No twists and embellishments needed. His first year Sasha Vezenkov in the NBA she was a failure. No, because anyone and everyone who goes to the NBA and in his rookie season can have it 5.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.2 minutes of participation, but why are we talking about the MVP of the previous Euroleague. The report cannot be unrelated to the status of the player and the expectations that were formed.
There are cases of players that you use as an example to argue in favor of closing the distance between the NBA and Europe. Two of them are of Luka Doncic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who from their first season in the USA had better or similar numbers than Real and Fenerbahce respectively. On the other side are cases of Sasha Vezenkovof Vasilij Micicof Facundo Cabassoof Vasilis Spanoulis earlier, so to speak. Most of the NBA’s devotees insist that the differences remain wide, and the former Olympiacos forward now serves as their argument.
Last year with Olympiakos, Vezenkov had 17.6 points and 6.8 rebounds with 65.5% on two-pointers and 37.8% on three-pointers! He scored 29 points (he also had 9 rebounds) in the final against Real and arrived in Sacramento with his title unquestionably Europe’s top last season. The truth is that we didn’t believe that Kings coach Mike Brown… was serious when, ahead of the regular season, he put an asterisk next to the usefulness of the Bulgarian. He did not then just question the time of participation, but his participation itself. “I don’t know yet if he will be in the rotation at the start of the regular season, he has to get better with every opportunity he gets in practice and in games,” he said characteristically in early October.
The first… cold came in his debut, in a preseason friendly with Toronto. Vezenkov was the 14tho player who stepped on the floor for the Kings, however, having an excellent presence in the almost 11 minutes he played. With 12 points, he became the top scorer of his team. At the start of the season he was regularly in the rotation, playing 16 minutes in the opening match against the Jazz. In his next two games he was in double figures, with 10 and 11 points respectively, but since then his playing time gradually decreased.
On November 8th and the game-winning home game against Portland, he received his first DNP (outside of the game by manager’s decision), which happened twice more during the month. There have been better days. On December 8, he set an NBA career high, scoring 14p. against Phoenix in 20:11” of participation. He tied it (again with Phoenix) on 01/16, but there were 6 DNPs between the two games.
At the end of January came the first ankle injury, which left him out of seven games and after his return followed the second one, which cost him participation in another 22 matches. Vezenkov ultimately played in 42 games, was listed as injured in 29, and received 11 DNP. He came in all games off the bench and had 55% on 2-pointers, 37.5% on 3-pointers and 80% on field goals. However, he shot 120 three-pointers and only 71 two-pointers, resulting in an overall shooting percentage of 44%.
His bid at the end of the season might have been higher had he not had the injuries. The fact is, however, that he didn’t turn out to be the complementary player on a team that ultimately failed to make the playoffs. The reputation of an excellent shooter with which he arrived in the NBA has been justified, but the Kings expected more adjustment in the blocking part and more efficiency in his defensive role. What in advance created in many doubts about the functionality of the player in the NBA – the lack of athleticism in other words against muscular and bouncy forwards – is one of the problems Sasha has encountered in the US.
Speculation about what will happen from here on is practically impossible, since the player keeps his cards tightly closed. Vezenkov has a guaranteed contract next year for $6.6 million, while the Kings have the right to extend it for a third season at $7 million.
It goes without saying that if he sends a (smoke) signal back to Europe, a number of top clubs will take… paper and pencil, first of all, of course, Olympiakos, who for his own sake would have no qualms about moving Alec Peters down to the “3.” However, in order to do this, two prerequisites are needed. On the one hand, Vezhenkov gave up his American dream after just one year, and on the other hand, he had to come to terms with the idea of a significantly lower salary.
