The Euroleague

[Rodya]

With continuous news pouring out about a seemingly endless number of NBA players receiving lucrative contracts to play in Europe, I've grown more and more interest in the Euroleague. I'm hoping those very familiar with the business and basketball aspects of the league can explain in detail how the league operates in relation to the NBA. I'm sure many of us NBA fans want if not need to be more informed on the rising presence of international play.

Here what little I know from searching a reliable websites.
http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php/Euroleague

Euroleague Format

The Euroleague is currently contested in four phases.

The first phase is the regular season, in which 24 teams, divided into three groups of eight, participate. Each team plays two games (home-and-home) against every other team in its group. At the end of the regular season, the field is cut from 24 to 16; the surviving teams are divided into four groups.

The second phase, known as the Top 16, then begins. As in the regular season, each Top 16 group is contested in a double round-robin format.

The third phase, the quarterfinal round, has been played since the 2004-05 season. Before, only the group winners advanced to the Final Four (see below). Now, the first- and second-place teams from each group advance. In the quarterfinal round, the first-place team from each group is matched against a second-place team from another group in a best-of-three series, with two of the three possible games scheduled at the first-place team's home court.

The Final Four, held at a predetermined site, features the winners of the four quarterfinal series in one-off knockout matches. The semifinal losers play for third place; the winners play for the championship.

The Teams
The rift in European club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. The teams play in the ULEB and are governed by FIBA: Panathinaikos Athens, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Pau-Orthez, and Partizan Belgrade, Virtus (Kinder) Bologna, Real Madrid, Saski Baskonia (TAU Cerámica), AEK Athens, and Cibona .

Anything anyone can add would be much appreciated.

[Red Robot]

The Teams
The rift in European club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. Top clubs were split between the two leagues: Panathinaikos Athens, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Pau-Orthez, and Partizan Belgrade stayed with FIBA, while Virtus (Kinder) Bologna, Real Madrid, Saski Baskonia (TAU Cerámica), AEK Athens, and Cibona joined ULEB.

This isn't the case anymore. All those teams play together. Today's Euroleague is part of the ULEB. It contains all the clubs that qualify. FIBA just handles international play.

[Rodya]

Could someone explain how the contracts are constructed?

[mobiuseinz]

Could someone explain how the contracts are constructed?

basically there is no CAP... other than that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroleague

[Walt Cronkite]

Yea, the wiki is a good resource.

[Whateva]

The Teams
The rift in European club basketball initially showed no signs of letting up. The teams play in the ULEB and are governed by FIBA: Panathinaikos Athens, Maccabi Tel Aviv, CSKA Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Pau-Orthez, and Partizan Belgrade, Virtus (Kinder) Bologna, Real Madrid, Saski Baskonia (TAU Cerámica), AEK Athens, and Cibona .

Anything anyone can add would be much appreciated.

That was 2 seasons ago.
Teams like Pau Orthez and AEK Athens do not play in Euroleague