ALBA sports director discusses roster rebuild, club's finances and EuroLeague future / News - Basketnews.com

Himar Ojeda, ALBA Berlin's sports director, explores the impact a permanent EuroLeague license can have on the club's budget and transfer moves. He also explains the reasons for the team's total rebuild, defines when the roster will be completed and comments on Luke Sikma's move to Olympiacos.

Credit: Andreas Gora/dpa, Imago Credit Andreas Gora/dpa, Imago

Himar Ojeda has been responsible for sports planning at ALBA Berlin since 2016. During his tenure, the club has celebrated three German championship titles and as many cup wins while being the springboard for numerous young and professional players to make the next leaps in their careers.

Luke Sikma

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On July 11, the Spanish executive extended his contract by another five years. By the time it expires (2028), Ojeda will have completed 12 years at ALBA, which is exactly how much he stayed in his hometown club Gran Canaria.

The journey has been interesting, but a lot more excitement might be on the way. For one, Ojeda had no idea he was going to stay in Berlin that long.

"Far from it," he tells BasketNews from the Canary Islands.

"I thought it would be a matter of 3-4 years, something like that. But seven [years] are already behind me, and we are going for five more. I didn't expect it, but I'm very happy because there's a good fit between my profile and the club."

When BasketNews' discussion with the 50-year-old executive took place, the NBA Summer League had just finished.

Ojeda went to Las Vegas, where he had the chance to meet some potential transfer targets for ALBA. With some of them, one last in-person contact served to ratify a pre-existing verbal agreement. Thus, Ojeda was able to close some deals while in the States.

He also got to meet up with ALBA's head coach, Israel Gonzalez, who was an assistant at the Memphis Grizzlies, before spending a week in Memphis, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.

What Ojeda didn't like about the Summer League was how populated the event has become over the past few years.

"It's a massive event. It's becoming more and more crowded and therefore complicated to do the scouting work," he lamented.

Credit Tilo Wiedensohler via www.imago-images.de

Ojeda doesn't hide that ALBA are going through a period of roster rebuild, as several players have already left the team or are about to do so.

Starting with captain Luke Sikma and moving on to the cases of Yovel Zoosman, Tamir Blatt, Jaleen Smith, and Maodo Lo, it looks certain that the 11-time German champions will present their fans with a brand-new starting lineup next season.

Last summer, ALBA had to reintegrate only two players -- Yanni Wetzell and Gabriele Procida. However, the German club had to take care of seven expiring contracts this June.

Last April, after the EuroLeague regular season was over, Ojeda said the objective was to get as many of them to stay as possible.

Still, in mid-July, ALBA and FC Bayern Munich were the two EuroLeague teams with the fewest (8) active contracts on their rosters.

And if someone can argue that Bayern have hired a new coach in Pablo Laso, something that can significantly delay the recruitment process, for ALBA, it's just a game of waiting.

"The market is moving slower, and we're not able to compete for players early, but rather at the end of the summer," Ojeda explains.

"It's hard because you get nervous about watching everyone else make signings while you're still far from closing the roster. It's appalling that we still don't have our starting five, but it's also the best strategy to get players who want to play in the EuroLeague," he thinks.

On July 19, ALBA officially signed a three-year deal with power forward Justin Bean, one of the players Ojeda saw in Las Vegas.

The 26-year-old became the team's first signing for the 2023-24 season. The only move the German club had made before that was extending Jonas Mattisseck's contract through 2026.

Ojeda says this season is an exception to how the German market operates.

"Normally, it moves faster," he notes. "The Germans plan everything, and I had a hard time adjusting to the fact that local players need to be signed quicker. But that has changed."

If the market was to move a little faster after the Summer League, that would serve ALBA's plans, as they need to make several moves in a short time span.

"I hope to have the full roster, or at least 80% of it, before the end of July," the team's sports director confesses. "Sometimes you can wait until the pre-season starts, but that's far from ideal."

In this "summer of waiting," as Ojeda has described it, ALBA watch their main players make the important decisions.

"We've let them explore their options and decide whether they want to stay or not. In the past, most of them stayed, but it seems that this year is different," the seasoned executive stresses.

Following a 2022-23 season, where ALBA didn't even make the title game in any competition for the first time since 2017, letting half of the roster go would seem a legit move.

Ojeda admits that those departures have been influenced -- at least in part -- by the outcome of the BBL playoffs and the way last season ended.

ALBA were upset by future champs ratiopharm Ulm in the playoff quarterfinals and thus forced to an early exit after having won two of the last three titles.

"Everything plays a part. Not being able to get further in the German league playoffs has left a bad taste," he says.

"But I would like to think that it wasn't the main reason for players' decision to leave. Everyone has to be responsible. When a player says, 'I want to be on a team that competes for the EuroLeague playoffs,' I respond, 'Very well. What are you going to do for us to be a playoff team?'

If we still had Marius Grigonis, Martin Hermannsson, Simone Fontecchio, Oscar da Silva, and Rokas Giedraitis, we would have a playoff squad," says Ojeda, who managed to squeeze in between his European ventures in Spain and Germany a 16-month term with the Atlanta Hawks as Director of international scouting.

His experience has taught him that every player has a different motivation. In the case of Luke Sikma, the player understood that he needed a change of scenery because he had been with ALBA for six years and wanted to do something different.

For Tamir Blatt, it was all about the opportunity.

"He's a player that no one considered capable of playing the EuroLeague, and with us, he showed that he can. Now, he has the chance to play for Maccabi. How many chances will he get to play at that level and be given that kind of contract? Well, not many," Ojeda maintains.

In other cases, as it happened with Maodo Lo, ALBA lost players who wanted to live an experience outside of Germany.

Despite the massive talent drain, Ojeda thinks it's still a success to have a group that lasted six years together. He mentions Real Madrid, Olympiacos, and Anadolu Efes as some of the teams that achieved continuity. ALBA's ceiling was much lower, but the strategy paid dividends, at least domestically.

"But now we have to start over," Ojeda remarks.

In his interview with BasketNews, ALBA Berlin's sports director referred to the uneven distribution of income among EuroLeague clubs and explained how the German side has achieved organic growth and to what extent can a permanent license change its status.

Himar Ojeda also addressed the effluence of European talent to the USA and assured ALBA fans that the rebuilding process won't take long.

I guess it was unpleasant for you to learn that Gran Canaria were unable to participate in next year's EuroLeague. You weren't part of the team that played in the 2018-19 EuroLeague, as ALBA competed in the EuroCup back then.Talking with the club's representatives, do you sense there might be a certain pattern established of EuroCup teams not being able to participate, or is it just the distance and location that led to the decision?Yes, it was a shame not to be able to play against Gran Canaria. A pity for them, most of all. I think the estimations made by their management make sense because travels and distance are important issues.

But I think it's a reflection that can be valid for any team. They might think, 'OK, let's participate in the EuroLeague, but that's not going to bring us any financial benefit in terms of gameday income.' But at the same time, you have the disadvantages caused by distance.

It is true that the teams that participate in a league as competitive as the ACB could think the same: 'It's going to take a toll in terms of the competitiveness that I can have in the domestic league and force me to stay out of the playoffs, the Copa del Rey and the European competition next year.' I definitely think the same situation could happen with some other teams in the future.

Gran Canaria president Sitapha Savane said not being allocated part of the market pool played an important part in the decision. Is it something ALBA had to deal with as well as a wild card holder?Yes, we have not been part of the market pool all these years. We are making an important effort to compete in the EuroLeague because that's where we want to be.

In addition, there is a plan for us to become an A-licensed team. That would make up for our efforts. On the other hand, the EuroLeague saw in us a candidate that deserves that license because we are a good product in sports terms, but we can also add value to the competition.

The television contracts in Germany have increased since the German teams in the league have become two. So has the following and the possibility of the price for TV rights in Germany being increased. At the moment, we have no income from the market pool, but we hope that we will have it soon.

Do you feel like the EuroCup is gradually losing touch with the EuroLeague, given that the finalist isn't allowed to play there anymore?If none of those teams qualified through the EuroCup were competitive enough, they would have retrogressed. In that case, the finalist would be promoted as well. From a sports perspective, everyone is attracted by the 'promotion and relegation' model, but you got to set certain requirements for teams to compete.

This mixed model of licenses and promotion via EuroCup is good. The problem is that everyone compares basketball to football, where even low-budget teams are making huge profits. But that system can't be implemented in European basketball yet.

Can you clarify the club's status in the EuroLeague? Did you get another wild card or a permanent license?We don't have a permanent license yet, but we are in the process of obtaining one. As the recent EuroLeague Assembly confirmed, three teams (Virtus Bologna, Crvena Zvezda, Valencia Basket) were invited and obtained a wild card, and we received a transitional license.

In principle, this process could have been completed even this summer, but last year's inclusion of ASVEL and Bayern, who preceded us in this process, has caused a delay. And now, with all the structural changes that have taken place, the process is going to take a little longer. Possibly, next summer.

During an event seven weeks ago, Johannes Thiemann reflected on the season, calling it a successful one. How would you rate it?From a sports perspective, the season cannot be considered a disaster -- far from it. We were able to compete in the EuroLeague, and we only had one win less than the previous years. We had the lowest budget and the youngest team by far in the league.

We topped teams like Panathinaikos and Bayern. In one of the most difficult seasons in the history of the competition, the level was higher than ever. I think we competed.

In the German league, we suffered only three defeats in the regular season, a record-tying performance. But we indeed came up short in the playoff quarterfinals, something we didn't expect.

Ulm not only eliminated us as the second seed. They beat Bayern and Bonn as well. All sports fans like to see those things happen, although we were on the losing side in that case.

Thiemann also added another point. He said that "the back-to-back EuroLeague seasons are draining" and that the team was running out of energy in the German league playoffs. Did you sense that too? How can that be avoided?For 3-4 years, we have been playing 83-87 matches. After the pandemic, there are many problems associated with flights from Berlin. Once, we had to go to Barcelona, and there was no direct flight. The same has happened to us with Belgrade on certain occasions.

In recent years, we have increased our roster a little bit to rotate players. Injuries and the ability to manage a large group are difficult for coaches. I don't know the solution, but the main damage is that we don't practice enough. Once the season starts, it's very difficult to have 2-3 practice sessions in a row.

We have to find a solution without losing the essence of European basketball, which is to prepare every game to the fullest. If we don't, we're going to become a bad copy of the NBA and play games without preparation. Our fans live off the intensity of the game, not just the spectacle.

You said in an interview, "We cannot and do not want to massively increase our budget overnight and thus make ourselves a playoff contender. ALBA stands for organic growth."

Has the team's budget for player salaries increased since 2019, when the team entered the EuroLeague?Since 2019, our budget has been increased by €2 million net for player salaries only. That's a lot of money. The club is fully committed to being competitive and increasing its budget every year. But we have a philosophy. We can't raise our budget by €2 million in one season alone.

Sometimes we take a break, as it happens this season. We depend on the market. We don't have anyone who will pay out of his own pocket, nor do we have a rich owner or a football club subsidizing the basketball section.

Sometimes, this growth means you don't raise your budget for a while to increase it the next year. If, suddenly, our budget increased, we would be delighted. But we believe that investments should be made in different things.

For example, we are going to make a major renovation to our practice facility. We are renovating the entire gym, and during next season, we'll change the locker room area, invest in new equipment and create an area where the players can eat.

Our personnel has grown a lot in the last few years. We have a performance director, more physiotherapists, trainers, and assistants. That's how we want to grow organically.

Credit IMAGO/Oryk HAIST

If, after four years in the EuroLeague and a permanent license probably on the way, ALBA don't at least aim at being a playoff contender, then what's the benefit for both the club and the league?When we get the permanent license, we will immediately be able to increase the budget by at least €1.5 million or more, just because our income will grow as well. That will significantly help us build a better team and compete for players we can't afford right now.

It will give us a guarantee for the future in terms of the stability that's important to the German mentality. Germany is a powerful country, and if you think about their development, it has always been progressive.

The way to do things is in the medium-long run. ALBA Berlin is a club that started from zero and has established itself at the highest level. People have to understand that ALBA is going to keep climbing step by step. Our goal is to make the team to compete in the EuroLeague playoffs.

There is a strategic plan that has been presented to the EuroLeague and which we've been following since 2019. That's the economic progress we've had. If we argue that ALBA isn't competitive because we haven't made the playoffs in the last four years, you'll see that in the same time span, we have finished above Panathinaikos in the standings.

Now, they [PAO] look like they're going to be a playoff team or even fight for the title. Five years ago, the team that came in last was Efes, and two years later, they won two titles.

I also think we bring value to the EuroLeague in terms of the way we play. We have received a lot of positive feedback from other teams and fans for our competitiveness. We play attractive basketball.

Financially, we serve to lower inflation a little bit. We bring new players into the EuroLeague, like Martin Hermannsson, Simone Fontecchio, Rokas Giedraitis, and Landry Nnoko.

Teams have to overpay players due to the fact that they are already in the EuroLeague. The budget of the other teams helps to balance spending.

If ALBA had an unlimited budget, which EuroLeague player would you sign with your eyes closed?[Edy] Tavares. It's easy.

Inarguably, the most important player to leave ALBA has been Luke Sikma, who became one of the longest-serving players in the club's history. Were you surprised he signed with Olympiacos, considering he's a completely different player from Sasha Vezenkov?I wasn't surprised, but I think he'll be a good fit. Although he's completely different from Vezenkov, whom there's no way of replacing. Olympiacos didn't have a replacement for that position.

For us personally, Olympiacos was the team that we liked the most during the entire regular season in terms of the style of basketball they produced; moving the ball a lot, playing with different inside and outside options, and a style of basketball that has little to do with what everyone else is playing in the EuroLeague. Obviously, they were able to develop a very attractive style on a different level than us.

I think Luke is a very good piece for that style. Olympiacos is a good place for him.

As we're talking about key players, one can assume that the club will try to make a total rebuild. If so, what's the short-term and the long-term goal of that process?In the long run, we want to integrate all these pieces because creating a team dynamic with many new players is difficult. In the long term, we want to re-create an important core on which we can grow. Even if we lose a piece along the way, some players will be together for 4-5 years.

When a team is new to a competition, it needs time until it can perform at the highest level. Monaco is a special situation because they have built a squad of the highest order.

On top of that, Sasa Obradovic did an extraordinary job. ASVEL is a club that I have a lot of respect for because it's very organic, and they work for the future.

ALBA are playing Bayern in their EuroLeague premiere. How much does Pablo Laso change the German basketball landscape, and where does he fit in?I think he will change Bayern's style, something that happened with ALBA when I arrived there seven years ago. Pablo is a good coach, and he formed a style worth studying while he was at Real Madrid. It's different from the one Bayern had had so far in every aspect.

It shows that the German league is gravitating towards Western basketball. Even years ago, it was a G League style, with too many Americans and fewer European players. I think Pablo is going to participate in this process, as other coaches have done. That change will be very positive for German basketball.

Neither ALBA nor Bayern have signed any player from BBL champions ratiopharm Ulm this summer. Yet, Ulm's roster has disintegrated almost completely. Is that the price a team can pay for being successful? ALBA have also seen many players leave after having great seasons individually.Yes, it is. You have success, and your name is associated with it. People dare to take a chance on you at higher levels. I would like players to sometimes say, 'Well, we can get to the next level if we can repeat that success and stay here.'

But, on the other hand, I understand that there are opportunities that players want to take advantage of. That's what happened with Ulm.

You joined ALBA in 2016. It was the year the Final Four was held in Berlin. Germany had only one EuroLeague team at that point (mostly Bamberg).

In 2024, another Final Four will be hosted in the city. How much progress has basketball made in the city of Berlin and Germany since you arrived?I think a lot. We've gone from being a mid-table EuroCup team to consolidating our position in the EuroLeague. We are a team that has also won several titles in that stretch whilst being able to grow in budget, infrastructure, and social dimension. Our TV numbers have increased gradually and significantly in recent years.

Even the attention that the EuroLeague is getting in Germany has increased, and the number of viewers watching ALBA is now higher. There's also a following of basketball in Germany by the new generations, especially Generation Z.

Credit IMAGO/O.Behrendt

Basketball is struggling to become the second sport in the country. After football, handball, volleyball, hockey, and other sports compete for the second position. In the city of Berlin, basketball is the second sport.

Basketball in Germany has a good scenario ahead of it. That can be seen in the cases of Ulm and Bonn, whose success is very good news for European basketball at large.

Why shouldn't ALBA fans be worried?The club has existed for more than 30 years. It has gone through difficult times and has always recovered. It dominated the German league a few years ago before big-money projects like Bayern grew. But ALBA has always been able to come back.

Since Marco Baldi is at the helm of the club, fans shouldn't get nervous. He's the captain of the ship, and that's an absolute guarantee.

We're fortunate that our fans appreciate our different philosophy. We don't want to be competitive at any price. They understand that a rebuilding process is underway and that the team might not be so competitive this year, but it will definitely be next season. They trust the club because they know that.

European teams are having a hard time keeping their top talent. Every summer, players like Fontecchio, Micic, Vezenkov leave for the NBA and with relatively small buyouts. How is it possible to contain that flow?It's a problem that needs to be tackled at the highest level. There's a big imbalance in the market that needs to be regulated.

The US market is in an absolutely dominant position because it has much more money compared to the European market. US teams get players from the EuroLeague, paying a very low price. US colleges now have the ability to recruit players and pay them directly.

We are at an absolute disadvantage. We're investing a lot of money and developing players who go to college basketball for free. The ones that are going to benefit are the NCAA first and then the NBA or the G League.

That also happens with private leagues, such as Overtime or the G League Ignite, which recruits European players.

I think FIBA, which is the body that brings us all together in Europe, should try to implement rules similar to what FIFA has done -- all clubs should be rewarded for developing players.

The NBA makes its own rules and doesn't care about anything else. If not FIBA, the EuroLeague should do it. If someone wants to sign a player from Europe, let us have an important guarantee.

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