Monaco thrown out of the French league: the bank said the money was not there

A club that played EuroLeague semi-finals a few seasons ago is now not allowed to play in its own domestic league. The French basketball federation officially announced that Monaco will compete in neither the first nor the second division, because it did not submit the required documents on time. The story began on 3 July, when the financial regulator DNCCG judged the club's guarantees insufficient. Then came a takeover bid led by former NBA star Jamal Mashburn and a group of American investors, with a projected budget of 10 to 12.5 million euros - assessed as too fragile. Monaco was given extra time to complete the paperwork, and the crucial part was the bank guarantee. And then, according to French sources, the American bank announced that the account simply did not hold enough funds. The club is announcing an appeal. Anyone who follows Balkan clubs recognises the scene: big names on paper, a budget hanging on a single signature.

Curry stays at Golden State: the club is offering him a blank cheque

After LeBron James chose Philadelphia over Golden State, Miami and Cleveland, the question arose of whether Stephen Curry had grown tired of waiting for another superstar. The answer, according to insiders, is no. Curry becomes eligible for an extension on 6 August, and on the table is a two-year deal worth around 136 million dollars. The phrasing going around is that the club will offer him "a blank cheque and a blank contract" and ask him what he wants - one year, two years, a discount, whatever he decides. The Warriors continue building around Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, hoping the younger players step up. This is what we see at elite franchises and almost never here: a club that treats its own symbol not as a cost but as a reason to exist.

Wembanyama signed everything there was to sign

Victor Wembanyama's summer looks like this: a supermax extension with San Antonio and a long-term deal with Nike, which comes with his own signature shoe. Last season the Frenchman took the Spurs to the NBA finals for the first time in his career and picked up the defensive player of the year award. The two most important contracts of a life - the sporting one and the marketing one - signed in the same year, in his early twenties. There is something almost brutal in how fast the top separates from the rest. While one player gets his own shoe line, clubs in this region are struggling to pay the electricity bill for the arena. That is not a story about talent - it is a story about infrastructure.

Macedonia's juniors beat Iceland and play for 13th place

Macedonia's junior basketball team (U18) claimed its second win at the Division B European Championship in Croatia, beating Iceland in the play-off for places 13 to 16. The next opponent, for 13th, is Great Britain. Let us be honest - thirteenth place in the second division is not a historic success and nobody will remember it by autumn. But for a squad working with resources half of Europe's federations would laugh at, the turnaround against Iceland means the group does not give up when the score goes against them. That is the quality that later builds a senior national team. The question is whether anyone will follow these boys next year too, or whether we will remember them only when they need a visa for some foreign club.

Rabotnicki kept Petrovski, Pelister brought back Sapundziev

The domestic transfer scene works quietly, but it works. KK Rabotnicki kept Luka Petrovski and is building a roster around home-grown names, with Damjan Robev among them, plus new signings from the domestic and regional scene. In Bitola, Ivan Sapundziev is the fourth new addition for Pelister - a guard who already played there from 2022 to 2024, in the domestic league and in the ABA league. Meanwhile Marjan Ilievski, the former head coach of the men's senior national team, has taken charge of runners-up Madzari, a club that reached the final in its debut season. There is one sober data point here worth attention: Macedonian clubs are increasingly keeping local players instead of hunting cheap foreigners for a single season. If that lasts longer than one summer, it will mean something.