MoraBanc Andorra Signs Xavier Castañeda After Medical Clearance

MoraBanc Andorra has finalized a loan deal for 25-year-old Bosnian international Xavier Castañeda from Unicaja Málaga, with the 1.84m guard already in the country and having passed the club's medical checks ahead of Friday's game against Hiopos Lleida.

The Chicago-born player, who holds dual US-Bosnian citizenship, steps in as a replacement for Aaron Best after Lleida announced and then abandoned his signing last week. Lleida cited a failed medical exam revealing undisclosed right shoulder tendinitis, though Unicaja confirmed it had no prior awareness of the issue and noted Castañeda had trained normally with both teams. MoraBanc conducted its own evaluation on Tuesday, which he cleared without problems, according to Málaga reports confirmed by specialist Chema de Lucas and club sources.

Castañeda has struggled for minutes at Unicaja since last summer, appearing in five ACB games with averages of 10:53 minutes, one point, 1.4 assists, and a -2.2 valuation. His European form stands out more, at 6.8 points across six Basketball Champions League outings—including 9:11 minutes, zero points, a -15 plus/minus, and -3 valuation against MoraBanc at Pavelló Toni Martí. Bosnia's former coach Adis Beciragic once criticized his fitness and omitted him from Eurobasket qualifiers. Málaga outlets have portrayed him as introverted, with coach Ibon Navarro joking he needed "corkscrews" to coax words from him.

The arrival addresses gaps from Ferran Bassas's exit and the anticipated departures of underperforming Best and Justin McKoy, which remain unannounced. A pursuit of American Daryl Macon from Maorussi collapsed after the club declined to release him—he featured against Panathinaikos on Wednesday. Officials see Castañeda as a potential second-half spark under Joan Plaza.