Milan's president weighs in on poor results, possible new point guard / News - Basketnews.com

Milan's president, Pantaleo Dell'Orco, said that fans have not to forget what Ettore Messina has achieved with the club amid the recent losing streak. He revealed that the initial plan was to re-sign Shabazz Napier, but he wanted to triple his salary for the 2023-24 season.

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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan have been on a losing streak in the EuroLeague recently. Besides, Kevin Pangos was recently left out of the roster despite not being injured.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan / Schedule

EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv90-98 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan AS Monaco66-72 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Valencia BasketThu19:30

The organization signed Nikola Mirotic, one of the biggest stars in the tournament, this offseason. However, it hasn't translated into results yet. With just one win in five games, Milan is tied for the last place in the EuroLeague.

In an interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Milan's president,Pantaleo Dell'Orco, touched on the recent struggles amid fan criticism of both the players and the coaching staff.

"For sure, things are not going particularly well right now, we need to do more. I have higher expectations, especially at the Euroleague level," he said.

"Messina won two league titles and brought us to the Final Four. We can't simply forget these achievements," the club's President back the head coach, Ettore Messina.

Talking about Pangos, Dell'Orco said that the club's initial plan was to re-sign Shabazz Napier, but the player's financial requirements were too high.

"We wanted to extend the contract with Napier this summer, but he asked for more than triple of what he was originally making, we didn't want to spend all that money," the operative said. "We had already invested a lot of money on Mirotic, although Barcelona is still paying half of the salary."

"We signed Maodo Lo, who's still not playing at the level we were expecting from him. If there's the opportunity, we'll return to the market, but we're not going to spend crazy money," Dell'Orco revealed. "With the financial fair play in place, there are boundaries that we need to respect, otherwise, we will be forced to pay huge fines."

Free throws this season

71%11,2Points made:11,2Accuracy:71,3%Place in standings:14Record max:13Record min:9Most made FTs:Nikola MiroticTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Due to EuroLeague's Financial Fairplay regulations, which do not allow the teams to have a single sponsor that contributes more than 50% of the total budget. All EuroLeague organizations are not allowed to spend more than 65% of the total budget on players' salaries as well.

EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas has explained that the EuroLeague intends to keep the rules and even expand them in the coming years.

"It worries me a little bit," Dell'Orco said about it. "On paper, it's the right system, and I hope it works correctly, but the fans have to understand that because of it, and for being sustainable, we cannot continue to open our wallets every single time. For this reason, we're looking for some new sponsors, and someone has already shown interest."

In two years, the city of Milan will host the 2026 Winter Olympics. The basketball team will have to find a new home to play their EuroLeague matches in since Mediolanum Forum - the venue the club currently plays in - will host figure skating and short track speed skating events. As such, extra work will be done to the venue to prepare it for the grand event.

"During the Olympics, we won't be able to use the Forum for six months. As of right now, the alternative would be to play in Turin, but we'd like to avoid playing outside of Milan," Dell'Orco said. "Unfortunately, we cannot use the Allianz Cloud (another venue in Milan where volleyball and basketball are played) because it's too small. This season, we sold more than 4000 season tickets, a record number for us."

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