By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague is preparing to enter a brand new era with the 2027-28 season. With the league adopting a ‘franchise’ model similar to the NBA, new permanent members are expected to join, and the number of teams is projected to exceed 20.
Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Dimitris Itoudis gave an interview to Serbian publication Mozzart Sport. Coach Itoudis spoke about a dream he has for the EuroLeague.
Itoudis said his dream is a ’30-team EuroLeague divided into conferences’:
“I think we’re heading towards a 24-team EuroLeague, maybe then 26. Perhaps in the future we’ll see a 30-team EuroLeague. That’s what I hope for and dream of. The league being divided into groups or conferences, the teams that qualify for the Playoffs being determined in that way…” Itoudis said.
“In my opinion, that would be the pinnacle of European basketball, the highest level achievable. The final games across Europe being played in the EuroLeague (instead of the league), the European season ending with the EuroLeague Playoffs… I think that’s ideal. Will this happen in the next 10 years? I hope God gives us health so we can witness it“, he told Mozzart Sport.
“I think and hope that the Russian teams will return. FIBA went ahead and opened the green light for players, individuals and referees, so the next step would be teams, team sports. If the Russian teams return, which is my wish, we already have other candidates. There’s PAOK, there’s Arisa, there’s Roma, Hapoel from Tel Aviv and all the teams that want to be part of it, to win franchises, which means that we have more teams that can guarantee financial stability”, Itoudis answered.
“It means more players, coaches and officials in basketball, and then we have to think a little the other 22 teams did nothing. We see how it is in the NBA, where it is a little wider. That’s why we came up with the idea for play-in. That play-in now gave a different dimension. Now you’re twelfth, but you’re looking at tenth place. Before, when you were twelfth and looking towards eighth place, it might have been a bit more difficult. That’s why the idea exists. But we need a show to explain what all the ways I see or at least what my personal ideas are. I repeat, whether they will be accepted or not is a matter for discussion, but I think we should grow”, he said.
He took the opportunity to talk about Hapoel Tel Aviv’s license and how it has ‘stayed’ in the Euroleague. “Yes, as far as the Euroleague is concerned, let’s not forget that Hapoel Tel Aviv didn’t have any guaranteed contract either before, last year, or the year before last, and we didn’t have a special invitation. Through the results, we had to earn another season and the right to continue. Of course, it’s a big topic, because the team has serious people who run the club, i.e. the owners, who want to invest and want to have continuity. It’s difficult when you don’t know what you’ll be like in the Euroleague for the next ten years, because Is it a three-year contract, a two-year contract?”, Hapoel coach replied.
“We are now in a new situation, when it comes to the situation in the Euroleague. It should be known that the club is one of the owners, which means that more time can be invested in the players. When it comes to the Euroleague, let’s see where Let’s not forget that we were at the first one position for almost three months in a very competitive league like the Euroleague. Hapoel Tel Aviv never lost touch with the playoffs, let’s put it that way. Whether it was the first place, whether it was the sixth place, but we were always in the playoff zone“, Itoudis said.
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