Only four Rounds remain in the regular season, and both the playoff race and pursuit of EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge glory are sizzling.
We strategically added players below around 4.0 credits at both the guard and forward positions during the final free-trade window, with the idea being you will probably not want to spend your remaining trades on moving these players in the coming weeks. In the last few weeks leading up to the playoffs, these players need to carry you to some extent. While they will mostly stay on the bench outside your starting six, it would still be quite valuable if they can provide even a small contribution in points and credits.
If you have any questions or comments about strategy or the picks below, feel free to drop those at the bottom of this article or reach out on X via @RotoWireEuro.
Good luck on your EuroLeague Fantasy Challenge journey!
Guard
Trent Forrest, Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (12.4 credits)
What an unexpected double-week performance! Forrest gave no real signs that such a huge wave was coming, shocking many in the process. As a result of Baskonia starting the season with a long losing streak, they were effectively out of the EuroLeague playoff race by midseason, but the occasional individual standout performances from the Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Forrest duo were still worth watching. Still, producing 36 and 29 PIR respectively in a double week can only be described as a true masterclass. In Round 35, Baskonia will face Real Madrid, a team they are quite familiar with from the domestic league, and this might be the only thing the fans expect from their team for the remainder of the season -- to win this game. To disrupt Real Madrid's push for home-court advantage, Forrest will need to deliver another masterpiece.
Sylvain Francisco, Zalgiris Kaunas (18.3 credits)
After producing a 19 PIR in the crucial Round 34 win in Istanbul and playing a leading role in his team's victory, Francisco now faces a matchup against their direct playoff rival Barcelona, who shares the same number of wins in the race for a top-6 spot. Having defeated Barcelona by 15 points away in the first half of the season, they will most likely hold the head-to-head advantage, and a win here would also put them ahead in total victories, effectively knocking Barça out of the top-6 race. Following this game, Zalgiris will face Dubai, Partizan Belgrade, and Paris, making this clash their toughest remaining test. Additionally, for Francisco -- one half of the guard duo with the highest probability of being selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team -- this is a major opportunity to elevate his performance when his team needs him the most and potentially achieve a first in his career by earning a significant accolade.
Wade Baldwin IV, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (14.8 credits)
His team has been in a complete free fall since mid-March, taking defeats in both games of last week's double week and marking their fourth loss in the last five outings. Even though he is not in his peak performance stretch, he still delivered 19 points and 19 PIR in the recent Zalgiris contest, but these efforts have not been enough to secure wins for his team. As if that was not enough, in the domestic league game on Sunday -- coinciding with Baldwin's birthday -- he hit a clutch last-second three-pointer to send the game into overtime, yet it still was not enough for his team to come away with the victory. Heading into the last four weeks of the EuroLeague season, Fenerbahce's schedule against Bayern, Hapoel, Real Madrid and ASVEL is far from easy, but if they still aim for the first seed, winning at least three of these games is absolutely essential. To achieve this, they will need Baldwin's leadership more than ever.
Sergio De Larrea, Valencia Basket (4.0 credits)
Our low-credit guard candidate in this section is once again the same as in Round 33. De Larrea, who has been his team's top scorer in almost every recent game especially with his performances in the domestic league, has not always found the minutes he expected from head coach Pedro Martinez as the EuroLeague enters its critical stretch. However, the absence of star player Jean Montero due to injury in this period has led to De Larrea being utilized more. After posting 8 PIR against Partizan in Round 34, if Montero's injury persists and he is again ruled out, De Larrea is expected to take on a significant role once again in the away game against Virtus.
Forward
Jaylen Hoard, Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv (15.3 credits)
Picking a forward from Maccabi is a must! At this point, your choice can be Roman Sorkin depending on your credits, or Oshae Brissett if you want to take on more risk, but the safest option is definitely Hoard. As the season enters its final stretch, Maccabi has suddenly found itself asking "can we sneak into a top-10 spot?" after a string of consecutive wins, and the main architect of this run has been Hoard, who has delivered 18+ PIR in each of their last six victories while averaging around 32–33 minutes on the court. In Round 35, Maccabi will face Anadolu Efes and we expect them to exploit Efes' weaknesses in the painted area through Hoard's athleticism.
Jordan Nwora, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade (13.5 credits)
At the beginning of the week, let's briefly recap for those who missed Carlik Jones' comments; he stated to the press that knocking Red Star out of a top-10 seed is the best thing Partizan can do right now. Following that, Nwora was asked about these remarks, but he chose to stay calm and focused, preferring to speak after the game. For Red Star, avoiding mistakes in the remainder of the season is crucial; with back-to-back home games against Partizan Belgrade and Paris, followed by an away matchup against ASVEL, securing three wins out of these three games would guarantee a top-10 finish, especially since they hold the head-to-head advantage over Maccabi. During this stretch, it is vital for Nwora -- who effectively announced that he has entered playoff mode with 18 PIR against Baskonia and 24 PIR against Barcelona in the recent double week -- to maintain this level of performance.
Cedi Osman, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (11.4 credits)
In the derby played Monday, Osman once again proved how indispensable he is for Panathinaikos via staying on the court for a full 37 minutes in the absence of both Nigel Hayes-Davis and Juancho Hernangomez. He was also the most productive player on the floor for Panathinaikos, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds. Riding a recent winning streak and making a strong push for a top-6 spot, Panathinaikos is now heading into three consecutive tough away games, all against direct playoff rivals. In their last away game, Osman produced 24 PIR against Dubai, and especially in a scenario where Hayes-Davis is unable to play, Osman should step forward once again.
Giampaolo Ricci, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (4.0 credits)
We already mentioned our low-credit guard pick above, now it's time for the forward position. With their play-in hopes steadily fading, Milan will travel to face Paris on the road in Round 35. Ricci did not have a particularly strong performance in last week's win against Virtus Bologna, but he is generally preferred more in away games due to the defensive toughness he brings to the team. In order to help limit Paris' offensive firepower, coach Poeta is likely to keep him on the court for around 10–15 minutes.
Center
Mfiondu Kabengele, Dubai Basketball (16.5 credits)
After hitting the Walter Tavares wall in Round 27, he has shaken it off and significantly improved his performance by producing 15+ PIR in every game since facing Real. As the season enters its final stretch, every fantasy coach wants a player they can trust blindly and in that case Kabengele can be considered a step ahead of his biggest rivals, Tavares and Nikola Milutinov, because the teams of these two giant centers are almost certain to finish in the top 4, meaning their coaches are likely to rest them with the playoffs in mind. In a scenario where Dubai, with a slim play-in chance, pushes this possibility to the limit, Kabengele's team will be in dire need of his contributions until the very end.
Josh Nebo, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (13.0 credits)
After returning from injury, Nebo has delivered decent performances in all six games he has played, but expectations for him are slightly higher than what he has recently shown. In his last three games, he has hovered around 13–14PIR, partly because he sometimes falls well short of expectations on the boards, as in the recent Virtus game where he grabbed only three rebounds. To clear up these doubts, in Round 35 Milan will face a team like Paris that struggles in painted-area defense and their game plan will almost certainly revolve around the domination of the Nebo and Zach LeDay.
Head Coach
Georgios Bartzokas, Olympiacos Piraeus (8.1 credits)
Although they are trying to escape the 1st seed curse, Fenerbahçe suddenly found themselves dropping in form following consecutive losses, putting Bartzokas and his team in a favour position. Looking specifically at this season, with Panathinaikos' recent wins, they are predicted to finish the season between 5th and 7th, which is why the safest way to avoid an early "final-like" PAO matchup seems to be finishing in 1st seed in the EuroLeague standings. In Round 35, they will face ASVEL, currently at the bottom of the EuroLeague and coach Bartzokas is already calculating how to close out the game early and rest his star players ahead of next week's matchup against Real Madrid.
Oded Kattash, Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv (4.6 credits)
A Maccabi fan would probably describe the 2025–2026 EuroLeague season as "Jekyll and Hyde"; after a disastrous start in the first 10 games with only 2 wins and a seemingly aimless season ahead, the team has completely flipped the script via recording 8 wins in the last 10 games since Round 25, besides one postponed game still to play. To catch their play-in rivals Monaco and Red Star, both sitting on 19-win records, they have a very favorable fixture, facing Efes, Baskonia, Paris, and Virtus, and if we include the postponed derby, they will also host Hapoel. Completing this stretch with a 5/5 record would not be surprising; the team's confidence is back, and under coach Kattash, they are fully focused on their goal.
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