Isaac Bonga To Sign With Panathinaikos

German forward Isaac Bonga has decided to stay in Europe, having reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

As Urbonas details, Bonga had been hoping to return to the NBA this summer, but he was unable to find the type of offer he was seeking “in terms of role, competitive ambitions and overall situation,” which is why he decided to stay in the EuroLeague. The 26-year-old’s new deal with Panathinaikos is expected to contain NBA exit clauses each offseason, sources tell BasketNews.

Bonga drew “widespread” interest throughout the EuroLeague and “several” of the most prominent teams in the continent considered pursuing him, Urbonas writes. Bonga, who was named Defensive Player of EuroBasket 2025 after helping the German national team win the gold medal, was recently linked to Real Madrid.

Panthinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos teased that Bonga will be undergoing a physical on Wednesday to complete the signing, relays Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.

The 39th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Bonga spent four seasons in the NBA before returning to Europe in 2022. He’s coming off a strong season with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia and will reunite with his former coach, Zeljko Obradovic.

In 69 total games (26.3 MPG) last season with Partizan, Bonga averaged 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.9 steals on .498/.362/.834 shooting splits.