A Challenge in the Triveneto Region for CJ Massinburg
CJ Massinburg faces a challenge in the Triveneto region. According to a report in L’Arena, Scaligera’s new sports director, Alessandro Bolognesi, has set his sights on the American forward. Born in Dallas in 1997, the player — standing 196 centimeters tall and weighing 92 kilograms — developed his basketball skills at the University of Buffalo and, after going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, came close to making the leap to the NBA while playing for the Long Island Nets in the G-League.
In 2021, he began his European adventure with the French team Limoges, followed by a move to Italy, where he played for Germani Brescia for two seasons. He then moved to Turkey to play for Bahçeşehir in Istanbul, before returning to Italy for a second stint with the Brescia team.
The results of Massinburg’s first two years in Brescia speak for themselves: in 2023, he won the Italian Cup, while in 2024 he was named Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year in the LBA—awards that cemented his standing in Italian basketball. His stint in Turkey with Bahçeşehir during the 2024–25 season saw him average 8.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game in the league, as well as 7.6 points per game in the EuroCup.
His return to Brescia for the 2025–26 season, however, did not go according to plan. Massinburg had to contend with a series of muscle injuries that sidelined him on several occasions—in October, November, and then again toward the end of the season—preventing him from replicating the performance he had shown during his first two seasons with the Biancoblù. In March 2026, with Germani in the thick of the title race and tied for first place in the Serie A standings with Virtus Bologna, the Brescia-based club was forced to make a move in the transfer market by signing Jayden Nunn, a U.S. guard born in 2003 from the Austin Spurs in the G-League, to fill the void left by the injured player.
Despite last season’s difficulties, Massinburg remains one of the most sought-after players in Serie A. In addition to Verona’s Scaligera Basket, APU Udine has also reportedly expressed concrete interest in the American: according to La Prealpina, Friuli’s general manager Andrea Conti has included him among the candidates to build next season’s roster, bolstered by the approval expressed by coach Adriano Vertemati. The prospect of a leading role could prove to be a decisive factor in the player’s decision, as he is now evaluating the various options on the table.
