2026-2027 EuroCup Season: Lithuanian Clubs, Format, and Favorites
The 2026–2027 EuroCup basketball season opens on Tuesday, featuring three Lithuanian teams entering Europos taurė amid significant structural changes to the tournament format and continental basketball.
- Three Lithuanian clubs—Šiauliai, Neptūnas, and Lietkabelis—participate in the revamped 2026–2027 EuroCup regular season starting Tuesday.
- Tournament organizers replaced the previous format of two groups of 10 teams with four groups of 8 teams each to increase competitive intensity and reduce meaningless late-season games.
- Playoff rounds transition from single-elimination games to best-of-three series, reducing upset volatility for stronger rosters.
Format Changes and Continental Pressures
According to Krepsinis.net, the tournament structure shifts from two groups of 10 teams to four groups of 8 teams, significantly expanding total participation while altering the competitive dynamics. This structural evolution arrives alongside pressures from the proposed “NBA Europe” initiative, through which Euroleague Basketball sought to secure long-term commitments from clubs by offering five-year contracts. These shifting alliances also weakened the FIBA Champions League, which lost teams such as La Laguna Tenerife and Tofaš Bursa to the EuroCup family, alongside new entries from Rome projects.
The modified regular season narrows the schedule to 18 games per team, designed to curb the prevalence of late-season fixtures where eliminated squads competed without motivation. In the postseason, single-game elimination rounds are replaced entirely by best-of-three series. This adjustment decreases single-match lottery variance, favoring deeper rosters that can absorb an initial loss and recover over multiple games.
Group B Outlook for Šiauliai
In Group B, the squad coached by Darius Songaila faces La Laguna Tenerife, London Lions, Maxima Roma, Skyliners Frankfurt, Turk Telekom Ankara, U-BT Cluj-Napoca, and Umana Reyer Venice, as reported by Krepsinis.net. Five teams in this group—Tenerife, London, Ankara, Cluj-Napoca, and Venice—are projected to battle for four advancement spots, with Venice appearing the weakest among that upper tier. Maxima Roma emerges as a potential dark horse, while Skyliners Frankfurt presents the most accessible opponent for the Lithuanian side. Objective evaluations suggest that securing wins against two group rivals would mark a successful campaign for Songaila’s roster.
Group C Projections for Neptūnas Klaipėda
Klaipėda’s Neptūnas competes in Group C against Budućnost Podgorica, JL Bourg-en-Bresse, Dolomiti Energia Trento, Napoli Basket, Niners Chemnitz, Śląsk Wrocław, and Tofaš Bursa, according to Krepsinis.net coverage. Budućnost enters with a strong roster on paper, whereas reigning EuroCup champion JL Bourg overhauled its entire roster, leaving questions regarding early-season chemistry. Two Italian middle-tier entries and Tofaš maintain solid depth, while Śląsk and Niners represent manageable fixtures. Analysts project Neptūnas to finish fifth in the group standings.
Group D Challenges for Lietkabelis Panevėžys
Panevėžys club Lietkabelis enters Group D alongside Bahçešehir Istanbul, Balkan Botevgrad, Bosna Sarajevo, Kids&Us Manresa, PAOK Thessaloniki, Ratiopharm Ulm, and Roma, per Krepsinis.net reporting. Istanbul and Thessaloniki stand out as clear group favorites, supported by competitive rosters alongside a solid Manresa squad and an unpredictable young Ratiopharm unit. Bosna and Balkan are identified as clear outsiders whom Lietkabelis must defeat. Given historical away-game vulnerabilities, analysts project a sixth-place finish for Panevėžys, noting that breaking into the top four remains an uphill battle without additional frontcourt reinforcements.
Title Favorites and Notable Coaches
Krepsinis.net identifies Andrea Trinchieri’s PAOK squad, featuring Donatas Motiejūnas, as a primary title contender for the 2026–2027 campaign. Additional frontrunners with substantial budgets and prominent rosters include Bahçešehir, Turk Telekom, Hapoel Jerusalem, and Aris Thessaloniki. La Laguna is positioned as a deep-run candidate, while London Lions serves as a recognized dark horse.
The coaching staff across the league features prominent figures, including Vassilis Spanoulis at Aris, Aleksandar Đorđević at Bahçešehir, Zvezdan Mitrović at Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Frédéric Fauthoux at JL Bourg, Saša Obradović at Hapoel, Jaka Lakovič at Tenerife, Jasmin Repeša at Napoli, Erdem Can at Turk Telekom, and Neven Spahija at Umana Reyer Venice. Foreign clubs also employ Lithuanian staff members Tautvydas Sabonis at London Lions and Rokas Kondratavičius at Rygos Zelli, alongside Italian strategist Alessandro Magro leading Roma.