EuroLeague Preseason: Valencia Edges Baskonia 93-91, Real Madrid Crushes Malaga 113-74

On September 15, 2026, Valencia beat Baskonia 93-91 in a EuroLeague preseason friendly. Hours earlier, at the Costa del Sol tournament, Real Madrid crushed Malaga 113-74. Two scorelines, two levels of competition, one shared question: what do EuroLeague preseason friendlies actually tell us about the season ahead?

I have tracked EuroLeague preseason preparation for several seasons. The first lesson arrived early: a friendly scoreline is not a forecast, it is a personnel checklist. The value is not in the points column, but in the rotation chart — who starts, who is being tested, who already has a locked spot.

Context: when a friendly stops being a friendly

EuroLeague enters its preparation phase with a dense schedule. Spanish clubs — Real Madrid, Valencia, Baskonia, Malaga — dominate much of the preseason calendar, reflecting the structural strength of Spanish basketball within the EuroLeague. Four teams, four different objectives, all sharing the same limited window before the season begins.

Real Madrid will play the EuroLeague Super Cup just days after these friendlies. That is real time pressure. While other teams can still experiment freely, Real Madrid must lock in its personnel earlier. For a club with title ambitions, every friendly is a dress rehearsal, not merely a practice session.

EuroLeague preseason structure differs from the NBA in one crucial respect: no draft, no transparent hard cap, no American-style luxury tax. Teams build rosters through the European free market and buyouts from other leagues. Every new signing is therefore a tactical bet, and friendlies are where that bet is first tested.

Analysis: Valencia 93-91 Baskonia and Real Madrid 113-74 Malaga

The Valencia-Baskonia game stands out because it had real competitive structure. 93-91 is a scoreline from a game both teams needed to win, not a casual experiment. The personnel headline sits in the backcourt pairing: TJ Shorts for Valencia and Kenneth Farid for Baskonia. Both arrived from Panathinaikos.

This is a detail few noticed: Panathinaikos is inadvertently becoming EuroLeague's talent relay station. Two players left the Greek club, now face each other in Spanish rival colors, and both are expected to be pillars. For TJ Shorts, he is almost certainly Valencia's primary ball handler — a small guard with high scoring ability, but carrying turnover and defensive risks. For Kenneth Farid, Baskonia is betting on proven European experience.

This is a pattern I have seen repeat across EuroLeague transfer windows: Spanish clubs prioritizing American guards over domestically developed players. Both TJ Shorts and Malaga's Kendrick Perry fall into this category. It is not coincidence — it is a strategic choice for instant shot creation in a league where the gap between mid-tier teams is razor thin.

In the Real Madrid-Malaga game, the 113-74 number tells a different story. Six Real Madrid players scored in double figures: Malencon led with 19, Loubalu-Kabaro 16, Cabacho 15, Sar 11, Okeeke 10, Dek 10. This distribution is not accidental — it reflects genuine roster depth. A team with six double-digit scorers in a meaningful game (the Costa del Sol final) signals an offensive system already in rhythm.

Real Madrid won their 15th Costa del Sol title. That number matters more than it appears. It says Real Madrid has maintained a stable preseason preparation culture over many years — not easy to sustain in European basketball, where rosters churn constantly.

On Malaga's side, a 39-point home loss is a signal that must be read correctly. Billy Hernangomez — brother of Juancho Hernangomez — posted 11 points and 5 rebounds, still showing veteran stability. Kendrick Perry scored 16, Cameron Hunt scored 15. These are Malaga's two perimeter pillars. But when the roster gap to EuroLeague's leading group is that wide, Malaga's story is more likely survival than a playoff push.

Contrarian angle: blowout friendlies predict little

This is where I have to be blunt, even if it runs against the excitement. Real Madrid scoring 113 against Malaga sounds impressive, but this is a friendly, against an opponent with a clear talent gap. Scoring in games like this has low predictive value. We do not know how seriously Malaga defended, how much Real Madrid experimented with lineups, and there are no advanced metrics to evaluate.

The lesson from prior seasons: teams that blow out preseason friendlies rarely correlate with regular-season success. What actually holds value is rotation structure — who plays how many minutes, at which position, in what context. This source provides only scoring, not that structure.

I also need to admit something: when reading about a 39-point win, the natural reflex is to attribute it to the winner's strength. But another scenario must stay open: Malaga may be in a roster restructuring phase, and this loss reflects their internal state more than Real Madrid's absolute strength. I have no salary or contract data to confirm, so I must keep both scenarios alive.

A spreadsheet never lies — only the person too lazy to read it fools himself. But a spreadsheet only answers questions the data permits. Here, the data gives me only scorelines, and I must be honest about that limit.

Watchpoint: the Super Cup is the real test

Real Madrid will play the EuroLeague Super Cup within days. That is their first meeting with genuinely high-quality opposition this season. If they win big, the "title favorite" narrative has footing. If they win narrowly or lose, the credibility of their preseason dominance comes into question. I am setting a hard deadline for this claim: within seven days of the Super Cup, we will know whether Real Madrid's preseason form is real or a bubble.

For Valencia, the question sits with TJ Shorts: what will his usage rate be, and will the system become overly dependent on a small guard. For Baskonia, Kenneth Farid needs time to adapt. For Malaga, the question is simpler: is this roster enough to avoid the bottom tier.

Friendlies are over. The personnel checklist still has many blank rows. And as every season, the real answer only comes when the ball goes up.