Making a list of the best EuroLeague players is always a particularly complicated challenge. Even though some things have remained the same as in previous years, choosing the Top 25 players is no walk in the park.
This turned out to be a very challenging task, as someone is bound to be left off the list, but the reason for that is quite simple – the EuroLeague is so stacked with quality players that at some point you just have to draw the line and stop overthinking.
Sometimes the eye test is what matters most, while for other players, the numbers build a solid case for their spot among the elite. Some teams, despite having talented rosters, won’t have a single representative for this very reason, which only serves as a testament to just how much talent missed out on the Top 25.
25) T.J. Shorts
Team: Valencia
Last season’s stats: 8.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists – 29.2% (3FG%)
Despite a somewhat tougher season with Panathinaikos due to struggling to find his footing in Ergin Ataman’s rotations – especially given his standout performances at Paris – T.J. Shorts has earned his spot on this list based on what he has shown in recent years.
Now he has once again found an environment where he can be the team’s alpha and omega – the primary focal point of the offense, rather than a secondary option. Valencia’s new point guard has proven in the past that he can lead a team, and it is expected of him to do just that under Xavi Albert.
24) Zach LeDay
Team: Hapoel Tel Aviv
Last season’s stats: 13.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists – 49.5% (3FG%)
Zach LeDay will play for his fifth EuroLeague team in the 2026/27 season after leaving Milano for the second time to join Hapoel Tel Aviv. Over the past few years, the 32-year-old has established himself as one of the best power forwards in the EuroLeague, which is why he is highly likely to maintain that high standard under Dimitris Itoudis.
He is an absolutely reliable option on both ends of the floor. Although he has an unorthodox shooting stroke, it doesn’t stop him from posting high efficiency numbers, and over the years, his versatility has truly come to the fore. He serves as a catalyst capable of propelling well-built teams to an even higher level, just as he has done throughout his career.
23) Mathias Lessort
Team: Panathinaikos
Last season’s stats: 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists – 58.8% (2FG%)
Mathias Lessort is the first Panathinaikos player to make this list (spoiler alert – not the last). It is simply incredible how a player, especially one of his size, can return after two consecutive injuries and playing just a single game (which turned out to be a mistake) over the span of more than a year, without showing even the slightest sign of rust.
An extraordinary engine on defense capable of anchoring the unit entirely on his own when others lapse, Lessort is arguably one of the EuroLeague’s top defenders. His growth over the past eight years – from the moment he first stepped onto EuroLeague courts in a Crvena Zvezda jersey to the present day – makes him a truly indispensable inclusion on any list of this caliber. His partnership with Zeljko Obradovic proved to be a home run once before, and it could now bear even more fruit.
22) Moses Wright
Team: Milano
Last season’s stats: 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists – 63.4% (2FG%)
Moses Wright is another name that has fully earned its spot among the Top 25 EuroLeague players following a phenomenal season with Zalgiris. After a summer saga in which he signed with Barcelona before Milano bought out his contract, he steps into the starting center role for Giuseppe Poeta’s squad.
Partnering with his former Olympiacos teammate Alec Peters, he will form one of the most dynamic frontcourt duos next season. And given how well he clicked with Sylvain Francisco, Maodo Lo, and Nigel Williams-Goss, it would be naive to think he won’t build similar chemistry with Marko Guduric, Devon Hall, and Darius Thompson.
He is expected to serve as one of his team’s main offensive focal points once again. Having flashed signs of adding a three-point shot to his repertoire last season, if he manages to refine that skill alongside his imposing physical presence, Wright has the potential to crash the Top 10 by the end of this campaign.
21) Facundo Campazzo
Team: Real Madrid
Last season’s stats: 12.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists – 42.1% (3FG%)
One cannot help but wonder how Facundo Campazzo, even at 35 years old, still plays with so much vigor. We can’t say for sure what they are doing at Real Madrid, but their “elixir of youth” and the potential “Benjamin Button” cases that frequently pop up there (just look at previous cases of Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez, and Rudy Fernandez) are clearly yielding results.
For a player standing at just 181 centimeters tall, he is exceptionally capable of controlling the tempo of any game, tying defenders in knots without ever losing his handle. Plus, at any given second, there is a constant threat of a pass whizzing past your ear into the hands of a teammate who somehow ended up wide open. A list without Campazzo simply wouldn’t be complete, and his partnership with Pedro Martinez offers hope that even at 35, he can elevate his game to yet another level.
20) Armoni Brooks
Team: Valencia
Last season’s stats: 13.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists – 41.6% (3FG%)
Armoni Brooks showed back in his Houston Rockets days that he could be a lethal sharpshooter on a different stage, so it comes as no surprise that his move from the NBA to the EuroLeague turned out to be a home run. After two seasons with Milano, he initially decided to join Asvel, but the financial situation at the French club opened the door for their rivals to step in. Valencia capitalized on the opportunity, bringing him in as one of the marquee signings for their rebuild following a historic season.
Unlike his NBA tenure, where he had limited opportunities to create his own shot, Brooks was given full freedom in Milano. He took complete advantage of it, establishing himself as one of the EuroLeague’s premier shooting guards. Valencia’s fast-paced style – which Xavi Albert is expected to maintain after succeeding Pedro Martinez – should suit the 28-year-old perfectly, and it would come as no surprise if he elevates his game even further next season.
19) Kevin Punter
Team: Barcelona
Last season’s stats: 14.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists – 41.4% (3FG%)
Kevin Punter is a mainstay on almost every best-player list, and for good reason. As he enters his third season with Barcelona – and his first as Blaugrana captain – the roster may not look like an absolute powerhouse, but it is impossible to completely write them off. Having a player of Punter’s caliber means they always have someone capable of keeping the team’s head above water and making them a threat to any opponent.
Being a heavy shot maker is what Punter does best. No matter how good the defense on the other side is, no scheme can completely shut him down. In fact, you are in the most danger when you think contesting him for 23.9 seconds is enough; his exceptional trait is precisely that the possession is never over while the ball is in his hands, and he will always take responsibility for his team. Sometimes it ends well, sometimes it doesn’t, but you can always count on it – and his contribution would be a welcome asset to any team, if not much more.
18) Dzanan Musa
Team: Dubai
Last season’s stats: 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists – 36% (3FG%)
At Dubai last season, Dzanan Musa was finally supposed to get his own team and take the lead, after having already won the EuroLeague title with Real Madrid (he was also a champion with Anadolu Efes, though he never got a fair shake there). However, an injury cost him three months of action, but his distinct qualities are simply too obvious for a few months on the sidelines to derail him.
The 27-year-old is entering the prime of his career, and it feels like his production so far isn’t even the highest ceiling he can reach, with Xavi Pascual potentially being the coach to unlock his full potential. Whether he is the first option or anywhere else in the hierarchy, he is always ready to step up when it matters. While elite across the board, his game can best be described as that of a ceiling raiser rather than a floor raiser. In high-caliber setups – which Dubai certainly is, just as Real Madrid was – he knows precisely how to elevate a team’s ultimate potential through his performances.
17) Evan Fournier
Team: Olympiacos
Last season’s stats: 14.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists – 36.9% (3FG%)
Evan Fournier arrived at Olympiacos as perhaps the biggest signing – at least in terms of name recognition – in the last 15 years, but the results were mixed from the start. The French guard’s quality was never in question, though his motivation seemed to be at times. However, any doubts on that front were completely put to rest at last year’s Final Four.
That was especially true in the final against Real Madrid, when he (and Alec Peters) were the only ones stepping up to make shots as Los Blancos threatened to break the red-and-white fans’ hearts yet again. Beyond that, much like what was noted for Punter, even though Fournier is not the primary star of his team (more on that later), in close games he always seeks out the moment to leverage his talent and tip the scales in Olympiacos’ favor. At 33, he is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but his drive to get the job done (and to tell you to your face just how well he does it) hasn’t faded one bit.
16) Dario Saric
Team: Anadolu Efes
Last season’s stats: 1.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists – 33% (3FG%)
Dario Saric is one of the players on this list who is virtually guaranteed to demonstrate just how significant an addition he will be for Anadolu Efes, even if his figures from last season don’t tell the whole story. Due to injury setbacks, he logged just five appearances and saw limited floor time in those outings.
As he demonstrated during the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers with the Croatian national team, Saric can effortlessly serve as the cohesive glue for a roster. He is capable of orchestrating from the low post – whether creating for himself or setting up teammates. Also, he could very well replicate his 2017/18 production with the Philadelphia 76ers (where he averaged 14.6 points per game). Ultimately, he has the skill set to make a talent-laden squad function as a unified collective rather than a disjointed group. If Mike James (more on him later) is the wrecking ball that will destroy everything in front of him, Saric will be the engine behind it.
15) Nikola Milutinov
Team: Olympiacos
Last season’s stats: 10.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists – 67.8% (2FG%)
Nikola Milutinov has been one of the top centers in the EuroLeague for several years now, and his contribution to Olympiacos is virtually immeasurable. While Tyrique Jones and Donta Hall are two high-quality backups, when Milutinov is on the floor, you can immediately feel Olympiacos click.
The Serbian center isn’t someone who will take over a game in the same way as the guards mentioned earlier, but he is always in the right spot, which is his greatest asset. It is nearly impossible to recall a moment where he was caught out of position, late or simply trailing the play in any aspect. He is the textbook definition of a composed player, ready to explode when the situation calls for it while remaining completely comfortable deferring the spotlight to others. That is precisely what makes him special.
To fully appreciate his value to the style of play Georgios Bartzokas’ team fosters, you have to watch him repeatedly – particularly to contrast how the team functions when he isn’t on the floor. He isn’t “flashy”; he’s just always right where he needs to be, and he does it damn well.
14) Walter Tavares
Team: Real Madrid
Last season’s stats: 9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists – 68.9% (2FG%)
What can you really say about Walter Tavares? Unquestionably the best defender the EuroLeague has seen over the last 15 years, and absolute instrumental to Real Madrid’s success for what is now nearly a decade. The most frequent knock against him as the premier defender of this era is “well, he’s tall, of course he’s going to block shots.”
To an extent, his sheer physical profile certainly makes swatting shots easier for him than for a 190 cm guard. On the other hand, reducing a player who single-handedly anchors a defense to just his height – a player who gives opponents nightmares before facing Real Madrid, and who routinely neutralizes the league’s most athletic and skill-gifted centers – is an insult to anyone’s intelligence.
His impact isn’t measured merely by blocks or rebounds, but by the fear he strikes into anyone even contemplating driving into the paint. Very few players have the nerve to challenge him head-on, and that rim deterrence hasn’t faded with age, even as Tavares turns 34 and approaches the twilight of his career.
13) Carlik Jones
Team: Partizan
Last season’s stats: 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists – 28.6% (3FG%)
There aren’t many players on this list I would choose over Carlik Jones when I need someone to create points out of nothing in a tight, late-game situation. Generally speaking, there are also very few players here who, despite being surrounded by average talent, elevate those around them to such a degree.
Don’t take my word for it? Just look at how Partizan looked last season in his absence (without diminishing the significance of Zeljko Obradovic’s departure). Without disrespecting the abilities of his teammates, Jones was the one making them look at least twice as good, if not more. I wouldn’t go so far as to compare him to LeBron James during his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but a “light” version of that dynamic certainly applies.
The black-and-white faithful were surely popping champagne when he decided to stay. Jones belongs on any roster – not as a filler or a depth option. Quite the opposite: he is the kind of player you build a team around, grant absolute freedom to, and watch as his quality lifts the entire squad.
12) Mfiondu Kabengele
Team: Dubai
Last season’s stats: 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists – 61.8% (2FG%)
Sometimes I wonder what the rest of the EuroLeague was looking at when they allowed Dubai to sign Mfiondu Kabengele. It is simply mind-boggling that a center like him – perhaps due to a somewhat longer, albeit underwhelming NBA stint – managed to fly under the radar for so long, making his debut in Europe’s premier competition only at 28.
When it’s his day, I honestly believe there isn’t a force on this planet that can stop him. That sheer, unadulterated physicality allows him to power through like a tank. At times, you get the feeling he doesn’t even notice the presence of others on the court, as if he walked onto a local playground and started playing against kids. His stats might not even fully convey the sheer dominance we’re talking about here, but the eye test often tells a much richer story.
He is unquestionably an unstoppable force who will continue to light up, dominate, and terrorize EuroLeague defenses for years to come – hopefully barring any injuries that could disrupt that run. What Kabengele brings to the table isn’t something you see every day, and that is the absolute truth.
11) Wade Baldwin
Team: Fenerbahce
Last season’s stats: 14.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists – 29.3% (3FG%)
There are players you simply respect because you can see they have unwavering faith in themselves, and Wade Baldwin is one of the prime examples of that. It doesn’t always look pretty (though that assist against Besiktas for the Turkish Super League title still defies all laws of physics), but rest assured, it gets results.
When it comes to the 30-year-old guard, it sometimes feels that when he isn’t in the spotlight, he shines even brighter and further displays the massive repertoire at his disposal. What’s more, unlike certain players on this list (you can judge for yourself who), he is someone I would never talk trash to on the floor, because that almost never ends well for his opponents.
Occasionally too comfortable, rival players or fans sometimes poke the bear – and that’s usually when the roll credits start playing with a great background soundtrack. The ending is already scripted, and the final scene features Baldwin walking away triumphant, surrounded by his ecstatic Fenerbahce teammates. Placing him at just 11th place is proof that these lists aren’t always fair.
10) Guerschon Yabusele
Team: Panathinaikos
Last season’s stats: 5.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists – 35.3% (3FG%)
Following a stellar first stint in the EuroLeague and a second run at building an NBA career, Guerschon Yabusele returns to Europe as one of Panathinaikos‘ marquee stars. The French power forward is one of those players who elevates his team’s level the moment he steps into the building to a degree that is almost hard to believe.
Need to lock down an opposing forward or center? Put Yabusele on him. Physicality on the glass? You can be certain he will give everything he’s got. An open three? Yabusele will knock it down. Start (and finish with a wrestling move) a scuffle? You can count on him there, too.
He is the prototype player every coach loves to have in his corner and hates to face across the floor. Everything European basketball lacks in larger quantities is on full display with Yabusele every single night, and you will never get anything less than 100%. That is simply the only way he knows how to play, whatever the cost.
9) Elijah Bryant
Team: Hapoel Tel Aviv
Last season’s stats: 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists – 37.2% (3FG%)
If you had told me a few years ago that Elijah Bryant would transform into what he is today, I probably would have laughed out loud in your face. Oh, how blind I was to the monster Hapoel Tel Aviv now has in their ranks. You know those players you watch and think they just need a different team to become truly elite? That wasn’t the case with Bryant.
Looking back at the championship-winning 2022 Anadolu Efes team – and Maccabi Tel Aviv before that – when I watched him, nothing about his game really stood out from the rest of the squad. Granted, Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin were the commanders back then, and there wasn’t much room to debate Ergin Ataman, especially since it was working.
However, what has transpired over the last two seasons has made me seriously question myself: how is it possible for a player, virtually out of nowhere, to blossom into a legitimate primary option on a team with the highest ambitions? I was fortunate enough to watch him live and be stunned by the effortless ease with which he plays – no wasted motion, always ready to blow past defenders in the blink of an eye. The way he operates on the floor, it almost feels automatic, as if he doesn’t even need to consciously process the game in real time. It’s like he pre-programmed every movement in his mind, and his body simply executes the commands with cold, calculated precision.
8) Talen Horton-Tucker
Team: Fenerbahce
Last season’s stats: 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists – 26.5% (3FG%)
From a player the Los Angeles Lakers swore they would never trade to a simple pink slip and average stints with the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls, Talen Horton-Tucker made the smartest move of his career when he signed with Fenerbahce.
Typically, players like him struggle to adapt to the completely different brand of basketball that is EuroLeague compared to the NBA, but Sarunas Jasikevicius managed to turn him into an unstoppable force.
You know what the best part is, and what makes him so good – and distinct from most on this list? Everyone on the court, in the stands, and watching on TV knows exactly what he’s about to do, yet he remains impossible to stop. Be late by a fraction of a millisecond and you’re done; you’re already watching this wrecking ball throw down a poster over your head while you’re in free fall.
Personally, there isn’t enough money in the world you could pay me to step in, plant my feet, and try to draw an offensive foul when he starts downhill on a drive.
7) Jean Montero
Team: Olympiacos
Last season’s stats: 14.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists – 32.4% (3FG%)
Jean Montero was in such high demand this summer for good reason after the incredible season he had with Valencia. Of course, the rest of the team performed fantastically, but none of it would have been possible without the Dominican guard. Now, he joins what is potentially the best team in the league, under a coach like Georgios Bartzokas who can further elevate his game.
His fluid movement and grace resemble a swan, coupled with the fearlessness of a peregrine falcon that has spotted its prey and is ready to swoop down at any second.
That is precisely what makes him so terrifying. Unless he jumps to the NBA – which remains a real possibility given his legitimate chance to become a star there – he is potentially the EuroLeague’s premier player for the next decade. The world is at his feet; all he needs to do is maintain this trajectory, and he will become something we have likely never witnessed before.
6) Nigel Hayes-Davis
Team: Panathinaikos
Last season’s stats: 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists – 34.1% (3FG%)
Some are of the opinion that Nigel Hayes-Davis shouldn’t have been named the 2025 EuroLeague Final Four MVP when he captured the title with Fenerbahce, pointing to a somewhat modest semifinal showing against Panathinaikos. I can tell you that they are wrong. His total contribution is distinct, setting him apart from the pack.
He stands as the premier two-way forward in European basketball – a level of balance absolutely nobody else replicates. Beside one other name near the top of this list (to be covered later), he forms part of the only forward duo in the league that operates as a true triple threat. On his night, you can only pray he doesn’t destroy you. But unlike that other counterpart, he can just as easily ruin your evening on the defensive end.
If Panathinaikos fires on all cylinders this season, rest assured a primary catalyst will be Hayes-Davis operating at an elite tier, willing to do whatever it takes – a trait not every star on this list shares. Need 10 boards? He’ll grab them. Need to lock down the opponent’s main threat? Consider it done. Need a game-winning bucket? Hand him the ball and move to the corner.
His play style isn’t easy to replicate, but younger players should focus on stealing something far more fundamental: his perpetual self-awareness. Hayes-Davis never looks out of place on the floor, even on nights when his jumper betrays him or he faces adversity.
5) Sylvain Francisco
Team: Panathinaikos
Last season’s stats: 16.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists – 38.6% (3FG%)
Fit is everything in every aspect of life, and basketball is no exception. That moment when someone places unwavering trust in you, and you reward them with spectacular performances that blow past every projection – that is true validation. Sylvain Francisco is the ultimate recent proof of that concept.
Who would have predicted that, in just a few short years, the French point guard would blossom into a player who turns heads across the entire continent? The flashes were always there, but they often seemed like fleeting moments of brilliance destined to be forgotten as quickly as they arrived. His tenure with Zalgiris completely changed that narrative.
The defining shift came last season, when he put to rest any remaining debate about whether he belongs in the elite tier of EuroLeague guards. Whether creating off the bounce to put his defender on a spin cycle with his handle, elevating an athletic big into looking like a world-beater, or driving to draw the collapse and spot a open shooter in the corner, Francisco makes the right play 99 times out of 100. It is no coincidence that Zeljko Obradovic brought him in to orchestrate Panathinaikos‘ offense like a quarterback next season.
4) Mike James
Team: Anadolu Efes
Last season’s stats: 16.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists – 32.7% (3FG%)
Be like Mike (though maybe not always)! Mike James arriving at Anadolu Efes this summer feels like a man chasing the last train. In his case that is the EuroLeague title – the single glaring omission on his CV, and perhaps the only obstacle keeping him from being crowned as the greatest to ever play in this competition, at least in this format.
Sure, he has a reputation for being headstrong, but that always felt more like a narrative pushed from the outside than the reality inside a locker room. Over all these years, it’s hard to recall a single former teammate coming forward to say, “he’s just stat-padding, he doesn’t care about winning,” or any of the usual tropes thrown his way by critics.
Because the reality is quite the opposite. Everything James does on the floor stems from a uncompromising belief that it is the fastest route to a victory. He isn’t the type to care who he shares the court with either – give him four guys and just let him play. At times, that mindset can look like pure selfishness, but it’s also the exact engine that powered a career defined by an astonishing list of accomplishments.
3) Jonas Valanciunas
Team: Zalgiris
Last season’s stats: 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists – 52.8% (FG%)
After 14 long years, Jonas Valanciunas returns from the NBA to Europe, signing for Zalgiris, the biggest rival of his former club, Rytas. Everything we were able to enjoy on full display over the past years when he played for the Lithuanian national team will now be available on a weekly basis in the EuroLeague.
In the NBA, it was never quite that to the fullest, even though he had a very respectable career playing for some good and some less good teams. But that moment was missing – when Valanciunas starts backing down on the post while the defender bounces off him like a ping-pong ball. As soon as he signed, Zalgiris became a dark horse to make the Final Four. Especially if injuries spare him, I expect the next few seasons to be talked about for years to come.
It might be blind faith in what I’ve seen over the past years while he played for his national team, but I simply can’t bring myself to think there are many players better than the 34-year-old center, even though we haven’t yet had the chance to watch him in the EuroLeague as an established player (not counting a single season with Rytas 15 years ago).
2) Kendrick Nunn
Team: Panathinaikos
Last season’s stats: 18.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists – 38% (3FG%)
Since signing with Panathinaikos, Kendrick Nunn quickly established himself as the premier guard in the competition. While the competition was relatively close early on, it soon became clear that the only person who could stop him was himself – as seen in Game 5 of the playoff series against Valencia, when a flurry of early fouls threw him out of rhythm and made a comeback “Mission Impossible”.
The crisis within the team last season affected him and his performances as well, but the situation is significantly different for him now.
Because of that, combined with working under Zeljko Obradovic and the immense talent surrounding him – which will create even more space for him to operate in isolation – I believe Nunn will demonstrate once again this season why he deserves the crown as the best guard in the entire league. The best player on a superteam simply has to sit near the top of this list, especially when you possess the kind of scoring arsenal the 31-year-old brings to the floor.
1) Sasha Vezenkov
Team: Olympiacos
Last season’s stats: 19.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists – 40.5% (3FG%)
The crown jewel of the EuroLeague. Sasha Vezenkov has grown every single year since arriving at Olympiacos, even though the beginning of his career didn’t look nearly as bright as things do today. He didn’t have a consistent role early on, but the day he took the reins, he never let go – becoming the primary force of one of the finest generations in red-and-white history.
While he has collected individual awards and domestic silverware in the past, winning the EuroLeague last season feels like the key that could unlock an even higher ceiling in his game. If he is already unplayable on his good days – and, frankly, often on his off days too -anything beyond this would border on Greek mythology.
He is the essential engine of Georgios Bartzokas‘ system, embodying everything so many others try to replicate. Alongside the previously mentioned Nigel Hayes-Davis, he is the only player capable of operating as a high-level triple-threat without needing to force shots to get into a rhythm. In fact, at times, it feels like he simply doesn’t miss. Plain and simple, without a shadow of a doubt: there is no better player in the EuroLeague right now than the Bulgarian power forward.
