Panathinaikos really did offer Jokic a contract - his agent confirmed it

What looked like another attention-seeking post from an owner turned out to be true. Nikola Jokic's agent, Misko Raznatovic, confirmed that Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos really did send an offer - both to the player and to Denver. "I made a very serious offer," Giannakopoulos said. The offer was rejected, but the mere fact that a EuroLeague club sends paperwork for a three-time NBA MVP shows how much the money in European basketball has changed. Giannakopoulos has said openly for years that he dreams of Jokic and that it is a matter of time before he tries. Now we know he tried. The Serb remains a pillar of the Nuggets for now - but in basketball "no" rarely means "never", it usually means "not at this price".

Giannis will not play for Greece - Miami will not grant permission

Giannis Antetokounmpo will not appear for Greece in the August window of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, Sport24 reports. The reason is not injury but calculation: his new club Miami Heat does not want the workload risk after acquiring him in a trade from Milwaukee, together with Bobby Portis, in exchange for a whole group of players and draft compensation. The thirty-one-year-old Greek struggled last season with a hyperextension of the left knee and a bone bruise. Greece travels to Riga to face Ukraine on 28 August, then hosts Spain on the 31st, with a 3-3 record in Group I - Spain leads at 5-1. The club pays, the club decides, the national team waits. The Balkans know this scene by heart.

Red Star signed a Real Madrid talent

Red Star signed eighteen-year-old Andrej Bjelic to a two-year contract - a 1.94-metre guard who spent three seasons in Real Madrid's system. Last season he played for the Madrid U22 side and won the title, averaging 11.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3 assists across 24 games in Liga U. Across all competitions his numbers are 12.1 points and 34.5 percent from three in 30 matches. He has a bronze with Serbia's U16 team. The model is familiar and it works: young talents are pulled out of the academies of rich Spanish clubs once they realise the road to the first team there is long, and they are offered minutes in the EuroLeague. The question is whether Red Star will actually give him those minutes or keep him on the bench as an investment.

Macedonia's cadets fought to the end, but Ukraine was too much

Macedonia's cadets closed the group stage of the European Championship with a defeat to Ukraine. The first half was even (46:39 to Ukraine), but they lost the third quarter 24:10 and trailed 70:49 after 30 minutes. What followed is the reason cadet games are worth watching: a 17:4 run and a deficit of just eight points (66:74) midway through the final quarter. It was not enough. Dion Shabani collected 21 points and 11 rebounds, Ilija Konevski and Mihail Angjelovski 16 points each. Macedonia continues in the playoff for ninth to sixteenth place, with an opponent from Ireland, Slovakia or Montenegro. The comeback that did not happen is still more informative than the defeat - this generation does not give up when it is twenty-one points down.

Cair dropped out of the elite, and the Superliga place is being sold for 40,000 euros

Cair 2030 did not get a licence and officially says goodbye to the top tier. The basketball federation opened a tender to fill the tenth place, and interested teams must meet the sporting and financial criteria - and pay 40,000 euros for a "wild card". Shkupi has already announced it will apply. So: a club cannot pay its obligations and goes down, and its place is handed to whoever pays forty thousand. That is not a sporting criterion, it is a fee. In Bitola, meanwhile, Pelister is doing an almost complete overhaul - the seventh new name is Luka Savicevic (24), arriving from Feniks, with a past in a Spanish academy and the American NCAA, alongside the Dimitriev brothers, Zlatevski, Sapundziev, Kirilovski and two Americans. Some are building a team, others are buying a place.