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Raul Neto is back in the ACB for the 2025-26 season, signing a one-year contract with San Pablo Burgos. His new side announced his addition on Thursday. Following 132 appearances in the ACB from 2011 to 2015, the native of Sao Paulo made his way to 464 NBA games, spread between the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Philadelphia 76ers, from 2015 to 2023. Before the 2023-24 season, he signed a one-year contract with Fenerbahce Beko but never played for the Istanbul-based club due to a serious knee injury suffered during the FIBA World Cup 2023 with Brazil. Early in the 2024-25 season, following a spell in his home country with Pinheiros, he joined FC Barcelona but was limited to two appearances in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague due to an adductor injury and was later released from his contract.
Jabari Parker and FC Barcelona have mutually agreed on an early termination of their contract. Barca announced the departure of the 30-year-old forward on Monday.
Justin Anderson is officially leaving FC Barcelona after one season and is set to join Dubai Basketball, the new EuroLeague team, for next season.
FC Barcelona has announced that Dame Sarr will no longer be part of the team for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. The Italian guard and the club mutually agreed to end their partnership so Sarr can focus on his NBA aspirations. After joining in 2022 from Bassano, he made his EuroLeague debut vs Panathinaikos and played 15 games this season.
Dame Sarr didn’t let Barcelona’s disapproval, as he told HoopsHype, stop him from taking advantage of his Nike Hoop Summit opportunity – and it’s easy to see why. At 6-foot-6, the swingman already looks the part of a pro, boasting a toned frame and a versatile skillset. He’s a strong candidate to make the jump overseas, with blue-blood programs and Power 4 schools (like Illinois, who’s likely losing Will Riley to the 2025 draft) keeping close tabs on him.
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According to BasketNews sources, the NBA sees Real Madrid as a top target for the new league and hopes the Spanish club will join NBA Europe if the new project moves forward. Barcelona also declined to take a definitive stance on extending its shareholder license, with sources indicating the Catalan club will likely follow Real Madrid's lead.
While the NBA has yet to publicly disclose specific teams involved in its European expansion plans, sources indicate that Real Madrid is viewed as a primary target. The Spanish powerhouse is believed to have the strongest preference toward joining the NBA-backed project, and multiple sources suggest that if Real Madrid makes the leap, FC Barcelona could follow suit. Beyond these two clubs, a handful of other EuroLeague teams from key markets are on the NBA's radar. However, the extent of their interest remains uncertain.
According to information obtained by EL ESPAÑOL from highly reliable NBA and FIBA sources, the American league will partner with FIBA Europe, the top governing body on the continent, to create this new competition. The new league will be semi-open, as the initial plan includes between eight and ten franchises, plus four teams that will qualify annually through FIBA competitions. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the two clubs the NBA wants to include from Spain. According to sources from both organizations, they are free to explore this new project and acquire a franchise, as they have not signed the renewal of their contract with the EuroLeague.
During NBA All-Star Media Day, Toni Canyameras of Mundo Deportivo asked Brown whether he could see himself joining FC Barcelona in some way, either as a player or even as an investor. "Maybe, you never know," Brown replied. "I love traveling. I love to be like an ambassador. I speak a few different languages, maybe I'm not very fluent, but I can get around with a few different languages. I love to travel and explore the world and use the sport of basketball to bring people together."
EuroHoops: Kevin Durant doesn't rule out the possibility of playing in the Euroleague in the future. "I play in the NBA, but I also love watching the EuroLeague. Barcelona would be a great place [to play], Monaco would be nice too. For now, I love Phoenix. I'm staying
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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has talked up the similarities between his coaching journey and that of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, saying he used the Catalan coach's career as a "roadmap." Both Mazzulla and Guardiola were promoted from relative obscurity into their first senior head coaching role -- Mazzulla at the Celtics after Ime Udoka's suspension ahead of the 2022-23 season, and Guardiola by Barcelona from their reserve team setup after the unsuccessful end to Frank Rijkaard's tenure in 2008 that saw the club finish third in LaLiga, 18 points behind rivals Real Madrid at the summit.
"Obviously, nowhere near the manager that Pep is but we share a similar beginning," Mazzulla said in interview with Men in Blazers. "He was coaching Barcelona's B team, I was in Maine's G League team, and they could have easily gone for a bigger name, but they go to this guy sitting on the back bench with no experience. "It became really a roadmap to how I wanted to go about building a culture, a team, and you know, taking over greatness. You take a look at his tactical ability, his abilty to manage the best players, which I think is what separates coaches in any sport -- that's something that I thought I could really learn from."
One idea the NBA has already explored, sources said, is partnering with major soccer clubs in places such as Manchester, U.K., to have expansion teams under the soccer clubs' umbrellas. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich are soccer powerhouses that already have basketball teams in the EuroLeague.
Speculation remains in European circles that at least some of those permanent member teams, like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, are considering allowing their licenses with the Euroleague to expire. Another top European club, ALBA Berlin, would reportedly be excluded from becoming a permanent Euroleague member if the current licensing agreements are extended. All four of those clubs have academy systems for developing players that are being studied by the NBA. Zagklis, in addressing the possibility of the NBA launching its own European league, said “FIBA has a very consistent approach.” “We want the growth of our sport, but at the same time we want to protect what are the fundamentals of our ecosystem, which can not only relate to the rules of course, the calendar, but it is a question of respecting the national teams, the national leagues,” Zagklis said. “We have a very well developed ecosystem of national leagues and certainly (want to) protect the work not only of a few clubs, but of almost 500 or 600 clubs that are the pyramid that produces players and that has brought the sport of basketball where it is today.”
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