Three EuroLeague trade ideas: Dorsey, Napier, and win-win for PAO / News - Basketnews.com

Crvena Zvezda would do a trade with Zalgiris, Tyler Dorsey would be the focal point in a Fenerbahce-Olympiacos deal, while Panathinaikos would acquire a player from Milan.

Credit: Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic; Javier Borrego/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix Credit Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic; Javier Borrego/AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix

With the end of the first half of the EuroLeague season slowly approaching, teams are looking into acquiring players from other clubs from the tournament.

Shabazz Napier

Team:Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradePosition:PGAge:32Height:185 cmWeight:82 kgBirth place:Boston, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

EuroLeague regulations allow players signed mid-season from other EuroLeague organizations to play starting only from Round 18.

Usually, teams part ways with players, allowing them to pursue other deals in the league. As such, trades are extremely rare. However, if teams were to perform trades, there are multiple options that would benefit both sides of the transaction.

In the latest episode of the URBONUS podcast, BasketNews analyst Augustas Suliauskas and sports commentator Rytis Vysniauskas discussed possible trade scenarios.

Tyler Dorsey's return

One of the first trades discussed was Tyler Dorsey's move to his former team. Namely, Dorsey played for Olympiacos Piraeus during the 2021-22 season before moving to the NBA and later returning to Europe to play for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.

Currently, Dorsey is averaging 21 minutes of playing time per game and averaging 9 points and 8.5 PIR, down from his numbers in his Olympiacos days. The trade would bring Dorsey back to Greece. In exchange, Fenerbahce would receive Nigel Williams-Goss.

"From Fenerbahce's point of view, you have Scottie Wilbekin and Tyler Dorsey at the same time, you have Marko Guduric as well, who - as you've mentioned on this podcast - will probably have a bigger role under Jasikevicius. So I would trade Tyler Dorsey to Olympiacos, and in return, I'd probably ask for Nigel Williams-Goss," Suliauskas started off.

"Since you want to ship Nick Calathes somewhere, Nigel Williams-Goss, a tall point guard, fits to probably next to anyone on that roster with his defense. He can knock down shots, he was amazing last year in the playoffs, he knows how to win because he's seen it with Real Madrid," he explained. "If you have high hopes for your team, you need players in the locker room that have done it. It just makes it easier.

Shabazz Napier

MIN:17.73PTS:9.75 (44.7%)REB:1.67As:2.33ST:1.33BL:0TO:1.83GM:12ProfileEuroLeague2023/2024

When Dorsey played for Olympiacos, the team was coached by Georgios Bartzokas, who leads the squad at the moment as well. The 27-year-old guard would fit right into the system.

"For Olympiacos, you get a scorer you badly need, someone who knows the system, someone who can knock down six three-pointers on any given night and just create one-on-one. Right now, in Fenerbahce, he's not getting enough minutes to do that. There is Isaiah Canaan, who is playing amazingly this season, but I still think they would benefit from someone who can score one-on-one," Suliauskas explained.

Crvena Zvezda multi-player trade

Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade only have five wins in their column at the moment. Additionally, head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos has announced that Shabazz Napier's absence in the last game against Real Madrid was due to him negotiating a deal with another EuroLeague team.

While the player responded on social media, calling out the coach, it seems that the situation in Belgrade might warrant at least a single move from the organization.

As such, Crvena Zvezda would benefit from trading away Napier and bringing in another point guard who can both create and score. They would perform a trade with another struggling team - Zalgiris Kaunas.

"Shabazz Napier goes to Zalgiris, but not only him. Rokas Giedraitis also goes to Zalgiris. We know how important it is for Zalgiris to have as many Lithuanian players as possible. Let's admit that there are not too many of them that actually meet the EuroLeague standard. Rokas Giedraitis is a proven EuroLeague player," Vysniauskas explained.

"Zalgiris didn't replace Ignas Brazdeikis with someone who can play both as a shooting guard and a forward and help the team offensively. Now, they're dealing with injuries. Arnas Butkevicius is out, Brady Manek is out, [Edgaras] Ulanovas is playing 32 minutes. He'd be a perfect fit," he said.

Giedraitis has expressed his desire to return to Lithuania in an interview with BasketNews earlier this season. This move would allow him to do just that. In return, Crvena Zvezda would receive Keenan Evans as the main piece of the trade.

"I'm giving them Keenan Evans, and I'm thinking - should I give them 200k because Zalgiris has some money, or should I give them another player? They don't really have anybody else to add, so I give them cash," Vysniauskas smiled.

"Austin Hollins could be involved in a sign-and-trade if they want him," he added.

In fact, Evans was recently rumored to be on the market, but Zalgiris quickly shut down the rumors, with head coach Kazys Maksvytis denying the possibility of such a move. If a trade was performed, Zalgiris would not lose a player on an expiring contract and get a guard who has something to prove.

"Zvezda has a lot of guards. [Milos] Teodosic is playing well this season, Yago dos Santos is playing well since Sfairopoulos arrived, [Nemanja] Nedovic has some good performances, but Shabazz is underperforming. You still have some doubts about who is their closer and who's the guy taking over in the 4th quarter. If you have Keenan Evans, problem solved," Vysniauskas explained.

In addition to his offensive talents, Evans would help Crvena Zvezda defensively. Meanwhile, Zalgiris would receive the player they already looked into last season when Evans tore his Achilles.

"Evans is a tall point guard, he helps you on the defensive side as well. Zvezda would highly benefit from it. Zalgiris switch pretty often with him, and he's pretty good at holding down and fronting the centers. He's not only a one-sided offensive player, as it might seem for those who watch the stats more or haven't seen that many Zalgiris games. He's a two-way player," Suliauskas added.

"It's not a frequent sight in nowadays basketball. Offensive players have such a high usage rate offensively [that] it has become a normality for such players to become a weakness defensively just because they're doing so much offensively. With the pace at which the basketball is currently played, it's simply not possible for many of those guys to be good on both sides of the court. Keenan Evans is a rare example, and his height helps a lot," he concluded.

A win-win for Panathinaikos

After rebuilding almost the entire team and hiring a EuroLeague-winning coach Ergin Ataman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens are currently in the middle of the pack, sharing 9th place in the standings with 7 wins and 7 losses.

The team has been dealing with multiple injuries recently. Namely, Marius Grigonis is still feeling pain in his Achilles, while Juancho Hernangomez has just returned from a finger fracture.

At the same time, Konstantinos Mitoglou has blossomed into one of the better power forwards in the league, playing consistently high minutes with close to no one replacing him on the roster.

A trade involving Panathinaikos would bring some help for Mitoglou while helping the other team as well.

"Milan needs guards, it's obvious. So, I'm sending Kyle Guy to Milan. Billy Baron has been injured for a while. Messina needs a shooter, he needs somebody who can play off-ball and do the things Billy Baron usually does. We haven't seen much of Kyle Guy this season in Panathinaikos, there have been games where he plays just two or three minutes, but there's potential. If you saw him in Joventut Badalona, he's a good player, he's a good shooter," Vysniauskas voiced his choice.

"I'm starting to believe Kendrick Nunn can lead that team, and you have [Kostas] Sloukas as well. I think Luca Vildoza is a luxury player for Panathinaikos, and they can give him away. So I'm giving Luca Vildoza and Kyle Guy," he said. "In exchange, I'm getting Johannes Voigtmann to have a big guy who can stretch the floor, to have a big guy who can cover some minutes at the 'four' position when Mitoglou needs to rest. He can play as a five in certain scenarios, so maybe Balcerowski wouldn't get his minutes, but you have Lessort and Voigtmann as an option. When Juancho is back, he can start playing as a small forward more. To me, things just balance out perfectly."

A mobile forward, Juancho Hernangomez, would alleviate some of the load from Marius Grigonis. At the same time, Mitoglou would have a competent backup who can also help Mathias Lessort in the center position.

On the other side of the trade, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan would get two strong guards who would help the team offensively amidst an injury to their top scorer Nikola Mirotic.

Full URBONUS episode:

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