Top 5 NBA players headed to Europe from the NBA this season

This NBA off-season has been one of the best and most explosive in recent memory. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, D'Angelo Russell and a host of other players all changed teams to much fanfare within the NBA. The coverage has been endless.

Less covered is the number of popular players who, having had comparatively successful careers, are leaving the NBA for pastures new. The NBA has always been a league-wide factory of talent with incredible player turnover. Every once in a while, players with recognition have to leave the NBA for pastures new, whether it be for their declining skill-sets, perception of their skill-sets as being "out-dated", fallout with team management, because playing elsewhere gives them the financial security and stardom that the NBA cannot give them, or because a new generation of talent simply changes the way the game is played (Carmelo Anthony, anyone?).

So, where do the best of the NBA eventually turn up after leaving? The favorite destination appears to be Europe, with its picturesque landscapes, historical cities, cutting-edge fashion, culture, and the chance to play in the Euroleague.

The Euroleague, including teams from Spain, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Italy, and others, is regarded as the best league for basketball outside the NBA. The Euroleague features 16 teams, playing each other twice -- once at home and once away -- to complete 30 games each. This leads to the top eight teams then facing each other in playoff format, followed by the final four. The final four play a one-off semi-final, which is then followed by a match to decide the third-place winner and the champions, of course.

Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic is a former MVP of the EuroLeague (at 18 years of age! )

The Euroleague may not have the glitz of the NBA, but it is regarded as a powerhouse league in its own right. Familiar names in the league include the basketball counterparts of renowned Association Football clubs including the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Valencia, Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce, CSKA Moscow.

So who are the Top 5 NBA Players Moving to the EuroLeague this season?

#5 Timofey Mozgov (Center, BC Khimki Moscow Region)

Years in the NBA: 9

NBA Accolades: 1x NBA Champion

Starting off big, quite literally, the 7-foot-1 Russian star is one of the first Russian players to have won an NBA championship, with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, during the season that led the Golden State Warriors to bring in Kevin Durant, and effectively destroy the league for the next three years.

Mozgov was signed as an undrafted free agent from the very Euroleague team he joined this season by the New York Knicks, and was a serviceable contributor to the Cavs during their Championship run in 2016, after starting for the Cavs in their losing effort against the Warriors the previous season, providing minutes behind Tristan Thompson.

For his part in the Cavs first championship victory, Mozgov was handed a 4 yr, $64 million contract, regarded as one of the worst contracts in NBA history in hindsight. As the league moved away from large, plodding centers in favor of mobile, switchable big men, Mozgov was traded thrice in two years (twice in two days in the 2017-18 season!), not playing much and now finds himself back to the only non-NBA team he has known, Russia's BC Khimki, teaming up with former NBA player Alexey Shved, another player in this list.

#4 Kosta Koufos (Center, CSKA Moscow)

Years in the NBA: 10

Kosta Koufos is not a name that appears in too many articles, which is in line with the playing style of the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. A solid but unspectacular backup center, he has appeared for five teams in his 10-season career, much of it as a backup power-forward-turned center in the small ball era. Found on benches, Koufos was a solid rebounder and acceptable defender who fit into most team rotations. Fittingly, Kosta Koufos' Wikipedia article is a brief summary of team changes during his time in the NBA.

Koufos projects to be an interesting case study in the perceived skill gap between the NBA and the Euroleague. Can a career backup Center in the NBA make it as a viable starting option in the always competitive Euroleague? Koufos will be joined by fellow NBA Alumni Ron Baker at CSKA Moscow, another of Russia's powerhouses.

#3 Jonas Jerebko (PF/SF, BC KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION)

Years in the NBA: 9

NBA Accolades: All Rookie Second Team (2009)

One of the best Scandinavian players to ever come to the NBA, Jerebko has been a stalwart of the NBA landscape since he was drafted in the second round of the 2009 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. Starting a majority of the games for the Pistons that year, Jerebko turned into a fan favorite through his hustle and ultimately made the All-Rookie Second Team for the 2009 season.

Following his tenure in Detroit, Jerebko would go on to play in Boston, where he was one of the premier players in their 2016-17 Isaiah Thomas-powered playoff run. Jerebko was the rebound leader for two straight games during the playoff run when they were bounced by the transcendent Atlanta Hawks under Mike Budenholzer.

After a stop in Utah playing a high energy wing with the Jazz, Jerebko completed his final season in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors, where his highlight was scoring the winning bucket against his former team with 0.3 seconds left to go with a tip-in rebound. Jerebko's role was reduced in the playoffs despite the Warriors missing Kevin Durant, Demarcus Cousins and Klay Thomson.

Now at BC Khimki, along with its multitude of stars, including former NBA champion Mozgov, Sergey Karasev, Alexey Shved, will this be the season when Jerebko finally wins the major championship he came so close to winning in the NBA?

#2 Nikola Mirotic (PF/SF, FC Barcelona)

Mirotic in his earlier stint in the Euroleague(with current team Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid)

Years in the NBA: 5

NBA Accolades: NBA All-Rookie First Team (2015)

This was one of the bigger head scratchers of the NBA off-season. Mirotic had recently come off a career-reviving tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018 and then the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2019 season, when his three-point shooting along with center Brook Lopez's even longer range antics acted as a foil for Giannis Antetokounmpo searing driving runs to the basket. The Bucks were expected to sign him, but ultimately may not have due to their cap constraints.

Even without a Bucks contract, Mirotic was in for a big pay-day and would have commanded a substantial contract with any other team in the NBA looking for a stretch-big who shot around 35% from the 3-point line (together with averages of 11.6 points and 5.4 rebounds) in the playoffs after scoring 43% from deep with the Pelicans the season prior. Reports suggest he received two substantial offers from NBA teams which he turned down.

A sign of the growing power of the Euroleague, Mirotic eventually settled down with FC Barcelona of Spain where reports suggested he will be the highest paid player in Europe the upcoming season. One rumored reason for this decision has been Mirotic's desire to settle down in Spain, and he's apparently bought a house in Barcelona.

Mirotic will be joining one of Europe's powerhouses in FC Barcelona, having played for their arch-rivals Real Madrid earlier. He will be joined by former OKC player Alex Abrines. Will this acquisition turn the tide of the Basketball El Clasico in Barcelona's favor?

#1: Greg Monroe (PF/C; FC Bayern Munchen Basketball)

Greg Monroe with the Sixers, 2019 Playoffs

Years in the NBA: 9

NBA Accolades: All-Rookie Second Team (2010)

An ever-present and solid scoring power-forwards/centers in basketball over the last decade, Greg Monroe was once considered a potential superstar. But Monroe, along many others of his era, struggled to adapt to the new NBA ideals of pace and space and a general reticence to post-scoring and post-plays.

Drafted seventh by the Detroit Pistons in the 2010 NBA draft, Monroe grew into his role as a powerful center who could be a good scorer and an excellent rebounder, banging down low with the best of the centers in the early part of the decade, ultimately making the Second All-Rookie Team for the 2010 season. He was a strong part of the Detroit Pistons for much of the decade, being a consistent starter, and led the team in scoring for two consecutive seasons (2011-12 & 2012-13).

Monroe then moved to the Milwaukee Bucks on a $50 million contract in 2015. Shortly after, he apparently fell victim to the rise in the NBA's pace-and-space and three-point shooting revolutions. Starting the 2017-18 season with the Bucks, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns and then waived and signed by the Boston Celtics in the same season.

Signing with the Raptors for the 2018-19 season and appearing 38 games in a bench role, he was traded to the Nets, who waived him immediately without appearing in a single game. The same season he was signed for a second stint on a 10-day contract by the Celtics, which was not renewed. Monroe signed with the Sixers and appeared in the playoffs where yet again he appeared in a bench role.

Monroe has now signed with German team FC Bayern Munich Basketball, where he will be joined by former Chicago Bulls player Paul Zipser. Monroe displayed in the playoffs that he still can be a strong asset in the right situation. Can he bring the Euroleague title to Germany?

Edited by sam.abraham