Maccabi Tel Aviv has finalized its roster with the signing of Keaton Wallace and the return of Shane Hunter from loan, but a little over a week before training opens, Oded Kattash faces considerable headaches as he tries to mesh his squad ahead of the coming season.
Last week, the German Basketball Federation announced that Daniel Theis would be part of the squad for the August window of the World Cup qualifiers, which includes a warm-up tournament. Maccabi Tel Aviv also received an official summons from the French national team for Jaylen Hoard, who also played for the Tricolor during the previous window and will likewise be unavailable for the start of training.
Another player whose availability remains questionable is Iffe Lundberg, due to the Danish national team's participation in the preliminary tournament for the EuroBasket 2029 qualifiers, in which it will host Romania on August 27. The Danish roster has not yet been officially released, but the Danish federation's promotional material for the game features Lundberg, who has not played for the national team since February 2025 during the previous EuroBasket qualifiers.
The Yellows' three international players join Roman Sorkin and Yam Madar, who will begin training with the Israeli national team, as well as the injured Gur Lavy and TJ Leaf, who are unfit for the start of the team's training camp.
Theis, Hoard, and the Israeli national team players will only be able to report for training in early September, while Lundberg will be able to train with the team a few days earlier, assuming he is called up. This means that if Lundberg is indeed on the Danish roster, Maccabi Tel Aviv will open its training camp with only nine players, including Amit Ebo and Shane Hunter, who are initially expected to back up the squad and primarily take part in domestic league games.
Maccabi Tel Aviv will play four pre-season games before the Super Cup, which will take place on September 17 against Hapoel Tel Aviv at Menora Mivtachim Arena. On September 3, it will host Bnei Herzliya, and on September 8, Maccabi Rishon Lezion, in two games behind closed doors. On September 11 and 13, the team will play in a pre-season tournament in Cyprus against Aris Thessaloniki and Olympiacos, respectively.