mathias Lessort (Bayern –GER), Bryan Roberts and Viny Okouo – Free agents.
In exchange, they added seven new players. The first is big man Deon Thompson (30 years-old, 2.03m, PF). Last season he played for Zalgiris, where he averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 17 Euroleague games. He came back in Spain after starting the 2018-2019 season with San Pablo Burgos, averaging 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 14 ACB games. Next player added was Aleksa Avramovic (24 years-old, 1.92m, G) from Varese where, in 30 Italian league games he put 17.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He`s a young and great addition for the squad. The third player brought was Volodymyr Gerun (25 years-old, 2.08m, F/C). Last season, for Breogan he averaged 11.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 32 games. He`s making the Eurocup debut with Unicaja.
Another point guard added was Josh Adams (25 years-old, 1.88m). He came from G-League team of Toronto, where he averaged 15.6 points and 4.4 assists. He`s making his return to Europe, playing before for Saratov, Anadolu Efes or Besiktas. From Tofas – Turkey, Unicaja added a new big man in Frank Elegar (32 years-old, 2.08m, C). He helped his team reach the Turkish league semifinals. Another great acquisition is Melvin Ejim (28 years-old, 2.01m, F). He came from Unics Kazan where he averaged 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 14 Eurocup games. And the last shot on the transfer market is ex-Euroleague player, Axel Toupane, former Zalgiris and Olympiacos team member.
Unicaja added some good new players and also kept important players like Dragan Milosavljevic, Jaime Fernandez, Adam Waczynski or Carlos Suarez, but I don`t think they can finish higher than last season in the Spanish league or Eurocup. We can expect from them to earn some important victories against tough opponents, but in the end, the results may be the same as last season.
Photo credit: championsleague.basketball
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
