After a solid season in which the team jelled in a stellar way, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz had to face a rebuilding challenge during the summer after losing some key pieces of the old squad to other Turkish Airlines EuroLeague teams. Once again, however, the club and head coach Dusko Ivanovic have managed to put together a group that should become a threat to any other EuroLeague squad when the machine is well-oiled.
BACKCOURT
The backcourt of the Basque team is virtually new from top to bottom. Of course, the name drawing the most attention is Wade Baldwin, whose second EuroLeague season with FC Bayern Munich saw him explode to average 15.3 points, 3.0 boards and 4.0 assists and help the team become the first German squad ever in the EuroLeague Playoffs. Baldwin will have valuable help from Jayson Granger, a fan-favorite who returns to Baskonia after one season in ALBA Berlin. Another new face is that of shooting ace Vanja Marinkovic, who played 42 games in Valencia in the last two EuroLeague seasons and now joins Baskonia at the prime of his career. A product of the youth system of the club, young Arturs Kurucs returns after having appeared in 21 EuroLeague games last season, looking to gain more and more experience. At small forward, the team will continue relying on scoring machine Rokas Giedraitis, whose debut last season with Baskonia saw him average 12.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 34 games as a starter. Tadas Sedekerskis just extended his contract with the club this summer to prove he has found a solid place on the team that he first joined as a youngster back in 2016.