With a EuroLeague MVP trophy on his shelf and entering the NBA at 28 years young, Sasha Vezenkov isn’t a traditional rookie. Across his final year with Olympiacos in EuroLeague play, Sasha averaged 17.6 points and 6.9 rebounds across 40 games, and shot 55.3% from the field and 38.3% from three while playing against the toughest basketball competition outside of the NBA. He comes over to Sacramento with both proven accomplishments and accolades, and also with a clear role and an elite talent. But for any player, even one with Sasha’s record, it will take real adjustment to play against NBA speed and explosiveness on both ends of the court. How will the Kings biggest offseason addition adapt to the NBA?
On offense, Sasha may be a damn cheat code for the Kings. He’s joining a team that was 5th in the NBA last year for three point makes and 6th in attempts; the Kings thrive on having on- and off-ball shooters around De’Aaron Fox and Domas Sabonis, and Vezenkov is an obvious fit given his lightning quick shooting touch, extended range, and ability and instincts to move off the ball. While the Kings will have to figure out how to balance out this talented, deep roster, it’s a great problem for Mike Brown and his staff to have. While the Kings have shooting talent in abundance, it would have been great to have had Sasha last April, when Keegan Murray and Terence Davis were the only Kings to shoot better than 35% from deep against the Warriors in the playoffs.
The questions for Sasha will come across the rest of the court; can he hold his own on defense when teams come to attack him? Can he help the Kings improve on the glass, as they try and improve on last season’s mark of 20th in the league for rebounds? How will Mike Brown shuffle lineups between Sasha, Keegan, Harrison Barnes, and Trey Lyles for the forward spots? Is Vezenkov ready for 82 games and 7 months of opportunities against the world’s best and most explosive opponents?
4 months ago in the EuroLeague Finals, Vezenkov dropped 29 points (a EuroLeague Finals record), 9 points, 4 assists, and shot 11-21 from the field, and his Olympiacos squad was one basket away from winning the title. Now, he’s joining an NBA offense tailor made for his skills, but also one that would need him to show up across the court if he wants to take on as big a role as he did in Europe.
But putting Sasha’s talent aside for a moment… the real question is if the Kings lockerroom will treat him like a normal NBA rookie. Will the Kings veterans make Sasha perform all the normal rookie duties? Is Vezenkov going to have to pick up fast food for the whole team on plane rides? Will Harrison Barnes make him wear a Hello Kitty backpack for a long roadtrip? Is Keegan Murray going to fill Sasha’s car up with popcorn?! These are the real questions I need answers to.
Sasha isn’t a rookie per se. I don’t expect him to get the rookie treatment at 28 years old as he is more of a free agent signing than a true draft pick rookie.
He’s an X factor for this team. I think the shooting is a given with some perimeter playmaking. His size, release, and ability to not just make shots from deep but make challenging shots from deep and a willingness to create a little space and let it fly. He’s likely to prove to be not just a floor spacer but also a guy that will get a good enough look late in the shot clock and make difficult shots. This is HUGE.
I also expect him to add some rebounding. Watching tape on him, he’s a very active player. He doesn’t take plays off on either side and his effort, size, and positioning on the boards will surprise a lot of casual fans who mistakenly think of him as just a sniper.
The big question, for me anyway, is how he will do on defense. He isn’t explosive, lacks lateral quickness, and maybe doesn’t have the beef to bang with NBA 4/5s. None of this necessarily means he’ll be a bad defender. There are system defenders that are crafty at that end. It’ll be interesting to see where he lands and if his defense is good enough to force MB’s hand into giving him a bigger role.
I love coming into the season with a realistic expectation that we’ll be pleasantly surprised by the performance of one or more of the team members.
FWIW, here is a list of the most recent Euroleague MVPs
22-23: Sasha
21-22: Nikola Mirotic, legit NBA player who chose to return to Europe
20-21: Vasilije Micic, on OKC and first year in NBA, widely considered best PG in Europe
19-20: No Award
18-19: Jan Vesley, Former #6 pick, lasted just 3 years in NBA
17-18: Luka Doncic: Plays for some team in Texas
16-17: Sergio Llull, never played in the NBA, has a ton of Euro hardware, rights to Knicks
15:16: Nando De Colo, A couple of unremarkable NBA seasons
14:15: Nemanja Bjelica: Kings legend and NBA champion
https://giphy.com/clips/therokuchannel-the-roku-channel-207-most-dangeous-game-new-york-RjuQhp7fPn4PUeJ1uH
once again, I am late to the party – and you said it better than me.
I’m so excited for him to start playing. I think he’s gonna get a lot of clean looks on this team and help stretch things out.
What is the history of EuroLeague MVPs in the NBA? Different League and different style of play distinguishes much of what makes the difference.
But EuroLeague MVP portends the upper echelon of EuroLeague talent and should be accorded that respect.
If we look at the list of EuroLeague MVPs over the 20 years that Wikipedia has listed there are familiar names but for a few:
In reverse order:
Sasha Vezenkov
Nikola Mirotic
Visilje Micic
Jan Vesely
Luka Doncic
Sergio Llull
Nando de Colo
Nemnaja Bjelica
Sergio Rodriguez
Vassilis Spanoulis
Andrei Kirilenko (post NBA)
and so on…
The list speaks for itself – other than Luka Doncic, the players are contributors to various squads, but aren’t stars. (I was surprised to not find Bogdan Bogdanovic – he was a EuroLeage All-Star but not MVP). Uniformly, they can all tickle the twine with the best of them. The rest of their game has shown signs of limitations – mostly on the defensive side.
To expect Sasha to come in and replace the rock steady all around game of Harrison Barnes is too much of a stretch in expectation for my blood. I hope he can be a taller Bojan (not Bogdan) – better than Davis Bertans, better than Bjelly, maybe the second coming of Nikola Mirotic.
If I had to sum up my expectations – I see Sasha as Keegan backup/insurance.
OH CRAP! I just looked down the thread – and it shouldn’t be a surprise – but Adamsite was one, two or three steps ahead of me. Oh well. Sorry for the redundancy
IMO Sasha will replace Harrison in the starting lineup sooner than later.
This is a tough one. I think he will play better and deserve to start somewhere by the end of the year. But coach Mike has been reluctant to mess with lineups etc. So I think he just gets more minutes and HB gets less as the season progresses. He will be obviously a better player than HB but there will be an excuse about why he won’t start. Feelings, chemistry etc.
Hey Jack, what did you think of the duds signing Rodney McGruder? High impact I think. and Dwight Howard. Man, what a deep bench.
Why is it “obvious” he’ll be a better player than HB? I don’t think its obvious at all. I think he can eventually be a rotational player but I don’t know that he’s got… well anything that can translate to NBA success at the moment. And while there have been some great Euro players, there haven’t been too many come over and become impact players at the age of 28.
Lets just wait and see. You might be right but I don’t think so.
People take HB for granted
I’ll have to do some more research on both especially McGruder. At one time a rally good player that could shoot the three but I don’t know if he will impack the team that much. I would rather have Duarte. Howard in his prime was a game changer but now at his age I don’t think so.
Jack- I was being sarcastic. Rodney will make one play and the duds announcers and fans will want a MVP trophy for him. I suspect his impact will be net minus zero.
Yes, I would rather have Duarte.
Howard- a shell of himself. Not a BB anymore but an MMA guy.
If Sasha Vezenkov is a starting level NBA forward for a top 10 NBA team this season (which is the Sacramento Kings), I will be surprised to the point of shocked. Not that he won’t start some games, but is de facto on the starting 5. Hope he is, but I sure don’t expect it.
I will add, that I believe Harrison Barnes is significantly undervalued.
Hey, it’s just my opinion, and I am the David Kahn equivalent of NBA fan talent evaluation.
HB has proven himself a versatile and consistent starting forward on very good teams. I’d also be shocked if Sasha is anything close to that. If he is, the Kings may be contenders with two 6th man of the year candidates.
I am in much agreement – expecting Sasha to come in and replace Barnes is definitely a stretch, IMO.
Lol! Great minds think alike!
BoBo wasn’t able to win MVP because he missed too many EuroLeague games on account of an unrested knee due to playing all summer in Serbian YMCA leagues.
Wreck League casualty
If this dude can come in and replace Barnes’ production at the 4 this season, both offensively and defensively, we could reasonably expect our championship “window” to be a little wider and a little sooner. And that would certainly be sweet justice, exciting and overall awesome. It really would. He’s not that dude, though.
Being better than HB is going to be a lot tougher than anyone here except a reasonable few seem to think. Just from the defensive side of the ball alone its going to be difficult for Sasha to earn minutes at first. He’s going to be a walking free throw for the other team until he figures out NBA positioning, because its different. Everything is going to be harder; The travel, the time zone difference / differences, the food, the media, the competition, the expectations. That’s an incredible amount to have to process.
And then there’s the fact that he’s not that much younger than HB, at all. Sasha’s going to have to prove to be a rotational player or better in order to really even justify having him come over at all, from the FO stand point. Because that’s the kind of money they’re paying him, no development deal here. No pressure, but you should already be developed, is what that equates to.
I hope he can be that dude. But on the list of Euros who were relevant in the NBA, a very select few are / were game-changer / all-star caliber (which is what some seem to wanna make this dude seem like.) And of those game-changers, the only one I can think of who came over at an older age and still be productive and highly impactful was Mr. Arvydas Sabonis. Is there room for another guy to have that kind of an impact at that age? Sure. Is Sasha that guy? Why not. I’ll have to see it before I begin acknowledging it, tho.
Again let’s wait and see.
I anticipate a Bogi-like “rookie” season, albeit with a few less total minutes due to Vez coming onto a much, much better team.
I’m pretty damn optimistic about Sasha’s upcoming role and opportunities with this team, but even as a Sasha believer and someone with well-chronicled pessimism about Harrison Barnes’ long-term role on this team, I will be utterly surprised if Sasha steals Barnes starting spot or is as impactful a two-way player as Barnes
I could honestly see him with the lion’s share of the back-up 4 minutes while relegating Lyles to the backup 5. IMO, if Sasha is stealing anyone’s minutes, it’s going to be Lyles’.
For what it’s worth, I’m not sure that I’d bet money that Vez will be a better NBA player than Trey Lyles.
I expect guys like Sasha, who have played multiple years in playoff situations, won’t wilt in the playoffs like some of the current players. That’s huge for a team that needs to get out of the first round for the season to be considered a success.
I don’t agree at all that the only way for this year’s team to be considered successful is to win their first round playoff series. It would be nice, but this year’s going to be much harder, I think.
Sasha is going to encounter problems with defense in every way. He has no idea how to play against an NBA defense. He has no idea how to play defense in the NBA.
How he decides to react these realities is going to determine how good he can be.
He will only replace Barnes if Barnes retires suddenly and all of the other backups for Barnes magically vanish.
“He has no idea how to play against an NBA defense.” There is ample evidence (see recent FIBA) that NBA players don’t defend very well. In FIBA, Vezenkov has had to deal with more committed (allbeit possiblly less athletic) defenders. FIBA still let’s you hand check ballhandlers, and FIBA still allows a physicallity more like in the days of the Pat Riley Knicks.
FIBA is not the NBA with NBA players, NBA scouts picking players apart, and NBA defensive schemes.
There is ample evidence that Euro players don’t play defense. See history….
Agree that he’s going to have less of a problem scoring than he is getting scored on. He’s quite an adept scorer, check the film. But he is going to get ROASTED on defense at first, of that I’m quite certain.
It will be interesting to see how he reacts.
Will he step up to the challenge?
Will he choose to be a scoring only player?
I’m guessing he takes Metu’s minutes for a 5-out look with Lyles, with the potential of getting more minutes and closing out games if he’s hot.
I am very late to this discussion but have a question I hope can be addressed by you all. Could the 2nd Unit run a similar offense with Sasha playing DS’s role? Surrounded by Monk, Davion (hopefully improved shooting), Lyles and (Duarte?), could they run the high post DHO offense? Other options Javale, Len, Lyles are likely not capable. Can Sasha be Sabonis-Lite. Can he hit the mid-long range jumper if he is left open (Euro league point range)?
Maybe he is destined to be a spot of shooter or 4th or 5th option like HB. But what do you think about experimenting with this?
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