{"id":779459,"date":"2026-07-04T23:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779459\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T23:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:15:16","slug":"panathinaikos-wins-race-for-isaac-bonga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/779459\/","title":{"rendered":"Panathinaikos wins race for Isaac Bonga"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Isaac Bonga is nearing a move to Panathinaikos after one of the most competitive transfer races of this summer&#8217;s EuroLeague market, per sources.\u00a0The expected multi-year agreement will include NBA exit clauses every offseason.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest recruiting battles on this summer&#8217;s EuroLeague market is nearing its conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>            <a class=\"article-widget__photo\" href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/19722-isaac-bonga.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-421258-plsm.jpg\" alt=\"Isaac  Bonga\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n                    MIN<br \/>\n                    27.7\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                PTS<br \/>\n                9.9\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                FG%<br \/>\n                59%\n            <\/p>\n<p>\n                    REB<br \/>\n                    5.6\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    AS<br \/>\n                    1.5\n                <\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BasketNews<\/a> sources, <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/players\/19722-isaac-bonga.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Isaac Bonga<\/a> is finalizing a multi-year agreement with <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/teams\/33-panathinaikos-aktor-athens.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Panathinaikos<\/a>, with the Greek powerhouse emerging victorious after a huge pursuit involving several of Europe&#8217;s biggest clubs.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old German forward became one of the most sought-after free agents on the market.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the offseason, virtually every EuroLeague contender explored the possibility of signing Bonga, but Panathinaikos ultimately proved the most determined suitor.<\/p>\n<p>Bonga prioritized a return to the NBA throughout the offseason. However, the type of opportunity he was seeking\u2013in terms of role, competitive ambitions, and overall situation\u2013did not materialize, leading him to continue his career in Europe.<\/p>\n<p>According to BasketNews sources, the expected agreement with Panathinaikos will include NBA exit clauses each summer, allowing Bonga to pursue an NBA opportunity should the right offer emerge in future offseasons.<\/p>\n<p>The combination of Panathinaikos&#8217; project, the envisioned role within the team, and the club&#8217;s championship ambitions ultimately convinced Bonga to choose Athens despite widespread interest from across the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n<p>The move gives Panathinaikos one of the most coveted signings of the offseason while preserving Bonga&#8217;s long-term goal of eventually returning to the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>This deal will also reunite Bonga with Zeljko Obradovic, as Panathinaikos continues assembling a roster capable of competing for another EuroLeague title.<\/p>\n<p>The Greek powerhouse has also announced the transfer of Moustapha Fall and is expected to complete the signing of Brancou Badio from Valencia Basket.<\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DaXpK_wCpDA\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">  <\/p>\n<p>During the 2025-26 EuroLeague campaign, Bonga averaged 10.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.9 steals, and 14.3 PIR in 28 minutes of action for Partizan Belgrade.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the season, Bonga was named the Best Defensive Player of FIBA EuroBasket 2025 after helping Germany capture the gold medal.<\/p>\n<p>In the championship game against Turkiye, he delivered one of the finest performances of the tournament, finishing with 20 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from three-point range, along with five rebounds and three assists.<\/p>\n<p>Before returning to Europe in 2022 (to Bayern), Bonga spent four seasons in the NBA after being selected with the 39th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n<p>During his NBA career, he appeared for the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards, and Toronto Raptors.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BpQTzRzB8k4&amp;t=3s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p> Mike Batiste In Tears Watching Panathinaikos&#8217; Epic Moments   Panathinaikos roster    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/paveikslelis-197264-tmlg.jpg\" title=\"\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"\/>  Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens    Position Player Status   PG Jerian Grant Signed until 2028   PG\/SG Vassilis Toliopoulos Signed until 2028   SG\/PG Kostas Sloukas Signed until 2027   SG Kendrick Nunn Signed until 2028   SG\/SF Panagiotis Kalaitzakis Signed until 2027 +1   SF Cedi Osman Signed until 2027   SF Nikos Rogkavopoulos Signed until 2029   PF Juancho Hernangomez Signed until 2027   PF Konstantinos Mitoglou Signed until 2029   PF Nigel Hayes-Davis Signed until 2028   PF\/C Ioannis Kouzeloglou Signed until 2027   C Mathias Lessort Signed until 2028   C Moustapha Fall Signed until 2028 +1   Coach Zeljko Obradovic (<a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/news-250186-zeljko-obradovic-announced-as-new-panathinaikos-head-coach.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signed until 2029<\/a>)   Expiring \u00a0   Left Ergin Ataman, Marius Grigonis, Kenneth Faried (<a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/news-250373-panathinaikos-bid-farewell-to-the-world-cup-gold-medal-winner.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">story<\/a>), TJ Shorts (<a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/news-250389-tj-shorts-leaves-panathinaikos-with-next-team-already-found.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">story<\/a>), Alexandros Samodurov   Signed Zeljko Obradovic, Moustapha Fall   Potential Departures \u00a0   Incoming deals Isaac Bonga, Brancou Badio   Targets \u00a0   <\/p>\n<p>                                                                                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-photo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-373702-crop144x144.jpg\" alt=\"Donatas Urbonas\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                                                            Donatas Urbonas is an award-winning Lithuanian basketball journalist, recognized as the best sports journalist in Lithuania in 2016 and the top basketball journalist in 2018. A Vilnius University journalism graduate, Urbonas has reported on major global sports events, including the Rio 2016 and Paris 2024 Olympics, FIBA World Cups, EuroBaskets, NBA Summer League, and NBA Draft.\n                                                        <\/p>\n<p>                                                            About author<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-bg-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/config\/basketnews.lt\/_v2-images\/logo-img-only.svg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                                    <a href=\"https:\/\/basketnews.com\/plus?utm_source=basketnews_com&amp;utm_medium=bn_plus&amp;utm_id=UA-259273-31&amp;utm_campaign=banners_free_content_for_not_members_bottom_7\" class=\"banners_paid_content_info_block_white banners-paid-content-info-block-white\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                                                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"bn-plus-img img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/bn-plus.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                            Thank you for reading us! 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It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.<\/p>\n<p>                                            <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Isaac Bonga is nearing a move to Panathinaikos after one of the most competitive transfer races of this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-779459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}