Anadolu Efes continues to stack talent at point guard. The Turkish club announced the signing of Fatts Russell for one season, a move that caps off the most ambitious perimeter overhaul in years.
The 1.80-meter, 28-year-old point guard arrives from U-BT Cluj-Napoca, where he had the season that opened the doors to continental elite: 19.8 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 19 EuroCup games, with the Romanian team reaching the quarterfinals. Those performances earned him a spot on the competition's All-Second Team.
A season of standout performances
His impact in Cluj was immediate and sustained. In his second European game he scored 37 points against Neptunas Klaipeda, and a week later he dished out fifteen assists against Slask Wroclaw. He surpassed fourteen points in seventeen of his nineteen games, and in the first twelve he never dropped below fifteen.
In the knockout stage he maintained his level: 20 points, seven assists and two steals in the Round of 16 matchup against Buducnost, and 23 points with three steals in the quarterfinal loss to Bahçeşehir.
Return to Turkey, a country he knows well
For Russell, Istanbul is not new territory. He began his professional career in 2022 with Mornar Bar in the ABA League, where he averaged 26.8 points and 7.3 assists, before signing mid-season with Galatasaray. Then came Manisa Basket, with 17.3 points and 5.8 assists in the Turkish league, and Karsiyaka, where he posted 16.1 points and 4.7 assists.
What will be new is the EuroLeague. At 28 years old he will make his EuroLeague debut for the first time, and he will do so surrounded by veterans: Mike James, the competition's all-time leading scorer, and Matthew Strazel arrived this summer from Monaco, and they are joined by Jordan Loyd, PJ Dozier and Isaia Cordinier.
That is also the nuance worth keeping in mind. With five reliable perimeter players ahead of him, Russell's role in Pablo Laso's rotation remains to be defined.