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Scott Agness: Former Pacer Oshae Brissett has signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv. It's a two-year deal.
According to Noa Poplinger, Hapoel and Maccabi Tel Aviv are engaged in a ‘market derby’ for American-Israeli forward TJ Leaf, with both teams having submitted offers. At the moment, the former NBA first-round pick appears to be leaning toward the Maccabi option.
Maccabi Tel Aviv is in advanced talks to sign Lithuanian point guard Rokas Jokubaitis, 23, who has played the past three seasons with Barcelona. With a height of 1.93 meters, Jokubaitis could become the first point guard under Oded Kattash. Barcelona had the option to extend Jokubaitis’ contract for another season, but decided not to exercise this option, paving the way for his transfer. If the deal is finalized, Jokubaitis will join Jordan Loyd in Maccabi’s backcourt, which also hopes to complete the signing of Daryl Macon soon.
Last Euroleague season, Jokubaitis averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 assists per game. His best season was in 2021/22, also with Barcelona, averaging 7.1 points and 2.6 assists per game. Raised in Zalgiris, Jokubaitis was selected 34th overall in the 2021 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder, but has not yet played in the NBA. He recently participated in the Summer League with the New York Knicks, averaging 9.8 points and 3.8 assists per game.
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Wenyen Gabriel headed to Israel
Maccabi Tel Aviv Playtika made one of its biggest moves this offseason, signing the former NBA forward Wenyen Gabriel. According to an announcement, Maccabi signed Gabriel to a 1+1 deal that will run through until the end of the 2024-25 season, with an option to extend it for a further year.
Urging to find a new big man under the rim after Josh Nebo’s departure to Milan, Maccabi Tel Aviv signed Wenyen Gabriel for the 2024-25 season. The deal includes an option to extend the relationship for another year. The 27-year-old versatile big man recently played in Puerto Rico with the Vaqueros de Bayamón, where he put up 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per night after ending his NBA experience in Memphis.
Former Cavalier Ante Zizic: 'The NBA is a show, the organization is a headache'
Coming back to Europe with Maccabi Tel Aviv, he then moved to Anadolu Efes and now to Virtus Bologna. Talking with Mozzart Sport during the Italian team’s trip to Belgrade, where they lost by 15 points (94-79) to Crvena Zvezda, he reflected on his past in the NBA. “The NBA is a show, the organization is a headache”, he said. “I definitely see myself better in Europe. The NBA for me was an episode where everything started from the trade and did not go in the direction I imagined”, the Croatian center added.
“I feel like the NBA sometimes needs to stick to what it is because the NBA is special,” said Deni Avdija, who played in a rough basketball equivalent of the FA Cup, the celebrated EuroLeague, for Maccabi Tel Aviv at 17. EuroLeague is the championship of European club basketball and arguably the best league in the world outside of the NBA. “If they get other ideas and they try to add it to the game, I like it,” Avdija said. “But all the courts and all the colors, all the stuff around it … I get it; it’s a show. But it’s not needed. It’s not needed. (But) I like that the NBA is taking a lot of ideas from Europe because it’s a whole nother culture.”
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Frank Kaminsky to Israel?
According to Moshe Barda, an interesting move from the NBA to the EuroLeague could be on the radar. Maccabi Tel Aviv, in fact, appears to be interested in bringing to Europe the 8-year NBA player Frank Kaminsky, who has never played overseas before. The 30-year-old center with Polish and Serbian ancestry started the 2022-23 season with the Hawks, being traded to the Houston Rockets as part of the deal that sent Bruno Fernando and Garrison Mathews to Atlanta. In the latest NBA season, he put up 2.5 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.
According to Efrat Amoraban from YNet, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv are in negotiations to play against the Brooklyn Nets in October. If the deal is reached, the game would take place in the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, Amoraban notes
Bender, 25, is a veteran of 187 NBA games between the Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, and Golden State Warriors. His Turkish Airlines EuroLeague experience drew up 41 appearances between the 2015-16 and 2020-21 campaigns as a member of Maccabi Tel Aviv. “I really fell in love with European basketball and EuroLeague. It is a great concept with numerous competitive teams and many very good players,” he said, “The league is becoming stronger every year. So, I can definitely see myself returning. As I said, it is simply a matter of staying healthy.”
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