dpWhat had become one of the main storylines of the EuroLeague summer transfer market has finally reached what in many ways feels like a natural conclusion.
Thomas Walkup has officially left Olympiacos and joined Dubai, signing a multi-year contract with the Emirati club.
The situation between Walkup and Olympiacos had seemed beyond repair, as the player refused to return to Greece despite his existing contract while the club continued to assert its rights, demanding a high fee from Dubai to release the defensive specialist.
Ultimately, the three parties reached an agreement that facilitated the transfer and brought the saga to a close.
What, then, remains of the Walkup deal? Does this move really make sense for Dubai, and will Olympiacos be able to find a replacement so close to the start of the season? Let’s try to figure it out together.
A statement move for Dubai
Dubai’s high ambitions come as no surprise. In its EuroLeague debut last season, the Emirati team fielded a highly competitive roster and only missed the playoffs in the final few games of the regular season.
For the upcoming season, the club has raised the bar even higher, first luring head coach Xavi Pascual away from Barcelona.
Then, top-tier players such as Toko Shengelia, Jaron Blossomgame, Elie Okobo, and Mamadi Diakite were added to an already talented roster.
The front office also invested in the future by signing players to multi-year contracts and loaning them out for development, as seen with Kevin Kokila and Simonas Lukosius.
The club is truly moving in every direction to become one of the most powerful forces in the EuroLeague. With the 2027 Final Four, barring any geopolitical issues, expected to return to the United Arab Emirates, it’s clear that Dubai aims to be one of the teams to beat.
Credit IMAGO/MN Press Photo – Scanpix
However, following the loss of Alpha Diallo, who left the club shortly after signing to try his hand in the NBA, Dubai’s management felt the need to add a defensive specialist capable of raising the team’s level even further.
A player who could become a new star while also helping the club further enhance its already growing reputation.
This pursuit led directly to the decision to sign Thomas Walkup, who still had one year remaining on his contract with Olympiacos.
The money side: Walkup’s salary in Dubai and buyout fee
The price Dubai paid to sign Walkup from Olympiacos is definitely high. Initial reports from Greece place the buyout fee at around €2.3 million ($2.6 million), on top of an annual gross salary of nearly €3 million ($3.2 million) – more than double what Walkup was earning in Greece.
However, BasketNews sources close to Dubai suggest more modest figures, with an estimated gross salary of around €2.15 million ($2.5 million) per year.
Nevertheless, these are superstar-level figures for a player who has never held that status.
The American guard is a defensive specialist, a “glue guy” like few others in the sport, but he is not a player who can single-handedly make a difference.
Why Walkup’s signing makes sense for Dubai
Despite the astronomical figures, the move makes sense for Dubai for several reasons.
Walkup’s arrival will allow Dubai to deepen its perimeter rotation and avoid overburdening McKinley Wright IV, who is poised for a breakout season following a top-tier EuroLeague debut.
Furthermore, Walkup is a leader both on the court and off it. For a team still unaccustomed to the elite level of European basketball, he could prove decisive in helping the team take another leap forward in quality.
But Walkup’s signing is, above all, a statement move for Dubai.
The Emirati club has shown that it can go out and sign a key player from the reigning EuroLeague champions at the first sign of salary dissatisfaction at Olympiacos.
It’s a strong signal from Dubai, demonstrating the Emirati club’s ambition and the virtually unlimited budget at its disposal.
The other EuroLeague teams, including powerhouses like Olympiacos, will have to start getting used to it, whether they like it or not.
The Olympiacos angle
For Olympiacos, the loss of Walkup is, in any case, a tough blow to take. This was not the outcome the Greek club had hoped for.
Management made every effort to retain the player, setting a high asking price to prevent his departure.
In recent weeks, however, the relationship between the player and the club had completely deteriorated, culminating in Walkup requesting the unilateral termination of his contract.
At that point, a positive outcome was difficult to imagine: Walkup had refused to return to Greece, and Olympiacos began losing hope of reintegrating him into the team.
With the departure of the American guard, Olympiacos loses a key player from recent seasons, one who has consistently been among the most influential players on Bartzokas’s team.
It’s also true, however, that given the state of affairs for Olympiacos, it would have been difficult to secure better terms than these. The buyout fee is a huge sum in European basketball, especially for a player who will turn 34 in December and whose contract was set to expire anyway.
Credit Image AP – Scanpix
Over the past two seasons, Walkup has played a bit less due to a series of physical issues, and as the years have gone by, he has lost some of his athleticism, though he remains one of the best perimeter defenders around.
It was also clear that the player was seeking a significant pay raise – likely the last major deal of his career – and Olympiacos was unwilling to substantially increase his salary, which stood at just under €1.5 million.
With the money from the buyout, Olympiacos will certainly have the means to find a high-caliber replacement, although finding a player with qualities similar to Walkup’s won’t be easy, regardless of the financial aspect.
The arrivals of Jean Montero and Codi Miller-McIntyre over the summer, however, make Walkup’s departure much easier to bear.
So, despite the disappointment of seeing a player who has been a symbol of “Bartzokas ball” in recent years leave, Olympiacos can take comfort in having secured a buyout that provides multiple options upon returning to the market in the coming weeks, allowing ample time to make the right decision and begin its quest for a repeat.
Dubai’s roster
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Dubai Basketball |
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| Position | Player | Status |
| PG | McKinley Wright IV (story) | Signed until 2029 |
| PG | Thomas Walkup (story) | Signed until 2029 |
| PG/SG | Elie Okobo (story) | Signed until 2028 +1 |
| PG/SG | Kosta Kondic | N/A |
| SG/PG | Davion Mintz (story) | Multi-year |
| SG | Klemen Prepelic | Signed until 2028 |
| SG/SF | Dzanan Musa | Signed until 2028 |
| SF/SG | Dwayne Bacon (story) | Signed until 2028 |
| SF | Awudu Abass | Signed until 2027 |
| SF | Nemanja Dangubic | Signed until 2027 |
| SF/PF | Jaron Blossomgame | Signed until 2028 |
| SF | Justin Anderson | Signed until 2027 |
| PF | Tornike Shengelia (story) | Signed until 2028 |
| PF | Davis Bertans | Signed until 2028 |
| PF/C | Filip Petrusev | Signed until 2028 |
| C | Kenan Kamenjas | Signed until 2027 |
| C | Mamadi Diakite (story) | Signed until 2028 |
| C | Mam Jaiteh | Signed until 2028 |
| C | Mfiondu Kabengele (story) | Signed until 2028 |
| Coach | Xavi Pascual (signed until 2029) | |
| Left | Nate Mason, Bruno Caboclo, Taran Armstrong, Boogie Ellis, Matt Ryan, Aleksander Sekulic, Aleksa Avramovic (loaned to Bahcesehir) | |
| Potential Departures | Awudu Abass | |
| Signed | Tornike Shengelia, Mamadi Diakite, Jaron Blossomgame, Xavi Pascual, Elie Okobo, Davion Mintz, Yannick Kraag (loaned to Joventut), Simonas Lukosius (loaned to Unicaja), Kevin Kokila (loaned to Virtus), Thomas Walkup | |
| Incoming deals | Soumaila Keita (story) | |
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