The future of Vasilije Micic is undoubtedly the great issue of the European market. The Serbian point guard, one of the best players on the continent in recent years, has been definitively confirmed this season in the Euroleague: at the age of 27, not only has he won the great continental title with Efes but has also been MVP of the regular phase and the Final Four. Micic is free. He rejected the renewal with the powerful Efes and rejected the approaches of others, public those of Real Madrid, because he had decided to make the leap to the NBA. The problem? That your rights now belong to Oklahoma City Thunder, a team in full reconstruction, which is now one of the worst in the NBA and that prioritizes the development of its youngest players.
Micic’s agent, Misko Raznatovic, raised the hare two weeks ago on the Serbian portal Novosti Online: “He is ready to be an NBA player, but I’m not sure he will be like that next season. I am not going to allow him to go to be on the bench all the time, as happened to Vassilis Spanoulis. He will go to the NBA when all is well. It may be this year, or it may not be. Everything is open, if the NBA is not fair with him, he will have to wait another year ”. And now it has been the player himself who has made it clear that he will not go to the USA at any price and that he does not consider a step backwards to continue in the Euroleague. He has done it with Joe Arlauckas on the Euroleague podcast, The Crossover: “I want to see what happens with the NBA, with Oklahoma, which is the one who has my rights. They haven’t made me an official offer yet. But I’m calm, well, I know it will come. For now he cannot say much more. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but one thing is clear to me: one of the first things I said to my agent is that if the NBA doesn’t go ahead, I’m very happy in Europe. I’m not closing the door at all to stay, the Euroleague is a fantastic competition ”.
For Micic, the situation could be tough if he makes the jump to the NBA with the Thunder. Because with 27 years he would join a team full of young people and in full reconstruction, already far from the golden yearss that ended with the departures of Kevin Durant, first, and Paul George and Russell Westbrook, later. The Serbian seemed, in any case, to have it clear, and in April it was learned that he had rejected the offer of renewal of Efes and the approach of Real Madrid. But that seems to have changed.
The Thunder will add one of the best players in the next draft in the summer because they finished with 22 wins and 50 losses in the regular season. They got to 19-24 and from there, with their sights set on improving their draft options, they linked 23 losses in 24 games with many beatings and one of the largest points differences against in NBA history. In OKC there is a young coach, Mark Daigneault (35 years old), and a team that is put together with a point guard that aims to star like the Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (22 years old) and two high-minded players such as fellow Canadian Lu Dort and Darius Bazley.
In addition, the Thunder take care of other young people like Isaiah Roby and Aleksej Pokusevski, a 19-year-old very green Serbian but with a very high ceiling. Others like Gabriel Deck seek their place, on the team and in the NBA. And the Frenchman Theo Maledon (19 years old) has the confidence of the franchise as another basis for the future. Depending on the pick the Thunder finish with, another point guard (Jalen Suggs, Davion Mitchell) or guard (Jalen Green, Moses Moody …) could arrive from one of the highest picks in the draft. So Micic would have competition with very young players and (facing the distribution of minutes) of strategic value for the Thunder and, barring surprise, very few chances that his team is among the best in the West. Those sporting doubts, individually and collectively, may be holding back his illusion to play in the best league in the world.
