Basketball market: there is a backlash for Olimpia Milano
Simone Lucarelli
The big maneuvers in Olimpia Milano’s house continue, with the red and white club looking not only abroad but also in Italy to strengthen the roster in view of next season, in which it will not be able for the umpteenth time to be protagonists of a flop in the Euroleague.
With Darius Thompson, now at Valencia, with whom he will take the court tonight in the Euroleague Final Four against Real Madrid, Alessandro Pajola could also arrive: according to La Prealpina reports there would in fact have been a blowback with the Marche-born class of 1999 coming out of Virtus Bologna.
The context in which these movements are taking place is that of a deep restructuring of the direction department in the Milanese house. The departure of Quinn Ellis to the NCAA and the possible farewell of Nico Mannion (the latter in the sights of both Rome and Matt Rizzetta’s Napoli Basketball) have prompted management to explore multiple tracks in parallel. Thompson, a U.S. point guard naturalized Italian, remains the name at the top of the list also because of his pliability: he boasts nine appearances with the Azzurri national team and knows the Italian league well, having worn the Brindisi jersey in the two-year period 2019-2021.
The work of the Meneghini scouts on the directing front does not end here, however. The monitored profiles also include RJ Cole, currently at Reyer Venezia, where he finished the season with an average of 16.8 points in LBA and with 12.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in EuroCup. There would be a clause in the contract of the class of 1999 from Union City that would allow him to break free to land in the Euroleague, although the Veneto club would like to keep him. In the background, for Cole, there is also Zalgiris Kaunas.
And Andrea Calzavara, the talented 2001 class of APU Udine, is also among the Italian profiles monitored by the Milanese club, although in this case the interest would be limited to a future perspective. The former Brindisi has established himself in Serie A as one of the staples of coach Adriano Vertemati’s rotations, with his best performance of the season coming right on Olimpia’s parquet, where he put up 17 points on January 4. Also on the Calzavara track would be Virtus Bologna.
