The new EuroLeague season begins on September 24, and while calling the upcoming campaign the most competitive in the competition’s history has become something of a cliché, this summer has provided plenty of reasons to believe it could live up to the hype.
The transfer market was exceptionally busy, with several contenders making major roster changes and investing heavily in players capable of changing the balance of power. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe added proven stars, while others targeted players who made a significant impact during the previous EuroLeague season. With only a few days remaining before the opening round, coaches are now focused on putting all the pieces together.
Last season, the competition also produced several new stars. Some players confirmed their status among the EuroLeague’s elite, while others enjoyed breakthrough campaigns that significantly raised expectations around them. But repeating a career-best season is never guaranteed.
Changes in role, team, usage, shooting efficiency, injuries, or simply the natural regression that follows an unusually productive campaign can all have an impact. With that in mind, here are five players who may not reproduce the same level they reached last season.
Dwayne Bacon
Dwayne Bacon enjoyed one of the best seasons of his European career last year, averaging 16.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for Dubai. He shot 42% from the field, including 47% on two-pointers and 31% from three-point range, while becoming the team’s primary offensive option for a significant part of the season in the absence of Dzanan Musa.
That situation is unlikely to repeat itself. Musa should enter the new campaign healthy and ready to play from the start, while Dubai has added even more high-level talent with Tornike Shengelia, Elie Okobo, Jaron Blossomgame and Mamadi Diakite. The result is a huge amount of competition for minutes and possessions, particularly at the forward positions, with several players capable of demanding the ball and creating offense.
That could be particularly important for Bacon, whose efficiency is at its best when he has the ball in his hands and can create his own shots. Even if his minutes remain similar, a smaller offensive role would make it much harder to reproduce last season’s production. He will need to become more efficient if he is to maintain a similar level of output in a much more crowded offensive hierarchy.
Bacon can still be an important piece for Dubai, but repeating last season’s numbers will be a significantly tougher challenge simply because there are now so many quality players competing for the same possessions.
Sylvain Francisco
Sylvain Francisco took a major step forward with Zalgiris last season, becoming one of the most influential offensive guards in the EuroLeague. He averaged 16.7 points, 6.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game with a 19.5 PIR, and alongside Sasha Vezenkov, he was a genuine MVP candidate for much of the campaign.
Now he is moving to Panathinaikos, where the challenge will be less about proving his quality and more about finding the same level of influence. Francisco spent last season with the ball in his hands constantly, making decisions on a large portion of Zalgiris’ possessions. In Athens, Kendrick Nunn will naturally command a significant share of that responsibility.
That could be a difficult adjustment for a player coming off such a dominant season. Francisco will still have plenty of opportunities to create, and Panathinaikos can use his ability to attack, play in pick-and-roll and make plays for others. But Nunn, Kostas Sloukas, Jerian Grant and Brancou Badio give Zeljko Obradovic a deep group of guards, making it difficult for any one of them to have the same offensive influence Francisco enjoyed in Kaunas. Panathinaikos has also added more high-level talent across the roster, further increasing the competition for offensive responsibility.
There is already an interesting example from Panathinaikos. T.J. Shorts arrived after an outstanding season with Paris and saw his production decrease in Athens while sharing the court with several established stars. Francisco has a different game and is a more complete player, so the comparison should not be taken too far, but it illustrates the challenge of moving from being the offensive centerpiece to sharing that responsibility.
Francisco should still be one of Panathinaikos’ best players and has all the qualities to make the partnership work. But after reaching such a high level of individual production last season, a step back in his numbers is a realistic expectation simply because he will no longer have the same control over the offense.
Codi Miller-McIntyre
Codi Miller-McIntyre had an enormous role at Crvena Zvezda last season. He finished the EuroLeague regular season as the competition’s leader in both minutes and assists, averaging 12.4 points, 7.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 31 minutes per game. Even more tellingly, he appeared in all 38 regular-season games, carrying a workload that very few players in the competition were asked to handle.
A large part of that production came from how much the ball was in his hands. Miller-McIntyre is at his best when he can initiate offense, attack before the defense is fully set and create something for himself or his teammates. He can be less comfortable when forced to operate for long stretches against a set half-court defense, which makes his move to Olympiacos particularly interesting.
The fit itself can work. Georgios Bartzokas has added a physical, experienced guard who can defend, pass and give the team another player capable of pushing the pace. But Miller-McIntyre will not have anything close to the same offensive responsibility in Piraeus. Olympiacos has plenty of established scoring and playmaking options, while Jean Montero has also arrived after an excellent season with Valencia.
That should naturally change Miller-McIntyre’s numbers. Nobody should expect him to play 31 minutes per game again, while his role within the offense is also likely to be more balanced. He will still have opportunities to handle the ball and create, but Olympiacos’ offense is built around movement, passing and sharing responsibility rather than relying as heavily on one guard to generate a large portion of the team’s offense. That could make it more difficult for Miller-McIntyre to reproduce last season’s scoring and assist numbers.
Miller-McIntyre should still be a valuable addition, particularly because of his physicality, defense and ability to create in transition. But after averaging 7.5 assists and 12.4 points while carrying an unusually large workload in Belgrade, a decline in both categories is a reasonable expectation in a much more balanced Olympiacos attack.
Will Clyburn
Will Clyburn is an interesting regression candidate because he improved his production last season compared to the previous two. After spending the 2024/25 season with Virtus, he moved to Barcelona and averaged 13.4 points in 25 minutes per game, putting together a statistically stronger campaign than in the two seasons before it.
However, Clyburn is now entering the later stages of his career, and consistency has increasingly become an issue. That makes it difficult to expect last season’s improvement to continue, particularly with his move to Fenerbahce. The Turkish side has an extremely deep perimeter rotation, with Shane Larkin, Wade Baldwin, Talen Horton-Tucker, Shavon Shields and other quality options capable of taking on offensive responsibility.
Clyburn should still have an important role, and his minutes do not necessarily need to decrease significantly. In fact, a slightly smaller offensive role could suit him well at this stage of his career. Fenerbahce does not need him to carry the same burden every night, with plenty of other players capable of creating shots and generating offense.
That is also why a drop in his numbers feels like a realistic expectation. Clyburn raised his production last season, but maintaining that level in a deeper team, while also dealing with the natural effects of age and the demands of a long EuroLeague season, will be difficult. He can still be a very useful piece for Fenerbahce, but expecting another statistical jump would be difficult to justify.
Walter Tavares
Walter Tavares is perhaps the most difficult player on this list to project for a statistical decline because his importance to Real Madrid goes far beyond the numbers. Even at 34, he remains one of the team’s most important defensive players and a major part of its offensive identity. Still, there are some interesting reasons to believe his production could decrease this season.
The arrival of Pedro Martinez brings a new voice and potentially a slightly different approach to the way Real Madrid uses its big men. Martinez has shown a preference for versatile frontcourt players who can move well and contribute to the team’s spacing, which is particularly interesting given the additions of Olivier Sarr and Jaime Pradilla. Damian Jones also joins the roster as another center option, giving Real Madrid more ways to distribute the minutes at the position.
That does not mean Tavares will suddenly become a secondary piece. His defensive impact and his ability to influence the game around the rim are too important, and Martinez will inevitably have to adapt parts of his system to a player who has been one of Real Madrid’s most important options for years. However, having more versatile alternatives could give the new coach more freedom to change the team’s approach depending on the opponent and the game situation.
His connection with Facundo Campazzo is still very good, but it is no longer quite at the level it was during the peak years of their partnership. Combined with Tavares’ age and the possibility of more carefully managed minutes, that could lead to a gradual reduction in his offensive production.
