With Euroleague success of extreme importance, the yellow-and-blue looked to revitalize its corps of foreigners after a disappointing continental campaign that saw Maccabi finish well off the mark for a playoff spot.
As for the Israeli complement of players, the team went right for the best of the best as it made sure to lock up Iftach Ziv, who not only only took the Israeli player of the season award with Hapoel Gilboa/Galil, but also won the “Corona League” most valuable player to end the 2019/20 COVID-19-plagued campaign. Also “returning home” is Jake Cohen for his third stint with the Israeli champs after a season in Spain at Obradoiro.
The whirlwind couple of weeks began with Sfairopoulos bringing back a player he was familiar with in center Jalen Reynolds, who played for Maccabi during the 2019/20 season for a number of months as an injury replacement for Tarik Black. This past season, Reynolds starred with Bayern Munich under fiery bench boss Andrea Trinchieri as the Italian was able to bring out the best in the big man who now comes in to replace Othello Hunter, who was with Maccabi for two years.
With Bayern, Reynolds played in every single one of the club’s 39 Euroleague games and scored 13.6 points and grabbed 5.8 rebounds in 21 minutes per contest. Now back with Maccabi, the Detroit native who signed a two-year deal will look to build on a most successful season in continental play.
Next up was bringing in James Nunnally on a one-year deal with an option for an additional season. The small forward has played in the Euroleague, where he won a championship with Fenerbache in 2017, as well as in the NBA and in the Israel Basketball League. Nunnally has earned much praise around the continent for his deft shooting from deep, averaging consistently well over 40% from beyond the arc while in Turkey, Italy, Greece and Israel.
The 30-year-old’s most recent stops included a nine-game spell at the end of this past season with the New Orleans Pelicans after having played in China and a number of contests back with Fenerbahce. Known as a fantastic shooter with excellent defense, Sfairopoulos shored up an area in the team that had been lacking with the departure of both Elijah Bryant to the Milwaukee Bucks and Tyler Dorsey.
Maccabi Tel Aviv then signed Derrick Williams to a one-year deal for the upcoming season. The 30-year-old has played the last three seasons with Euroleague teams and will now bring his energy and excitement to Israel.
Williams, who began his career with the Timberwolves after being selected second overall in the 2011 NBA Draft, played three seasons with Minnesota and then plied his trade with the Sacramento Kings where he was a teammate of Israeli star Omri Casspi, who he now joins in Tel Aviv.
The California native also played for the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers and spent part of the 2017/18 season in China with the Tianjin Gold Lions. The 2018/19 campaign saw Williams head to Germany, where he signed with Bayern Munich which was followed by a season apiece with Fenerbahce and Valencia where he scored nine points per game.
The yellow-and-blue then went for a relatively unknown in Kameron Taylor, signing the guard to a one-year deal with an option for an additional season. Taylor spent the last two years in Germany with the Hamburg Towers and Brose Bamberg.
Taylor averaged 13.6 points, five rebounds and three assists in roughly 28 minutes per game in the BBL German League last year and is known for his suffocating defense. The 26-year-old attended Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania and began his career in the lower divisions of German basketball.
Finally, Maccabi signed its first Israeli for the new season as Ziv joined the club on a two-year deal. The 26-year-old point guard was a member of last season’s first team All-Stars and led Hapoel Gilboa/Galil to the league finals where his squad fell 2-1 in the best-of-three championship series.
Ziv has the ability to dictate the pace of a game and is a lockdown defender who shoots the ball well and has a nose for collecting rebounds despite featuring as a point guard. Maccabi saw up close and personal his size and strength during the finals as he scored 12 points per game, along with averaging four assists and six rebounds in roughly 30 minutes per game. During the regular season, Ziv averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Prior to playing with Gilboa/Galil for two seasons, Ziv played a couple of campaigns with Nahariya along with also featuring for Maccabi Haifa, Bnei Herzliya and Maccabi Ashdod.
Finally, Jake Cohen comes back to the Holy Land on a two-year deal with the yellow-and-blue after playing for a year at Obradoiro in Spain. The power forward will be joining Maccabi for the third time in his career while having also played with Maccabi Ashdod, Maccabi Rishon Lezion and Aris in Greece. The last time the 30-year-old played under Sfairopoulos, he helped lift the championship plate to cap off the 2019/20 season following the outbreak of COVID-19.
All in all, Maccabi has done an excellent job in rejuvenating its roster and while it may lose some stalwart players from last year’s roster, it has done a superb job in bringing in a solid mix of veterans and youngsters to compete for European glory.
Attachments area