Looking ahead: what does the future hold for Armani Exchange Milan? / News - Basketnews.com

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While we're getting closer to the EuroLeague playoffs, it's the right time to start looking at what might happen this summer in what could be a really hot transfer season. AX Armani Exchange Milan have already secured a spot in the playoffs and most likely will have the home advantage.

Free throws this season

73%10,7Points made:10,7Accuracy:73,4%Place in standings:15Record max:24Record min:1Most made FTs:Shavon ShieldsTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

But plans for the next season have to be made, and Milan has to think about many situations already.

Let's try to paint a picture of what might happen during the next offseason in Milan, based on conversations with multiple sources and the current situation of the contracts inside the team.

Players on expiring deals: who's going to stay?

Armani Exchange have most of their roster on an expiring deal. At the end of the current season, the contracts of Kyle Hines, Gigi Datome, Riccardo Moraschini, Paul Biligha, Troy Daniels, Kaleb Tarczweski, Ben Bentil, Trey Kell, and Malcolm Delaney will all expire. Let's try to see what's the status of these players.

Sergio Rodriguez: The Spanish point guard will be 36 this summer. He’s very well-loved and respected inside the club, he has a fantastic relationship with the ownership and with coach Ettore Messina.

Armani Exchange would love to keep him around for at least another season. Despite his age, Rodriguez is still an elite player and is also one of the captains of the team. The veteran point guard currently earns around €1.6 million per season, the general idea would be to sign him to a new contract with a reduced salary.

A potential return to Spain, though, it's the main thing that might complicate an extension between Rodriguez and Milan. At 36, it's natural for the player and his family to look for options in their native country. Rodriguez has spent the past six years away from Spain, between the NBA, Russia, and Italy, so if an offer from Spain will come, he'll definitely look at it with interest.

Kyle Hines: Another key veteran player for Milan. Hines has already stated his will to sign a new contract with Milan to finish his career in Italy, and he has already started talks over a contract extension. He has a great relationship with Messina, and he'll be 36 in September.

Just like Rodriguez, Hines, despite his age, is still one of the best players in his role in EuroLeague. He's making around $900.000 this season, and even, in this case, there might be the possibility for a new contract with a reduced salary.

If everything goes according to the plan, he'll remain an Armani Exchange player.

Luigi Datome: Datome is another of the key veteran players of the team, and in a way, he's even more important because he's Italian and his status for the domestic league is extremely important.

Even in this case, the chances of a new contract are really good as of right now. Datome has embraced his role as a veteran inside the team and has no rush to leave the club. He currently makes around €1.4 million per season, and the idea of the club, just like for Rodriguez and Hines, is to keep him at a lower salary.

Malcolm Delaney: In a recent interview with Basketnews, Delaney stated that another full season in Europe it's 100% not happening. The American guard wants more time to rest and to focus on his business activities outside of basketball.

The player might explore the Chinese or Japanese market more where regular seasons are shorter. It's unlikely that Milan will wait for him just to have him for a short part of the season. As things stand now, it's unlikely that Delaney will be an Olimpia Milan player next season.

Kaleb Tarczweski: The American big man struggled to maintain the expectations that there were on him after he signed a multi-year extension in 2020. His minutes decreased, and his impact on the team hasn't been exactly impressive.

His contract will expire at the end of the season, although there's an option to extend it for a further season. At the moment, it looks unlikely that Milan will use that option. The team needs a more reliable big in the rotation, and the chances of separation at the end of the season are quite high.

Ben Bentil: Bentil was brought in during the season to cover the injury of Dinos Mitoglou. So far, he gave a solid contribution to the team, and he might be a decent backup option going forward.

At the moment, though, his status for the next season is uncertain. His potential contract extension is not considered a priority, and the team wants to look at other cases before.

Trey Kell: The American guard was also brought in during the season to cover some of the absences in the backcourt. He signed only until the end of the season, and his continuity in the club looks difficult at this time.

Troy Daniels: The shooting guard struggled to find consistency in the first part of the season. Also, he suffered an injury right before the beginning of the regular season.

He's playing a bit more in Serie A than in EuroLeague (16 minutes vs 11.5), and despite not shining, he's keeping a solid average from 3-point (39% both in Euroleague and Serie A), which is the main reason why he was signed.

His continuity with Milan is still not 100% sure, but a shooter like him is always a good thing to have on the roster.

Riccardo Moraschini: The Italian forward is currently suspended due to a positive doping test. His situation has been paradoxical with insane long times for the final judgment and a constant rebound of responsibilities between different tribunals.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Moraschini will most likely become a free agent, and a return to Milan looks unlikely at the moment.

Paul Biligha: Biligha is a reliable big man, especially for the Italian league, but he will be 32 in May, and Milan might decide to go for a younger player. No final decision has been made yet by the club on his future.

Potential targets: the big names and the 'under the radar' profiles

Now let's focus on the potential additions that Armani Exchange might make during the offseason. With the likely departure of Tarczweski, one of the main focuses will be on the frontcourt.

According to multiple sources, Milan is showing serious interest in Brandon Davies. The 30-year-old big man is in the final year of his contract with Barcelona, and the Italian's club front office highly appreciates him. Having Davies sharing the center's role with Kyle Hines would be a huge upgrade for Milan.

Sources close to Barcelona told BasketNews that in the Catalan club, there's a level of concern that Davies might leave the team at the end of the season, and that's also one of the reasons why Barcelona is trying to convince Toko Shengelia to join the team when the season is over.

Jan Vesely is another player that Armani Exchange has always appreciated. Still, even though the player is on an expiring deal with Fenerbahce, his potential arrival in Milan doesn't look particularly possible at the moment, sources told Basketnews.

If Partizan Belgrade will land a spot in the EuroLeague, coach Zeljko Obradovic will use all his power to try to make a reunion with the Czech big man.

But moves are also expected in the backcourt. With Delaney not likely to stay and Rodriguez also on an expiring deal, Milan will look to add at least one player in the PG/SG role.

A name that the Italian side is keeping an eye on is Canadian guard Naz Mitrou-Long. The player is absolutely shining in Brescia, where he's averaging 17.4 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 37% from 3-point.

Last week he had a 22-point performance against Milan, helping Brescia to get a prestigious victory. Mitrou-Long is also on the radar of a few EuroLeague teams, including the Greek ones, considering that the player might receive the Greek passport soon, which will help boost his market value.

Messina and the rest of Milan's front office are looking at his profile with interest, believing that he could represent a good addition for the club, even if he hasn't any EuroLeague experience yet.

At the end of the day, Devon Hall arrived in Milan with no EuroLeague experience, and he's doing just fine.

But another incoming free agent that will attract a lot of interest on himself is Will Clyburn. The 31-year-old forward is one of the best players on the continent, and his situation with CSKA Moscow is up in the air.

Before the war in Ukraine had started, Clyburn had already started some talks with CSKA about a contract extension and looked willing to remain in Russia, according to multiple sources.

But now we're in a completely different scenario, and we still have no idea what will happen with the Russian clubs in EuroLeague next season. Clyburn is drawing interest from some of the major teams in Europe, including Real Madrid and Armani Exchange Milan, multiple sources told BasketNews.

So far, his agent, BeoBasket's boss Misko Raznatovic, has downplayed every rumor about his client. Still, with the uncertainty surrounding the situation of the Russian teams, the future of Clyburn might be different than originally anticipated.

In any case, Milan will be ready if he'll decide to leave CSKA and look for a new experience.

The Italians

We explained how having solid Italian players is key for Milan to extend their rotations and have more firepower also at the EuroLeague level. The main target among the local players for next season remains Stefano Tonut of Reyer Venezia, sources told BasketNews.

Armani Exchange had already shown interest in signing Tonut last summer, but there were no outs in his contract, and Venezia wanted to keep him around for at least one more season.

This summer, though, Tonut will have EuroLeague escape in his contract, which Milan will try to use to bring him to the team. The Italian guard is one of the most reliable players in the country, he has won two Italian league titles with Venezia, and he's a stable member of the Italian NT.

It won't be a cheap deal, between the player's salary and the buyout to pay, but it's something that Milan considers as a priority, sources told BasketNews.

Other profiles that might be looked at are the ones of Gabriele Procida and Leonardo Totè. Procida is one of the brightest talents of Italian basketball, he might be selected in the upcoming draft.

Milan had already shown interest last summer, but the player and his entourage decided to join Fortitudo Bologna and coach Jasmin Repesa because they felt he was the right coach to develop the player.

Unfortunately, Repesa left Fortitudo after just one game, and Procida struggled to find consistent minutes in the rotation under coach Martino, although he had some really nice games from time to time.

If Fortitudo will be relegated, which is something that cannot be ruled out at the moment, Procida will most likely leave the club, and Milan will consider his situation. Unless, of course, the player will be drafted and will decide to go to the USA right away.

Totè, another former Fortitudo Bologna, who recently joined GeVi Napoli, another team that might be relegated at the end of the season.

He could be an option for the center role if Biligha leaves. He's represented by the same agency that represents Nicolò Melli and Gigi Datome, so Milan would already have an established connection.

The coach

Coach and president of basketball operations Ettore Messina is also on an expiring deal with the club, although there are options to extend the original contract for another two years.

As of right now, both Messina and Milan's ownership want to focus on the rest of the season, to reach the important goals that were set, which are basically winning the Italian league and trying to reach another EuroLeague Final Four.

There's a lot of appreciation for coach Messina in Milan. Owner Giorgio Armani considers him the perfect man for the club and would love to keep him around for a really long time, as he stated in multiple interviews.

However, the most likely scenario is that coach Messina will sign a new deal with Armani Exchange and that the only thing that might take him away from Milan is an offer from the NBA.

Coach Messina has been an assistant coach in the NBA for multiple years, first with the Lakers and then with the San Antonio Spurs. During his time in the NBA, he was interviewed by different teams to become a head coach, but in the end, he didn't get the job.

At 62, it's unlikely, though, that Messina will return to the NBA only for an assistant coach job, sources told BasketNews. Of course, if a head coaching job offer arrives, the situation will be completely different.

Messina's son will attend Duke from next summer, so if something really concrete from the NBA would come, that'd be another reason for him to go in order to stay close to his son. For the moment, all the signals lead to a continuation of the relationship with Milan, but we'll see what's going to happen in the next few months.

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