In addition to Ibon Navarro tied up until 2026there are seven players whose renewal has already been closed: kendrick Perry, Dario Brizuela, Nihad Djedovic, Tyler Kalinoski, Melvin Ejim, David Kravish, and Dylan Osetkowski. In addition, they have a valid contract Alberto Diaz and Jonathan Barreiro, so only 3 players from the current green and purple squad are the ones who have their future to define: Tyson Carter, WIll Thomas and Yankuba Sima. Three decisions that the club still has to make and that will be made official in the coming days.
tyson carter He is one of the three players whose future is yet to be defined, the one with the most drawbacks. It must be remembered that the American shooting guard belongs to the Zenit St. Petersburg squad, which last summer decided to loan him to Unicaja until June 30.
Carter’s season has been, overall, very good. His high point came, without a doubt, in the Copa del Rey in Badalona, in which he was chosen MVP. Although it was difficult for him to adapt, when he arrived last preseason, the truth is that he is a player appreciated by his teammates in the locker room and whose continuity is valued at the Los Guindos club. But there is the problem that His rights belong to Zenit and the Russian club still does not know if they have him for next season, if they are going to look for him again on loan or if they could even sell him..
Zenit was eliminated in their league in the semifinals and there are many doubts as to what their next sports project will be like, which seems to be out of European competitions again due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Besides, Xavi Pascual is not clear that he will continue to be his coach. And as long as Zenit does not have a coach, it is difficult for the Russian club to make a decision about what to do with Carter.. It has been speculated that the American guard is not very keen on returning to Russia, but Zenit has his rights and it is the Saint Petersburg club that has to make a move. If he goes out on loan again, Unicaja is well positioned. If Zenit decides to sell the player, Unicaja will also be among their possible destinations.
With Will Thomas it is a very different case. The Baltimore power forward has one more optional year from the club, but Unicaja does not want to execute it. The idea is to sit down with him to renegotiate a new contract with a lower chip than the current one and make it assumable for the club.
Thomas is the highest paid player in the current squad and his renewal in this economic situation is unfeasible. As already explained, taxation with foreign players almost triples in the second year in Spain. Renewing Thomas in his current economic status is an operation that costs more than 700,000 euros. Impossible.
The first contact has leaked that it has been positive. Thomas, at 36, has to weigh whether he prefers to go to another team to earn more money or stay in Malaga, with a less leading role and with a record with fewer zeros. He will have the last word.
With Yankuba Sima the future is not clear either. The Catalan center arrived in January with a contract for the remainder of this season, plus the next optional one. At the moment his renewal has not been announced, although it is not ruled out either.
The player’s rights are held by Manresa, which ceded them to Unicaja until June 30. But Juanma Rodríguez, green sports director, made it clear on the day of his presentation that the decision on the renewal or not of Sima will be made by the Los Guindos entity because everything bureaucratic has already been agreed with Baxi Manresa: «We have to make a decision about your future here. I hope it will be next year too, because it will mean that all parties are happy with his stay here. If he continues here next season, everything is already planned with Manresa”, assured Rodríguez on the day of Sima’s presentation.
His quota condition and his physical exuberance to play under the basket makes him a different player from the rest in that position. Kravish and Osetkowski have renewed and will be the other centers of the team, two players who do more damage far away than under the basket. Nor should we forget that Augusto Lima is injured for a long time and his return to the slopes will be in November or December. In the club all these circumstances are valued from which the final decision will come.
To the margin of these three names, there is another that is not officially confirmed, but that will be sure the next course. It’s Augusto Lima, whose renewal agreement has been underway for a few months now. Gus will play next season with Unicaja, but it remains to be seen from when because his knee injury was serious and although the recovery process is on the right track, there are still several months left before he is discharged.
Unicaja 2022/2023 is almost done. It remains to put only three cherries. Will it be Carter, Thomas and Sima?