Most intriguing players to follow in the Italian league next season / News - Basketnews.com

As a new season dawns, BasketNews sets its sights on the forthcoming action in the Italian league, specifically highlighting a selection of captivating additions. Which players are poised to ignite intrigue? Let's delve into their profiles.

Credit: Galloway (FIBA), Cauley-Stein (Scanpix), Prestiss Hubb (FIBA) Credit Galloway (FIBA), Cauley-Stein (Scanpix), Prestiss Hubb (FIBA)

Another season is about to start, and there's always a certain level of curiosity as to which league the new European market revelation might come from.

Jamel Morris

Position:SGAge:30Height:193 cmWeight:91 kgBirth place:Ohio, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

The Italian league has always been a fair source of talent, often managing to get the first crack at players who have gone on to become established names, even at the EuroLeague level.

This offseason, there has certainly been no shortage of interesting additions to the championship, some even surprising.

With the start of the next regular season approaching, this seems to be the best time to try to figure out which players will be the most interesting to follow in Lega Basket this upcoming campaign.

Willie Cauley-Stein | C | Pallacanestro Varese

It was virtually impossible to begin this list without mentioning Wille Cauley-Stein, a huge addition made by Pallacanestro Varese and probably the most surprising summer transfer in Italy.

The American big man was the 6th overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft and spent almost a decade in the league, playing for the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Philadelphia 76ers.

For a big chunk of his career, Cauley-Stein was a pretty solid NBA player, but in the last few years, he started to have a diminished role.

Credit USA Sports Today-Scanpix

Last season, he ended up playing in the G League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Houston Rockets affiliate. In a way, it makes a lot of sense that Cauley-Stein signed for the most American team in Italy, Varese.

The club's majority owner is Luis Scola, a former Rockets player and one of the FIBA legends. Meanwhile, Australian businessman Ross Pelligra owns a minority stake in the Italian club.

Ever since Scola assumed majority ownership of Varese, the team has consistently drawn inspiration from the NBA and the United States as a whole in their approach to managing the club.

Last season, under coach Matt Brase, Varese had a strong regular season, and they'd have played in the playoff if it wasn't for a penalty they received for some old financial debts with several players.

The new head coach is another American, Tom Bialaszewski, who had already worked in Italy as an assistant coach for Ettore Messina in Milan.

Credit AP – Scanpix

On paper, Cauley-Stein is a perfect fit for Varese. The team plays a high-tempo basketball and needs a big man who can run the floor in transition and can roll to the basketball effectively.

Cauley-Stein has these types of skills, and if he'll adapt well to European basketball, he's going to be a huge addition to Varese.

Despite not being in the NBA anymore, the American player hasn't lost his talent or anything like it. In the G League, he looked in good shape, and his athleticism was there.

Moreover, Cauley-Stein was very involved during the contract negotiations and asked many questions about his landing spot. It feels like he's ready to embrace European basketball in his life, which will make things easier in the adjustment process.

Langston Galloway | G | Unahotels Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia decided to make drastic changes after a complicated season, in which the team avoided relegation only in the last few weeks of the regular season.

A new GM, Claudio Coldebella, a new head coach, Dimitris Priftis, and a roster that has been heavily modified compared to last season.

The flagship addition was the one that brought Langston Galloway to Europe for the first time in his career.

An NBA veteran with more than 400 games played in the league is a luxury that not all the teams in Italy can have, and Reggio Emilia will heavily rely on Galloway's experience to build success this year.

Credit AP – Scanpix

The pairing of Galloway and Jamar Smith, with the addition of another talented guard like Briante Weber, makes Reggio Emilia's backcourt one of the most intriguing in the entire league.

Although Galloway has found very little space in the NBA in recent years and played last season in the G League, he is still a player who is fully physically intact and could be a notable factor in the Italian league if his adaptation to European basketball proceeds smoothly.

Galloway has also been a part of the USA Select Team recently and played several qualifying games with Team USA.

Reggio Emilia wants to get back on its feet after a very difficult campaign. Building on a player like Langston Galloway is certainly a promising start.

Prentiss Hubb | G | Aquila Basket Trento

Trento has been one of the most solid realities of Italian basketball for years. A club that works within its economic parameters while still managing to develop talent and discover top-notch players.

It is not so surprising that within this list, there is a player signed by Trento during the offseason. We are talking about Prentiss Hubb, an American combo guard who wore the Ludwigsburg jersey last season.

In his rookie season in Europe, Hubb immediately had a strong impact in the German league, averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game.

The American combo guard was hands down one of the best rookies in Europe last season, and there was the feeling that he would receive plenty of interest on the market.

Credit FIBA

With Trento, he'll have the chance to play in EuroCup, a stage allowing him to have even more visibility.

Hubb, a Notre Dame alumn, is a very versatile point guard: he has great passing skills and can run a team's offense with no issues. He's also very quick and agile, which makes him even more difficult to contain for the opposing defense.

Hubb is not necessarily a very consistent shooter, especially from the three-point line, but he has shown improvements last year that gives hope that he can become a more continuous player in this regard.

His basketball IQ and athletic tools make him one of the most intriguing players in this upcoming Lega Basket season. Overall, a really admirable addition to Aquila Basket Trento.

Breein Tyree | G | Dinamo Sassari

After an impressive rookie season in Belgium, American guard Breein Tyree is ready for a bigger stage in the Italian league.

Dinamo Sassari signed him as one of the team's main scoring options. In his rookie season in Europe, Tyree was one of the best scorers in the BCL, averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting 37% from deep.

Perhaps Tyree's most interesting characteristic lies in his speed. The former Ostende man has acceleration and explosiveness like few others in his role, making him a competent guard in changing his own and the entire team's pace of play.

Credit FIBA

He's not a pure point guard, but he can sometimes handle the offense, sharing responsibilities with another guard.

His ball-handling skills are really good, giving him even more options to find the basket.

Tyree still needs to find more balance in his shooting selection since sometimes he can force too much, but he's an extremely interesting player, and Sassari had to beat strong competition -- especially from Turkey -- to sign him.

Grant Golden | C | Vanoli Cremona

After spending a year in the second one, Vanoli Cremona returned to the Italian top division. The newcomer has made an intriguing move with the addition of American big man Grant Golden.

The 25-year-old big man spent last season in G League with the Grand Rapids Gold, averaging 14.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

At the beginning of this article, we talked about Cauley-Stein and his athleticism. Golden is an entirely different type of center.

He's not very athletic or explosive, but he has a high basketball IQ. He can pass the ball extremely well for a player of his size and tends to do a lot of damage in off-ball motion plays.

Defensively, despite not being the most athletic guy around, Golden can hold his ground, and he's smart enough to overcome some of his physical limits.

Following his rookie season in Europe will be interesting because Golden is a unique mix between an "old-school" type of big man and a more "modern" one.

Securing the services of a player like Golden could prove pivotal for a recently promoted top-division team, potentially serving as a game-changer in steering clear of the relegation struggle in the upcoming season.

Rayjon Tucker | G | Reyer Venezia

After a complicated season, Italian team Reyer Venezia underwent a massive roster rebuild this summer.

Coach Neven Spahija wanted to have a different kind of team to bring back the club among the contenders in the Italian league.

One of the main additions by Venezia so far has been Rayjon Tucker, an explosive slasher who will bring a lot of excitement to Venice.

While this marks Tucker's inaugural venture in Europe, it isn't his first outside the borders of the USA.

Credit AFP - Scanpix

Last season, Tucker played in Australia with Melbourne United and was among the best scorers in the league, averaging 18 points per game while shooting 38% from the three-point range.

Tucker is a very athletic and explosive swingman. He can finish at the rim thanks to his great leaping capabilities and has a lot of confidence in his jumper.

In Venice, he's probably not going to have the same type of freedom with the ball in his hands that he had in Australia, as coach Spahija's system is more strict, so he'll need to be more in control in terms of shot selection, one of the aspects of his game that needs improving.

Venice made several interesting moves on the market. In addition to Tucker, they also acquired O'Connell, Caboclo, and Simms, so Venice will be a must-watch team in Lega Basket next season.

Jamel Morris | G | Happy Casa Brindisi

Morris stands out as one of Brindisi's key offseason acquisitions. Interestingly, this signifies a homecoming of sorts for Morris, as he initiated his career in Italy's minor leagues.

Last season, the American guard had one of the best seasons of his career with Lietkabelis Panevezys, where he averaged 15.1 points and 2.4 assists per game in the EuroCup.

The Fairmont State alumn is at the peak of his career as he'll turn 31 in November and will have a major role with Brindisi this upcoming season.

Credit LKL

He is a versatile player who scores in every offensive and tactical situation he is asked to do. He can place his feet quickly and always shoot with the same shooting mechanics, always the same speed and release point.

Morris will share the offensive responsibilities with Wendell Mitchell, who arrived from the Hungarian league, and with Jeremy Senglin, another player who has already experienced the Italian league as he played with Reggio Emilia last season.

Other notable mentions: Sean McDermott (G, Pallacanestro Varese), Aamir Simms (F, Reyer Venezia), Bruno Caboclo (F/C, Reyer Venezia), Ryan Hawkins (F, Pistoia).

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