Marc Gasol led his Girona club back to the top league in Spain as an owner/player this past season. Now, Gasol will be back to lead the club in their return to the ACB.

Gasol started in all 25 games he played for Girona last season. He averaged 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 25.2 minutes per game.

Gasol founded the current Girona club in 2014. He previously played for a former club in Girona, but that franchise folded. Gasol then founded this version and has taken an active hand in leading the team up the league flights over the last few years.

Free agent guard Tomas Satoransky is reportedly close to leaving the NBA. Satoransky is closing in on a deal with Barcelona in Spain.

The Czech Republic guard has played in the NBA for the last six seasons. Satoransky was originally drafted by the Washington Wizards in the in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft. He then came over to the NBA in 2016.

Before coming to the NBA, the 6-foot-7 guard played for Barcelona for two seasons. It appears he'll return to the club and team with countryman Jan Vesely, who is reportedly close to moving to Barca from Turkish club Fenerbahce.

Satoransky played for the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs last season, before returning to Washington to finish the year.

Nikola Jokic will play for the Serbia national team this offseason, the basketball federation announced.

“The NBA players have a maximum amount of days they can spend with the national team of their country during the offseason,” said national team director Dragan Tarlac on the agreement between FIBA and the NBA. “Nikola Jokic will be with the national team the first day he can, according to these restrictions.”

Jokic last played for Serbia in 2019 in the FIBA World Cup, where he averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

While Jokic is likely to miss the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers against Latvia and Belgium, he may be ready for the European Qualifiers and EuroBasket in late August and early September. 

Victor Wembanyama of France is widely considered to be the top prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-2 forward/center has shown great skill, despite still being raw.

Now, Wembanyama is reportedly considering changing clubs in France. He's currently with ASVEL but is looking for more playing time elsewhere. The rumored leading club for his services is Paris Basketball.

This season, Wembanyama appeared in 33 games for ASVEL with 19 starts. The 18-year-old big man averaged 7.5 points on 41.5% shooting from the field. Despite his height, Wembanyama is still more of a perimeter player than an inside player at this point in his development.

French prospect Rayan Rupert has signed a contract with the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian national basketball league, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 18-year-old Rupert is currently projected as the 21st pick of the 2023 NBA Draft by ESPN.

Rupert has drawn comparisons with Mikal Bridges due to his versatility and intensity on defense. 

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri did not hold back in a letter he wrote to the Nigerian government on their decision to withdraw the men's and women's national basketball teams from competitions for two years. Ujiri was joined in his criticism by Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka. Both Ujiri and Udoka are of Nigerian descent.

FIBA recently had to replace the Nigerian women's team in the 2022 Women's World Cup. The men's team is also expected to be removed from qualifiers for the 2023 Men's World Cup.

“The leaders of the basketball ecosystem in Nigeria continue to rob our youth of their present and future while tearing the entire basketball community apart — this needs to stop,” Ujiri wrote.

Udoka stressed that the dysfunction has existed for years.

“A lot of the same stuff I dealt with as a player, which is disappointing,” said Udoka, while he also said the federation suffers from disorganization at the very top.

Michael Beasley is returning to basketball and has signed a deal with the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association, reported Shams Charania of The Athletic.

The deal is worth seven figures.

Beasley last played in the NBA for the Lakers during the 2018-19 season. 

Turkish powerhouse Efes has won the 2022 Euroleague Championship by defeating Real Madric. This is the second consecutive year Efes has won the Euroleague Final Four.

Efes was led by Visilije Micic, who scored 23 points. Micic, whose NBA Draft Rights ae retained by the Oklahoma City Thunder, won back-to-back Euroleague Final Four MVPs.

Former NBAer Shane Larkin added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Tibor Pleiss scored 19 points for Efes.

FC Barcelona forward Nikola Mirotic was named the MVP of the 2021-22 EuroLeague.

Mirotic was second in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game, though was in first place when his average was prorated for 40 minutes.

The 31-year-old Mirotic also became the second player in EuroLeague history to post 65-45-85 shooting splits.

Mirotic last played in the NBA for the Bucks in 2019. His contract with Barcelona runs through the 2025 season. 

Ousmane Dieng will declare for the 2022 NBA Draft.

Dieng is a projected lottery pick and ranked No. 12 by ESPN.

Dieng is the first European star to play in the NBL's Next Stars program.

"Playing in a tough league with really good players was really good for me," Dieng told ESPN. "I learned a lot. The transition was significant, going up against much better players than I saw in France. The game is faster. Everyone is more physical.

"... I had to work on my body and I was lucky to have a great strength and conditioning coach. I improved my defense a lot this past year. The coaches had a big role in my improvement. I trusted them when I was struggling. I kept working and improved my game."