Hapoel Tel Aviv Faces Major Roster Questions After Finals Loss

Hapoel Tel Aviv ended its season on Tuesday night with a painful 3-1 series defeat to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the championship final derby. The loss has triggered a wide review of the squad, with the club weighing who will stay, who will leave, and who is still undecided as it plans for next season.

Head coach Dimitris Itoudis is expected to meet with owner Ofer Yannay in the coming days, and he already has a contract for next season. Assistant coach Stefanos Dedas is not expected to remain. In the backcourt, Chris Jones is unlikely to stay, as he wants a better offer after Hapoel matched Red Star Belgrade’s bid, and he remains uneasy about his family not coming to Israel because of the situation. Vasilije Micic is also uncertain, with disagreement inside the club, although Yannay wants him and Micic said in an interview that he sees himself staying.

The biggest question involves Yam Madar, who said, “Hapoel Tel Aviv has not spoken with me yet.” He is waiting for a response from U.S. colleges, while Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem have made feelers, though his preference is to remain at Hapoel, but not in just any professional setup. Among the players expected to stay because they are under contract are Tyler Ennis, Bar Timor, Antonio Blakeney, Elijiah Bryant, Ish Wainright, Itay Segev, Dan Oturu and Tai Odiase.

Several others are uncertain or likely to depart. Yiftach Ziv and Igor Kolsov are not expected to stay, while Guy Pnini wants more minutes and told the staff he was unhappy with his role, despite being highly valued. Colin Malcolm and Levi Randolph are not expected to remain, and the club is particularly disappointed with Randolph, who arrived on major money but did not do everything possible to reach peak playoff shape. Kayandre Cook and Oz Blayzer are also in doubt, though Blayzer, despite being under contract and drawing many offers, is appreciated for his strong playoff form. Tomer Ginat is under contract but has many offers, including from Hapoel Jerusalem. Jonathan Motley’s future depends on the coach, since he wants to stay and is valued by the owner, who extended his deal without informing the coach.