So who should win the All - Euroleague awards?

Today is an important day in the Euroleague season, as the Play-in tournament starts with a duel between PAO and Monaco for the 7th seed, followed by Barcelona-Crvena Zvezda. We also got the announcement of the Coach of the Year, given, deservedly so, to Pedro Martinez. Not only did he overrachieve with Valencia, a team which is returned to the Euroleague this season, he did so by playing a very entertaining brand of basketball. This prompted me to think about the rest of the Euroleague awards.

Coach of the Year: 

The award that has already been give, I cannot say I disagree with the choice

Rising Star:

Only Player younger than age 22, on July 1 of 2025 are eligible. Jean Montero was born in the 3rd of July of 2003, so he meets the criteria. Is there any doubt? The best player of Valencia, along with Kameron Taylor, who reached the 2nd seed. He has not been very efficient (in the domestic competitions he has better %), but he is a very good scorer, who in the latter half of the season has developed some very good playmaking skills. In the last 5 games, he dished 27 assists, against 4 Turnovers. I expect a lot from him in the future, as I am sure he will be a problem for his opponents for many years.

  

Best Defender: 

This is an award that for me is hard to judge, as you expect something different from each position, and defense is much more team dependant than offense. Some honourable mentions could be Alpha Diallo, Tavares (who has become a generic pick at this point), Okeke, Kevarrius Hayes, Braxton Key... However I will have to go with Melli, who I do believe has the best chance to win this award. First of all, despite their bad form, who saw them go from 1st to 4th, Fenerbahce was the best defensive team in the Euroleague Defensive Rating Wise. Now, Melli has the best Defensive Rating in the competition with 103.5, which rises to 117.1, making it a 13.6 differential in points conceded per 100 possessions, the largest on/off number Defensive Rating wise in the Euroleague. He also is quite versatile, as he is traditionally a PF who has turned into a Center in the past few years. 

All Euroleague Teams:

These are done without a position criteria by the Euroleague, something I dislike heavily, as I think these teams  should not be the top 10 Euroleague players, but the two best lineups based on performance. I would go with

1st Team: 

PG: Sylvain Francisco 

SG: Jean Montero

SF: Elijah Bryant

PF: Sasha Vezenkov

C: Nikolas Milutinov

2nd Team: 

PG: Facundo Campazzo

SG: Kendrick Nunn

SF: Talen Horton-Tucker

PF: Nicollo Melli

C: Moses Wright

 

By some split haired decisions players like Wade Baldwin (could be in the place of Nunn or Campazzo), Jordan Nwora, Dan Oturu (could even make a case that he should be on the first team), Kameron Taylor, Tyler Dorsey, Alpha Diallo or Trey Lyles did not make the teams.

Euroleague MVP:

I am between Sasha Vezenkov, Elijah Bryant and Sylvain Francisco. All of them have been excellent. Vezenkov has the priviliege of being in the 1st seed, and has done his usual business (elite efficiency, lots of scoring, rebounding) while also getting the Alphonso Ford award. Bryant has taken an impressive leap forwards under Itoudis, being a primary ball handler at times, being almost at the 50-40-90 club, while having great numbers in rebounds or assists. Francisco has lead Zalgiris to a surprising 5th place, with a team that does not have a very large budget. He has become much more consistent and efficient when compared to his stint in Manresa, Munich or last season. I think anyone out of these 3 would deserve it and has made the merit to win it. An argument against Vezenkov is that he is in a stacked team, where players like Dorsey, Fournier and especially Milutinov have outshone him, while someone could argue that Bryant and Francisco are alpha dogs in teams that did not finish in the top 4. While they did a lot of "carrying", their statistical output benefits from the fact that they do not have to share the ball as much. In that regard, Francisco is much more of a "leader" than Bryant, as Zalgiris are very dependant on the French PG. In the end, I think I would pick Bryant, as I feel like Francisco is in a team where he is too much of a first option, while Vezenkov plays in a team which is too stacked, with Bryant being in a middle ground. Hapoel finished 6th, (Zalgiris 5th, Olympiacos 1st), however despite their seeding not being spectacular, it reinforces how important Bryant was for Itoudis, as the Tel Aviv side lost 4/4 games where Bryant was not available, going 23-11 with him and 0-4 without him.