Baskonia sports director confirms Thompson's departure, addresses future of several players / News - Basketnews.com

Felix Fernandez, Baskonia's sports director, confirmed the reports about Darius Thompson moving to Efes. He also commented on the team's new signings and named the players who will stay on the roster.

Credit: Saski Baskonia; Aitor Arrizabalaga/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Saski Baskonia; Aitor Arrizabalaga/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz sports director Felix Fernandez appeared before the media to take stock of last season and comment on the entity's plans for the next season.

Markus Howard

Position:PGAge:24Height:180 cmWeight:79 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

For the Basque executive, last year was remarkable in general terms, because Baskonia turned the Fernando Buesa Arena into a fortress and played some of the most attractive basketball in Europe.

The club, with Joan Penarroya at the helm, "wants to be ambitious and maintain the DNA of an attractive and exciting style of play," commented the sports director from Vitoria. The squad is expected to be made up of 13 players and the preseason will start around August 21.

Fernandez assured that Baskonia need to get road wins in the EuroLeague to make the playoffs and be able to compete better in the final stretch of the ACB. In this vein, Nico Mannion and Nikos Rogkavopoulos could provide some solutions.

Fernandez said the Italian guard "has shown his talent and his ability to play great basketball that adapts to the Baskonista DNA," while he believes that the Greek forward is a player who "knows what he wants and has a great projection."

Fernandez went on to address the future of several players, starting with Markus Howard. The American scoring guard is bound to stay in Vitoria, even though "he's had offers," Fernandez said.

"When the team plays like that, all the players are interesting to other teams. Everyone has offers but we also want to maintain our project and be ambitious. Howard has always shown his desire to continue in Vitoria and for us, he is one of the cornerstones of the project," he assured.

Another name that has come up is that of Matt Costello, who had been rumored as a potential Maccabi Tel Aviv target. However, Fernández said that the American big man's future is in Vitoria.

"Matt is another important piece for us because he has experience and a good knowledge of the competitions. He knows what's at stake at all times. He gives calmness and is another of our fundamental pieces." Costello has a passport from the Ivory Coast, so his summer will be linked to the African team.

Vanja Marinkovic will also be in next year's squad although he was handling an offer from Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.

"He is happy with the club and the city and we are happy with him too", explained Fernandez, before adding that Maik Kotsar is also staying.

"He was a great unknown to the world of basketball but he has one more year on his contract and he will fulfill it. We think he has taken a big step forward. He is working a lot this summer and he really wants to grow," he commented on the Estonian center's progress.

However, it's not all roses in Baskonia's camp, as the one who has already packed his bags is perhaps the team's main star last season.

"Darius Thompson has executed his option to leave Baskonia," Fernandez confirmed. "We would have loved for him to continue and that's what we told him at the time, but we knew that it was a clear market option."

Fernandez pointed out that sometimes, a domino effect is produced by exits to the NBA like Vasilije Micic's, whose departure paved the way for Anadolu Efes Istanbul to be able to afford to pay both Darius Thompson and his (former) club. Thus, Thompson leaves around 500.000 euros in the coffers of Baskonia.

"He was a key player in our project, but he has decided to go to Efes," the Spanish sports director said.

After the extension of Dani Diez's contract, some issues remain to be resolved, such as those of Rokas Giedraitis and Arturs Kurucs.

Another case that can generate a good amount of money for the club is Cidy Sissoko's potential transfer to the NBA. The African player was chosen in the 44th place of the NBA Draft and has committed to the San Antonio Spurs.

Like what we are doing? Support us by becoming BN+ member.