EuroLeague Power Rankings: clear Top 4 and no place for Zeljko in the playoffs / News - Basketnews.com

With the upcoming EuroLeague 2022-23 season, BasketNews is bringing back its Power Rankings.

Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou - Getty Images, ZumaPress.com Scanpix, D.Lukšta | BasketNews.lt iliustracija/M.Didė Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou - Getty Images, ZumaPress.com Scanpix, D.Lukšta | BasketNews.lt iliustracija/M.Didė

The 2022-23 EuroLeague season is upon us. New teams, many transfers, plenty of intrigues, and probably the biggest pool of talent in the tournament's history.

With EuroLeague coming back, BasketNews EuroLeague Power Rankings also return. Our 17 experts ranked the teams from 1st to 18th place, evaluating their pre-season form, built rosters, and the overall picture.

The clubs received 18 points for 1st place vote, 17 – for 2nd, 16 – for 3rd, 15 – for 4th, and so on.

18. ALBA Berlin

Points: 41 Position in the BasketNews Power Rankings before the last season: 18

Just like last year, ALBA didn't receive much love from our expert panel and are being pushed to the bottom.

However, last season, the German club finished in 11th place. Can they exceed the expectations again? ALBA maintained their core, except for Oscar Da Silva, and signed four new players: Ziga Samar, Gabriele Procida, Tim Schneider, and Yannick Wetzell.

17. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne

Points: 50 Position before the last season: 17

After opening last season with three wins in a row, ASVEL managed to achieve only five more victories up until the end of the season.

Elie Okobo and Chris Jones was the hottest EuroLeague duo for a while, but none of them will play for the French team this year.

In addition, ASVEL also lost Kostas Antetokounmpo, Victor Wembanyama, and a few other players. However, it's worth mentioning that ASVEL managed to sign Nando De Colo and Joffrey Lauvergne.

16. Zalgiris Kaunas

Points: 62 Position before the last season: 15

Looking back, it was a shaky and bleak season for Zalgiris that fans would like to forget ASAP. Three different head coaches, poor results, and the lost LKL title.

With the new season coming up, Zalgiris are turning a fresh page with head coach Kazys Maksvytis, who returns to EuroLeague for the first time after the 2014-15 season campaign with Neptunas Klaipeda.

The Lithuanian powerhouse made seven new signings, with Ignas Brazdeikis and Keenan Evans headlining the roster.

15. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

Points: 73 Position before the last season: 16

After almost making the playoffs last year, Crvena Zvezda face the season with many changes and will have to prove themselves once again.

Core players like Nikola Kalinic, Nate Wolters, Austin Hollins, and Dejan Davidovac left the team, while arguably the most important piece of the puzzle, head coach Dejan Radonjic, also signed for Panathinaikos Athens.

Despite the losses, the Serbian team maintained their ambitious approach by signing Nemanja Nedovic, John Holland, Hassan Martin, and Filip Petrusev.

Meanwhile, the 38-year-old head coach Vladimir Jovanovic will make his debut in the EuroLeague and try to build a winning squad.

14. Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

Points: 74 Position before the last season: 8

After a rather underwhelming season last year, Baskonia's stock plummeted in our experts' eyes.

During the summer, the Spanish club lost Simone Fontecchio, Wade Baldwin, Jayson Granger, and Alec Peters.

The Basques signed Joan Penarroya as a new head coach, while in the player's department, Baskonia didn't make flashy signings, adding Markus Howard, Darius Thompson, Daniel Diez, Daulton Holmes, and Maik Kotsar.

13. Valencia Basket

Points: 92 Position before the last season: N/A

Valencia make its return to the EuroLeague after a 1-year break. With Mike Tobey being the biggest loss, Taronges maintained the majority of its core (Klemen Prepelic, Martin Hermansson, Sam Van Rossom) while adding Chris Jones, Jared Harper, and Jonah Radebaugh.

After a successful spell at Bilbao, Alex Mumbru is also taking another step forward in his managerial career and will try to continue his success at the EuroLeague level.

12. Panathinaikos Athens

Points: 111 Position before the last season: 14

Last year, Panathinaikos suffered another poor season in the EuroLeague while being completely overshadowed by its rivals Olympiacos Piraeus.

Until last year, Panathinaikos had been the holder of a unique record. The six-time EuroLeague champs had won at least one major domestic or international title since 1998.

However, that streak came to an end in 2022, as Olympiacos lifted both the Greek Cup and the championship title.

Now, after getting a financial backup, Panathinaikos will aim to rise from the bottom. During the summer, Greens signed Nate Wolters, Paris Lee, Marius Grigonis, Mateusz Ponitka, Arturas Gudaitis, Derrick Williams, and Kalaitzakis brothers.

Head coach Dejan Radonjic left his comfort zone in Belgrade in an attempt to make Panathinaikos project a reality that every PAO fan waits for.

11. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv

Points: 146 Position before the last season: 11

After a shaky second half of the season, in which Maccabi parted ways with Ioannis Sfairopoulos and eventually made its comeback to EuroLeague playoffs, the Israeli powerhouse made a complete overhaul.

David Blatt made his return to the club in a consultancy role. Maccabi also signed 10 players and Oded Kattash in a head coach role. It will be interesting to see how this Maccabi team will get used to each other and what it will accomplish during the season.

10. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade

Points: 147 Position before the last season: N/A

Zeljko Obradovic makes his awaited return to the EuroLeague. After being named one of the main contenders in the last season's EuroCup, Partizan crashed out in the first playoffs round.

Nevertheless, Partizan received a wildcard and was welcomed back to the strongest European competition.

During the summer, Partizan retained such players as Kevin Punter, Zach LeDay, Alen Smaigalic, Yam Madar, and other core members. On top of that, the Serbian powerhouse acquired Dante Exum, Danilo Andjusic, James Nunnally, Ioannis Papapetrou, and Mathias Lessort.

A scary team on paper. But it was the same last year in the EuroCup and we all know how it ended. Will Partizan meet the expectations this season?

9. Virtus Segafredo Bologna

Points: 162 Position before the last season: N/A

EuroCup champions were very close to making the Top 8 in our Power Rankings but fell just short. However, looking at the names Virtus brought together, we can easily call them one of the playoffs contenders.

Milos Teodosic, Nico Mannion, Daniel Hackett, Tornike Shengelia, Marco Bellinelli, and Isaia Cordinier are just the names from last season. On top of that, we have Iffe Lundberg, Semi Ojeleye, and Jordan Mickey.

And let's not forget that the Italian team will be coached by freshly baked EuroBasket champion Sergio Scariolo.

Virtus showed their ambition to return to EuroLeague for years, and finally, they fulfilled that dream. Let's see if they manage to hold off the reality.

8. FC Bayern Munich

Points: 168 Position before the last season: 11

After being written down for the last two seasons, it looks like Andrea Trinchieri's magic convinced our experts.

The German club begins our Top 8, and before the upcoming season, many believe that Trinchieri will lead Bayern to the EuroLeague playoffs once again.

During the offseason, Bayern decided to go in a different direction than in the past few seasons.

While previously they moved on the market mostly trying to bring in players who were about to leave other big teams of the EuroLeague or to invest in younger talents from the EuroCup sides, this summer, Bayern decided to invest in players coming from the NBA market.

Their three main additions of this summer all come from the NBA/G League route:Cassius Winston,Freddie Gillespie, andIsaac Bonga.

We'll see if this approach will pan out.

7. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Points: 218 Position before the last season: 6

Despite losing Jan Vesely, Nando De Colo, and Pierria Henry, Fenerbahce get the nod for the playoffs.

And it's not hard to understand why. Nemanja Bjelica, Scottie Wilbekin, Nick Calathes, Carsen Edwards, and Dimitris Itoudis are just a few names that joined the Turkish club.

Fenerbahce surely have the personnel, let's see if they will execute.

6. AS Monaco

Points: 219 Position before the last season: 12

After making its debut last season, Monaco almost made it to the Final Four. Now, the Monegasque team increased its budget by 47% up to 20.7 million euros.

Dwayne Bacon and Danilo Andjusic are the biggest losses from the summer, but Monaco retained Mike James, Donta Hall, Alpha Diallo and signed such players as Elie Okobo, Jordan Loyd, John Brown, or Adrien Moerman.

Plenty of power to make the EuroLeague playoffs, and who knows, maybe a further step to the Final Four.

5. Olympiacos Piraeus

Points: 240 Position before the last season: 9

Olympiacos also enjoyed a successful season, reaching the Final Four and claiming everything in domestic competitions.

However, at the moment, our experts don't see Olympiacos making the Final Four again. The Reds had a rather calm summer, with Tyler Dorsey being the biggest loss, while Isaiah Canaan took the marquee signing role.

We can expect Olympiacos to be competitive again as the beginning of the season shouldn't be too complicated in terms of getting used to each other, since the majority of the team, including Georgios Bartzokas, remained in the club.

Will it be enough to reach the Final Four again? Or maybe Olympiacos will improve even more and become serious contenders for the title?

4. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan

Points: 263 Position before the last season: 5

Emporio Armani welcome us to the Top 4 of our Power Rankings. During the last season's playoffs, Emporio Armani suffered from many injuries and couldn't hold off the reigning champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

However, the Italian champions are coming back with an even stronger squad. Kevin Pangos is headlining the squad while being accompanied by Brandon Davies, Billy Baron, and Johannes Voigtmann.

Nicolo Melli is coming off a successful EuroBasket campaign, while Devon Hall, Shavon Shields, and Kyle Hines already proved their worth.

Ettore Messina built arguably the best team of his tenure and Milan, so this year it will be time to deliver.

3. FC Barcelona

Points: 274 Position before the last season: 3

Barca topped the EuroLeague regular-season standings for two straight years, but the Catalan pride finished second and third, respectively. It's time to win it all? We will see.

Nikola Mirotic's absence due to Achilles tendon injury seems like a serious setback to lead the table again after 34 Rounds.

Though, Sarunas Jasikevicius is well-known for being able to demand everything from his players and go game-by-game mentality. It's crucial for stability during the entire regular season.

Six players (Calathes, Exum, Hayes-Davis, Smits, Davies, Oriola) are not walking through the Palau Blaugrana door anymore, but Saras isn't bothered one bit. Mike Tobey, Oscar da Silva, and Jan Vesely were the additions to the big man department during the off-season, while Nikola Kalinic and Tomas Satoransky boosted the perimeter line.

If it's not a clear improvement, it's at least maintaining the status quo.

2. Anadolu Efes Istanbul

Points: 279 Position before the last season: 2

Imagine winning EuroLeague twice in a row and adding the 'European LeBron James' to your squad. Coach Ergin Ataman is certainly ready for an unprecedented three-peat run, with Will Clyburn joining the arguably best EuroLeague backcourt duo of Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin.

Yes, the latter is sidelined with a finger injury but Anadolu Efes can start playing from New Year, and they will still be among the best -- if not the best -- as we saw last season. That's a luxury when you have the last three Final Four MVPs (Clyburn 2019, Vasilije Micic 2021, 2022) on your roster.

Efes kicked off their 2022-23 campaign in strong fashion, winning the Turkish Super Cup. However, their pre-season performances, especially against Umana Reyer Venezia in Italy and Panathinaikos in Athens, indicated a team that has turned slow starts into a habit.

And let's not forget a strong trio of Amath M'Baye, Achille Polonara, and Ante Zizic, who significantly bolstered the Anadolu Efes frontcourt this summer.

1. Real Madrid

Points: 291 Position before the last season: 4

The Royal club made the jump to the top of our Power Rankings by going through pre-season with an almost flawless play.

It appears that Chus Mateo is in complete control of his team and ready for a winning season to extend what Pablo Laso consolidated during his 11-year era at the club.

Since Laso left Madrid, Mateo won two titles in as many attempts, both times beating none other than Lithuanian mastermind Sarunas Jasikevicius, who was a curse for the previous Real's head coach.

As we could witness in the Spanish Super Cup final, Walter Tavares isn't going to let go of the most dominant center title this upcoming EuroLeague season.

Combining this with the arrivals of Sergio Rodriguez, Dzanan Musa, Mario Hezonja, and Petr Cornelie, we have a mix of championship material.

Although Real said goodbyes to Heurtel, Thompkins, and Taylor, their roster looks as deep as the Mariana Trench, with all 12 players being able to influence the game.

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