In 2018, Anton Gavel lifted the German double as Bayern Munich captain before announcing his retirement weeks later. Eight years later, he returns to the club as head coach on a three-year contract, tasked with fixing what two coaches couldn't accomplish last season.
The Starting Point
The 2025-26 season was poor in both competitions. In the EuroLeague, Bayern finished thirteenth of twenty with seventeen wins and twenty-one losses, far from the play-in from the start. And in June, they lost the German league after falling at home in the tiebreaker against Alba Berlin.
There were also two significant mitigating factors: the long-term injuries to Kamar Baldwin and Rokas Jokubaitis, the two cornerstones of the perimeter game. And a coaching change mid-season, when Gordon Herbert left the club and Svetislav Pesic took over the team.
Pesic has retired permanently after that stint, and that's where Gavel comes in.
The Coach
Slovak with German nationality and 41 years old, Gavel arrives from Bamberg, with whom he was a Bundesliga semifinalist last season. His coaching résumé is short but impressive: German champion with Ulm in 2023, German Cup in 2026, and Bundesliga Coach of the Year that same year.
He also has Spanish history: he played two seasons at Murcia between 2006 and 2009, before building a career of five league titles in Germany.
What he doesn't have is EuroLeague coaching experience. This is his first time.
What's Arriving
Six signings, with a recognizable idea behind them: more perimeter threat and more youth.
Duane Washington and Tobias Jensen are the two names pointing in that direction. Jensen, moreover, was named EuroCup Rising Star last season and signs a long-term contract.
At small forward positions come MarJon Beauchamp, with NBA experience, and Miles Norris, who leaves Barcelona. And in the paint, two reinforcements of different profiles: Austin Wiley, who was the leading rebounder of the last EuroCup with 9.5 rebounds per game, and Johannes Thiemann, world and European champion with Germany.
Those Staying
The continuity core is the project's strong point and is distinctly German. Staying are Justus Hollatz, Andi Obst, Niels Giffey, Oscar da Silva, Killian Fischer, and Johannes Voigtmann, plus captain Vladimir Lucic, Justinian Jessup, and the two players who set the team's ceiling: Rokas Jokubaitis and Kamar Baldwin.
The Keys
The return of Jokubaitis and Baldwin. This is the factor that could change things the most. The two missed practically the entire season and are by far the best players on the roster. Getting them back is equivalent to two top-tier signings.
A debut coach in Europe. Gavel knows the club, the league, and the locker room, but he's never coached a EuroLeague game. That jump has been costly for other coaches with brilliant domestic résumés.
A solid and unspectacular German core. Bayern has eight or nine players with German nationality and much shared experience, which gives them cohesion from day one. But they lack the player capable of winning a game by himself.
Double demand. The club lost the Bundesliga in June and that weighs heavy. Competing in Europe while recovering the domestic title is a burden not all projects manage well.
The Forecast
Bayern is a natural candidate for the play-in and little more. If Jokubaitis and Baldwin stay healthy all season, they can fight for the postseason; if they go down again, last season's script will repeat.
It is, in any case, a project of stability rather than immediate ambition: a three-year contract for a homegrown coach indicates the club has decided to build for the medium term.
Full Roster
Point Guards and Shooting Guards: Kamar Baldwin (1.85m), Andi Obst (1.91m), Duane Washington (1.91m), Rokas Jokubaitis (1.93m), Justus Hollatz (1.95m), Tobias Jensen (1.97m), Justinian Jessup (1.98m)
Small Forwards: Niels Giffey (2.00m), Miles Norris (2.00m), MarJon Beauchamp (2.01m), Vladimir Lucic (2.04m)
Power Forwards and Centers: Oscar da Silva (2.05m), Killian Fischer (2.05m), Johannes Thiemann (2.05m), Austin Wiley (2.11m), Johannes Voigtmann (2.11m)