Euroleague CEO: No Temporary Deals for NBA Players

According to Jordi Bertomeu, head guy for the Euroleague, his teams aren’t interested in renting out NBA stars while they wait for the lockout to end. From SI: “Our clubs need to have stable rosters,’ Bertomeu said via a translator. ‘They need to know how long they will be able to employ the player. No team will sign a player for only two or three months, or for an uncertain period of time. This is our forecast.’ The Euroleague is the world’s No. 2 basketball competition, offering salaries that are second only to those paid by the NBA. Reigning champion Panathinaikos of Athens and other legendary Euroleague clubs — including Maccabi Tel Aviv, Real Madrid, Montepaschi Siena of Italy, CSKA Moscow and FC Barcelona — would have provided the most competitive environment for NBA players to recoup some of the money they will lose should the lockout result in a shortened or canceled season. But Euroleague clubs are wary of investing in NBA talent because of a recent ruling by FIBA, the Swiss-based international governing authority for basketball that enables players to return to North America and fulfill their existing contracts should the NBA resume play midseason. ‘When FIBA decided to say that the transfer [of NBA players] will be valid only until the lockout will be over, it was strange,’ Bertomeu said. ‘Never in the FIBA history has there been any condition like this. This is very strange.'”