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HIGH VOLTAGE
Straight into the Action
High Voltage debuts the season in the traditional way.
Published: 30/09/2025 13:54
Here we are again, back on the familiar Fantasy “front” to keep you company (and you us) through this year’s Euroleague marathon and the game that starts today! We’ve already moved ahead with the general player analyses and the first BasketStories columns are already live, so I don’t think we need special prefaces before we get to what everyone cares about — the thoughts that will lead to the final team build, something that surely troubles most managers.
In the High Voltage player pool there are about 15 players, from which the tough cuts must be made (also based on the budget, of course) and the inevitable dilemmas arise. In general, I’d certainly prefer to have a lot more forwards at game launch, the way I see the market, with guard options looking a bit more risk-on (though there are musts too).
So I’ll start, a bit backwards, with the centers, where I think there will be a lot of ...variety among the community’s choices overall. Many have singled out Moses Wright — and not unjustly — since there aren’t many bigs for Zalgiris (again) this year. The American seems to have potential, and that way the 10.5 credits take on a more positive hue, even if a debut at Monaco doesn’t look ideal.
Among the choices at the spot I picked out Milutinov at just 12.4 credits, as well as Diouf, who I think has solid hopes of entering our Fantasy radars in a big way this season. However, here the usual suspect Real gets involved: the two centers face them in Rounds 2 and 1 respectively, and that discourages me from picking one (or both) for now. Not that the risk element is absent with Luka Samanic, especially with a debut against Olympiacos, but Baskonia looks so “bare” on the frontline that, in the long run, the Croatian’s bar also seems clearly higher than 10 credits.
That more or less closes the center spot, where …traditionally there’s at least one miss in Round 1, and a swap to Diouf on Thursday (also depending on the Italian’s minutes vs Real, of course) for credit savings looks likely.
Dropping down to the guards, there are two very clear options. First, Xavier Rathan-Mayes showcased his statistical strengths in Bayern’s shorthanded preseason, and even with a full roster I don’t see any major obstacle that will leave him off the Fantasy radar. An opener at OAKA is always diffucult, but after that the schedule looks favorable for the Bavarians.
There’s also Sergio De Larrea, who unfortunately was named MVP of the Spanish Super Cup — which means everyone will have him. I say unfortunately because I had “checked” the kid much earlier, as well as his knack for drawing fouls — a valuable Fantasy trait — and I think with displays like that it will be very hard to remove him from the rotation even when Valencia’s injured guards return. At 6.5 credits, there isn’t much to think about.
There’s also Adam Atamna, who had a very positive showing with ASVEL in friendlies (in Heurtel’s absence). The young Frenchman costs just 4.5 credits and, if that half-credit isn’t needed for a more pivotal move, he’ll fill the last spot at the position. The “expensive” one remains unknown, with names like Baldwin and Forrest standing out (and if Horton-Tucker and Nowell hadn’t arrived right at the end, they would come even easier).
At forward we start at the extremes. Vezenkov at 16 credits and Samodurov at 4 credits save a lot of thinking time, though to be honest I did consider upgrading the Panathinaikos forward to someone else at 6–7 credits, given how many interesting choices there are. From Osmani, Parra, and Harrison to Lucic and Diallo (H.) and even up to Dzanan Musa.
The latter is “winking” at me, even though Dubai’s early schedule is very demanding. This year, however, is his chance to take on a fully leading role on a team — and in Fantasy — so I think there will be nights when he …overdoes it. Some injuries on his team might also open up even more room to operate, though that isn’t always good. In the end, the 13.2 credits look intriguing to me, and maybe it’s worth investing, for now, in someone tested at Euroleague level rather than the — very promising — Hamidou Diallo, who also plays Olympiacos (and I don’t know how minutes will shake out with Sedekerskis and Howard, who missed preseason).
The Bosnian could even be paired …economically with Shaquille Harrison at 6.9 credits, a player I wouldn’t have looked at if I hadn’t seen this year’s preseason, where he was ASVEL’s best. How safe is an estimate that this continues into official games? Not at all — but here, unlike last year, I do see a small uptick in drawn fouls that reassures me.
Not so much as to stop the dilemmas and combinations from starting, of course. A long-time team favorite is Vladimir Lucic, who starts at the friendly price of 8.4 credits, and his first look is certainly encouraging. The good news is the Serb generally “fits” financially, but not in number of spots, since either Harrison or Samodurov will have to go; the bad news is the OAKA opener and the simultaneous presence of Rathan-Mayes on the roster. Lucic, Rathan-Mayes, Samanic, H. Diallo, Forrest — all very interesting cases, but they can’t all make the premiere together.
If Bayern’s forward comes instead of Harrison, then there are still worthwhile guard options, like Quin Ellis, who shone in the Italian Super Cup. Otherwise, Samodurov gets sacrificed and two typical guards come in — which, combined with De Larrea (and Rathan-Mayes), makes the line look very weak.
The relative budget tightness is also created by the coach pick. Wanting to …sleep easy for the coming rounds, I’m leaning to Ataman (who will make a crazy duo with Atamna), since Panathinaikos’ schedule looks the most manageable overall, combined with their strength: Bayern (H), Barcelona (H), Baskonia (A), ASVEL (H). While opening with back-to-back 20s looks too good to be true, overall I can’t see myself parting with him except for purely financial reasons, and with the flexibility of four changes I’ll be able to fix (or mess up even more) the missteps of the first rounds.
Unfortunately, this choice — over Spanoulis (also not a bad option) — is the one that limits the roster choices and creates the dilemmas. For example, with Spanoulis as coach, the team’s last guard could be Baldwin. Really fair point.
Otherwise, I’ll have to make peace with Tyler Dorsey’s night in Baskonia — and the omens for him aren’t bad: Olympiacos’ backcourt absences, Baskonia’s possible defensive weakness/unreadiness and fast pace game, plus the player’s overall form. As a punt it doesn’t sound so bad, although the national team guard is generally not the recommended solution.
So, without breaking a sweat, we already have three (of many) scenarios: 1) Ataman with Dorsey and Harrison, 2) Lucic and Quin Ellis instead of the two players, 3) Spanoulis and Baldwin instead of Ataman and Dorsey. I might not even consider the third if it weren’t for Horton-Tucker’s showing in the Turkish league. For the second there’s OAKA and ...Rathan-Mayes (we all know how that will go), while the first has the Dorsey “bet,” which in any case has just a one-round horizon. With the coach as a safety net and “gambling” on Turn 1, for some reason that scenario sits a bit better with me — even though I’d never have thought I’d choose Dorsey over Lucic and Baldwin. We’ll be here tomorrow talking about our mistakes… If something changes in the meantime, we’ll still be here.
The team distribution is 6–4, with the heavier hitters mostly playing today.
The team captain will be Vezenkov on T1; after all, that’s another reason he was signed. If things go sideways, then there’s a tough call coming, with Wright and De Larrea mainly vying for the armband.
So, High Voltage’s roster for Turn 1 of Round 1 will, likely, be as follows:
Devotion.
In the High Voltage player pool there are about 15 players, from which the tough cuts must be made (also based on the budget, of course) and the inevitable dilemmas arise. In general, I’d certainly prefer to have a lot more forwards at game launch, the way I see the market, with guard options looking a bit more risk-on (though there are musts too).
So I’ll start, a bit backwards, with the centers, where I think there will be a lot of ...variety among the community’s choices overall. Many have singled out Moses Wright — and not unjustly — since there aren’t many bigs for Zalgiris (again) this year. The American seems to have potential, and that way the 10.5 credits take on a more positive hue, even if a debut at Monaco doesn’t look ideal.
Among the choices at the spot I picked out Milutinov at just 12.4 credits, as well as Diouf, who I think has solid hopes of entering our Fantasy radars in a big way this season. However, here the usual suspect Real gets involved: the two centers face them in Rounds 2 and 1 respectively, and that discourages me from picking one (or both) for now. Not that the risk element is absent with Luka Samanic, especially with a debut against Olympiacos, but Baskonia looks so “bare” on the frontline that, in the long run, the Croatian’s bar also seems clearly higher than 10 credits.
That more or less closes the center spot, where …traditionally there’s at least one miss in Round 1, and a swap to Diouf on Thursday (also depending on the Italian’s minutes vs Real, of course) for credit savings looks likely.
Dropping down to the guards, there are two very clear options. First, Xavier Rathan-Mayes showcased his statistical strengths in Bayern’s shorthanded preseason, and even with a full roster I don’t see any major obstacle that will leave him off the Fantasy radar. An opener at OAKA is always diffucult, but after that the schedule looks favorable for the Bavarians.
There’s also Sergio De Larrea, who unfortunately was named MVP of the Spanish Super Cup — which means everyone will have him. I say unfortunately because I had “checked” the kid much earlier, as well as his knack for drawing fouls — a valuable Fantasy trait — and I think with displays like that it will be very hard to remove him from the rotation even when Valencia’s injured guards return. At 6.5 credits, there isn’t much to think about.
There’s also Adam Atamna, who had a very positive showing with ASVEL in friendlies (in Heurtel’s absence). The young Frenchman costs just 4.5 credits and, if that half-credit isn’t needed for a more pivotal move, he’ll fill the last spot at the position. The “expensive” one remains unknown, with names like Baldwin and Forrest standing out (and if Horton-Tucker and Nowell hadn’t arrived right at the end, they would come even easier).
At forward we start at the extremes. Vezenkov at 16 credits and Samodurov at 4 credits save a lot of thinking time, though to be honest I did consider upgrading the Panathinaikos forward to someone else at 6–7 credits, given how many interesting choices there are. From Osmani, Parra, and Harrison to Lucic and Diallo (H.) and even up to Dzanan Musa.
The latter is “winking” at me, even though Dubai’s early schedule is very demanding. This year, however, is his chance to take on a fully leading role on a team — and in Fantasy — so I think there will be nights when he …overdoes it. Some injuries on his team might also open up even more room to operate, though that isn’t always good. In the end, the 13.2 credits look intriguing to me, and maybe it’s worth investing, for now, in someone tested at Euroleague level rather than the — very promising — Hamidou Diallo, who also plays Olympiacos (and I don’t know how minutes will shake out with Sedekerskis and Howard, who missed preseason).
The Bosnian could even be paired …economically with Shaquille Harrison at 6.9 credits, a player I wouldn’t have looked at if I hadn’t seen this year’s preseason, where he was ASVEL’s best. How safe is an estimate that this continues into official games? Not at all — but here, unlike last year, I do see a small uptick in drawn fouls that reassures me.
Not so much as to stop the dilemmas and combinations from starting, of course. A long-time team favorite is Vladimir Lucic, who starts at the friendly price of 8.4 credits, and his first look is certainly encouraging. The good news is the Serb generally “fits” financially, but not in number of spots, since either Harrison or Samodurov will have to go; the bad news is the OAKA opener and the simultaneous presence of Rathan-Mayes on the roster. Lucic, Rathan-Mayes, Samanic, H. Diallo, Forrest — all very interesting cases, but they can’t all make the premiere together.
If Bayern’s forward comes instead of Harrison, then there are still worthwhile guard options, like Quin Ellis, who shone in the Italian Super Cup. Otherwise, Samodurov gets sacrificed and two typical guards come in — which, combined with De Larrea (and Rathan-Mayes), makes the line look very weak.
The relative budget tightness is also created by the coach pick. Wanting to …sleep easy for the coming rounds, I’m leaning to Ataman (who will make a crazy duo with Atamna), since Panathinaikos’ schedule looks the most manageable overall, combined with their strength: Bayern (H), Barcelona (H), Baskonia (A), ASVEL (H). While opening with back-to-back 20s looks too good to be true, overall I can’t see myself parting with him except for purely financial reasons, and with the flexibility of four changes I’ll be able to fix (or mess up even more) the missteps of the first rounds.
Unfortunately, this choice — over Spanoulis (also not a bad option) — is the one that limits the roster choices and creates the dilemmas. For example, with Spanoulis as coach, the team’s last guard could be Baldwin. Really fair point.
Otherwise, I’ll have to make peace with Tyler Dorsey’s night in Baskonia — and the omens for him aren’t bad: Olympiacos’ backcourt absences, Baskonia’s possible defensive weakness/unreadiness and fast pace game, plus the player’s overall form. As a punt it doesn’t sound so bad, although the national team guard is generally not the recommended solution.
So, without breaking a sweat, we already have three (of many) scenarios: 1) Ataman with Dorsey and Harrison, 2) Lucic and Quin Ellis instead of the two players, 3) Spanoulis and Baldwin instead of Ataman and Dorsey. I might not even consider the third if it weren’t for Horton-Tucker’s showing in the Turkish league. For the second there’s OAKA and ...Rathan-Mayes (we all know how that will go), while the first has the Dorsey “bet,” which in any case has just a one-round horizon. With the coach as a safety net and “gambling” on Turn 1, for some reason that scenario sits a bit better with me — even though I’d never have thought I’d choose Dorsey over Lucic and Baldwin. We’ll be here tomorrow talking about our mistakes… If something changes in the meantime, we’ll still be here.
The team distribution is 6–4, with the heavier hitters mostly playing today.
The team captain will be Vezenkov on T1; after all, that’s another reason he was signed. If things go sideways, then there’s a tough call coming, with Wright and De Larrea mainly vying for the armband.
Roster
So, High Voltage’s roster for Turn 1 of Round 1 will, likely, be as follows:
Devotion.
