The latest MVP of the Euroleague Final Four is on the market and, as it could not be otherwise, the greats of the competition are already preparing their portfolios. Nigel Hayes-Davis won the Fenerbahce title last seasonbut his attempt to gain a foothold in the NBA has not been successful. After tiptoeing through The Suns (27 games with averages of 7.2 minutes and 1.3 points) was sent to the Bucks, who just cut him.
The debutant Hapoel Tel Aviv, which aims for everything in the market, had already recently shown interest in both him and Guerschon Yabusele. The French power forward has joined the Bulls and his promising debut suggests that he will stay in the NBA for a while. So the big goal now is Hayes-Davis. The Israeli club, which once led the Euroleague, is now in a slump. They have four defeats in a row and their ambitious owner, Ofer Yannay, is looking for a coup d’état.
Nigel Hayes-Davis, in a match with Fenerbahce.
Also Panathinaikos, which is not doing well, is testing the market and its owner, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, has been very critical of the squad and coaching staff in recent weeks. Some time ago he assured that he was pursuing a high-impact signing like the one that Kendrick Nunn once was. Fenerbahce, his last team and current leader of the competition, could also bid for Hayes-Davisto which Sarunas Jasikevicius brought out his best basketball.
The American power forward was one of the best players in Europe in recent seasons. After two years in Zalgiris and one in the Barcelonareached its best level in the Fenerbahcewhere he played the last three seasons. It even reached beat the scoring record with the 50 points he scored against Alba Berlin in March 2024.
Last year he averaged 16.7 points with 41% in three-pointers, 5.3 rebounds and 18.3 rating credits. In the grand final he added 23 points (with 4/13 in field goals but 14/14 in free throws) to help Jasikevicius win his first continental title as a coach.
Second attempt in the NBA
He then headed to the United States to try to fulfill a dream: settling in the NBA. I had that thorn in me since the 17-18 season, when he played only nine games with three different franchises (Lakers, Raptors and Kings). His total contribution then was 27 points. The second chance hasn’t gone much better.
Nigel Hayes-Davis, in a game with the Suns.
Hayes-Davis has repeated the pattern of other great Euroleague stars who crossed the Atlantic and did not find their place in the NBA: Sasha Vezenkov and Vasilije Miciclike more recent cases. The American I could also follow in his footsteps on his return to Europe. Some big clubs are already on the lookout for a player capable of deciding the title, as he demonstrated with his Final Four MVP.
