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sep 16 2026Maccabi finished last season with 24 wins and 2 losses in the Israeli regular season, the State Cup, the league title, and every individual award distributed in the country. In the EuroLeague they finished twelfth and missed the play-in. Between one thing and another, thirteen "home" games were played in Belgrade, one of them in front of eighty spectators.
That contrast is the starting point for the season. The club hasn't touched the skeleton: it renewed almost everyone, locked in its coach through 2029, and invested the summer in one thing only: size.
The Starting Point
In Europe, the record was 18 wins and 20 losses, with a -100 point differential. A team that scored a lot—3,386 points, among the most productive in the competition—and that gave up even more: 3,486, the worst defensive record of the twenty.
Context matters. Due to the security situation, Maccabi played only six games as the home team at Menora Mivtachim and thirteen others at the Aleksandar Nikolic in Belgrade, with an average attendance of 3,330 spectators, the lowest in the EuroLeague.
In Israel, on the other hand, they had no rival. They won the State Cup with Roman Sorkin as Finals MVP, closed the regular season 24-2, and took the title by defeating Hapoel in the final, with Iffe Lundberg named MVP. Oded Kattash was named Coach of the Year.
What's Leaving
The significant departure is Lonnie Walker IV, who returned to the NBA with the Denver Nuggets after a season in which he was one of the team's best scorers.
The other has a derby name: Tamir Blatt left for Hapoel Tel Aviv. The list is completed by Jeff Dowtin, who signed with Napoli; David Efianayi, who went to Uralmash; Zach Hankins; and Tamir Gold.
What's Arriving
Five signings, and four of them are over two meters tall.
The most talked-about move in Israel is Yam Madar, who makes the reverse journey from Blatt and crosses from Hapoel to take over the point guard duties. With him comes Keaton Wallace, a shooting guard from the Atlanta Hawks.
The frontcourt is reinforced immediately. Daniel Theis lands after a season at Monaco and after being announced this summer by ASVEL, and Armando Bacot arrives from Fenerbahçe. Bonzie Colson makes the same move from Istanbul and returns to Maccabi in his second stint with the club, where he played before.
Those Who Stay
Here is the bulk of the project, and it's a long roster.
Jaylen Hoard renewed through 2029 after being the EuroLeague's second-best rebounder with 7.1 per game. Roman Sorkin, TJ Leaf, and Gur Lavi also remain in the frontcourt, and Oshae Brissett and Will Rayman on the perimeter, both with contract extensions.
At point guard, Jimmy Clark, Amit Ebo, Lundberg, and John DiBartolomeo repeat, the latter in his third consecutive season as a veteran of the house. And on the bench, Kattash, with a contract through 2029.
The Keys
The problem was defense. No team gave up more points last year. The four centers who have arrived or renewed point right there: Theis and Bacot bring size, Hoard brings rebounding, and Sorkin brings experience. If Maccabi fixes that column, they move up six or seven spots without changing anything else.
Too many centers, few playmakers. The flip side is obvious. Walker, who was the one resolving stalled possessions, is gone, and Madar arrives, who is more of a team point guard than a scorer. With Wallace yet to be confirmed in Europe, the offensive load falls on Lundberg and Brissett.
The derby turned into a trade. Blatt to Hapoel and Madar to Maccabi. The two reference Israeli point guards have switched sides in the same summer, and the two clubs face each other four times a year between league and European competition. It's going to make headlines.
The venue. Like last year, the big unknown is not sporting. Playing most home games two thousand kilometers away and with the arena half-empty wears you down, and Maccabi has been paying for it in Europe for two seasons while dominating in Israel.
The Forecast
Maccabi is one of the few teams arriving with almost the same roster and the same coach. That, in a EuroLeague where half the league has changed eleven players, is a real advantage in October.
With the frontcourt reinforced and defense as a stated priority, fighting for the play-in is a reasonable objective, and probably the minimum required after a twelfth-place finish. For more, someone would need to step forward as an offensive reference, and today it's not clear who.
What does seem certain is that they will win everything in Israel again. The challenge for this club, for the past two years, is making that matter outside.
Full Roster
Point Guards and Shooting Guards: John DiBartolomeo (1.83), Amit Ebo (1.84), Yam Madar (1.90), Jimmy Clark (1.90), Keaton Wallace (1.90), Iffe Lundberg (1.93)
Small Forwards: Gur Lavi (1.98), Bonzie Colson (1.98), Oshae Brissett (2.01), Will Rayman (2.03), Jaylen Hoard (2.04)
Power Forwards and Centers: Daniel Theis (2.03), Roman Sorkin (2.08), TJ Leaf (2.08), Armando Bacot (2.08), Shane Hunter (2.08)
