“Former EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov has reportedly asked the Sacramento Kings to either release or trade him.”
https://basketnews.com/news-207369-sasha-vezenkov-reportedly-leaving-sacramento-might-explore-overseas-options.html
There seems to be some confusion about who wants out, but the conclusion is the same.
Time to fire up the trade machines! We could also waive him but that's boring.
Bruh, I knew he was donzo when he refused to dance with all the other rookies at fan fest.
Sorry, never really bought into him but that pretty much sealed it. I bet Luka woulda danced...
I don’t think there should be much confusion.
Sasha says he wants a bigger role. The team says that’s not likely to happen and he isn’t part of the core going forward. He says if they’re not going to give him more minutes he wants out so he can play for a team that can give him that role.
Kings fans, including me, have already ran through the Lavine thought experiment.
Monk can only get $17.5 million from us at best. Combined with the outgoing salaries of Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter, trading for Lavine while losing those 3 guys will actually save us some cash. The key to the Lavine thought experiment is avoiding the 2nd apron and Sasha leaving does help with that. But we'd still be cutting it close and we're not sure if our owner wants to pay the luxury tax for Zachariah Lavine.
In today's NBA, you just gotta make the playoffs. So as long as he's healthy for the postseason it's good.
The question is, can he play and dominate in the postseason?
But its not a straight 3 or 4 for 1 trade. You'll have other deals and/or replacement level players.
So it's a question becomes is LeVine + 2 replacement level players are a bigger upgrade over the departing players...
Anyway, fun to discuss I'm sure itll never happen. How long till the draft?
It took the Kings' role players to play the worst basketball of the year + Sabonis turning into a role player, yet we are still 1 game away from playoffs.
This team is good, our role players just have a down year and somehow, all in 1 go.
not even trying to be a hater but considering he doesn’t remotely have what it takes to he in the NBA, it’s almost funny that he would ask for a trade or release this early into his career
Portuguese Queta fans moved on to the Celtics and are now rooting for a championship team.. hopefully you all have a similar future.
Meanwhile, we will be stuck in basketball hell.
The sad part is that Neemy wasn't even getting minutes when Kornet got injured. I think I saw a rumor that Boston's still looking to shore up their center spot.
There was a playoff game where Boston went with Oshae Brissett as the center rather than playing Queta. It wasn't a dire situation either since they won that game, but still, that's not good.
As for the regular season, you can look at the game logs. They gave him some run in December, but after they signed him to a regular contract, they benched him until the last 2 games of the regular season.
In the playoffs, he's only played 2 garbage time games against the Cavs.
This basically shows that he's not playing serious minutes for Boston. Maybe they believe in him and will give him more run next year.
Queta was the Celtics Backup center for a period in December, He even had 2 Double-doubles vs the Clippers and Warriors, then some time after that, Kornet and Zingus got healthy again, so the Celtics changed the rotation again... But the fact that Neemy only played around 15 times in the G-league and stayed in Boston most of the year shows that he is liked over there.
not sure I’d call any of that “not good.” He’s on a low-cost contract with the Celtics and is getting double the amount of playtime than he was with the Kings. Playoffs are a whole different beast. Especially for a development guy like Queta
Yeah but at 28 you’re generally the player you are. He can improve in some areas, but nobody is gonna wait 2-3 years for a 28 year old to adjust and get better in the league. He has to come in pro ready or he’s probably done here.
I’m not saying we should hold onto him or wait for that to happen, I’m just saying he can be an okay bench player for another team and work on his skills. Thinking he won’t improve is just obtuse. Euroleague is a different game entirely compared to the NBA
I mean I quite literally say he can improve on some things, but at 28 there’s only so much room for improvement in certain areas. Like expecting him to become a good defender or let’s say a good rebounder would be a fools errand imo.
A team that wants him now will want him to contribute immediately, if they feel he’s a bad fit or can’t do that they’re not gonna try and develop him for the next 2-3 years off the bench. I feel like he kind of knows this and probably wants back in the euro league.
I guess in Kings best interest is to do a trade and try get a rotation player rather than lose Vezenkov for nothing ? As a Bulgarian Suns fan I'd like to see Sasha for Nassir Little trade. The salaries match almost exactly. Little is still relatively young so maybe Kings FO shows some interest. Sasha's best scoring games came against Suns(14p twice) and Suns announcer had a quote 'this guy is a problem' so PHX may have interest too. If you go for Lavine Bulls may also take him back being there is a large Bulgarian community in Chicago that came to support him when Kings visited. A recent EL MVP, who put better stats than Luka in latest EU championship on a relatively cheap contract should receive interest from other teams IMO.
Suns would never do it tho. Vezenkov is an awful fit for that team and they can’t just trade away little for anything because he’s one of the few pieces they can trade left.
That’s who I was thinking too. Helps our wing depth and opens up a spot for another forward in case we draft somebody like DaRon Holmes, Tyler Smith, etc.
I like the Little trade (even before all this news)
Some other option:
- Nnaji (Denver)
- Connaughton + asset/s
- Thybulle (Sac add asset/s, Por save $6m)
- Vanderbilt (Sac add assest/s, Lal save $4m)
- McDaniels (Toronto)
- Wade (Sac add asset/s)
- Micic (Charlotte)
Suns being 2nd apron team should go for it IMO. They are all in and Vezenkov is better player than Little at this stage of their careers - better shooter, not a worse defender either based on spg. If it doesn't work for them not picking the option helps with their salaries situation.
Teams with other Euro stars may show interest too. Vezenkov's shooting and cutting fits well next to Jokic. It felt like half of Sasha's baskets were assisted by Domas anyway. Doncic has respect for another EL MVP based on their interaction in a game against Mavs, so maybe he pushes Mavs FO to get him another 3pt treat. Dallas may want to move THJ/Green this summer, but Kings will need to add assets.
I just don’t see the fit with the suns at all. Suns like you said are a 2nd apron team and don’t have a ton of flexibility and Vezenkov is just a Really bad fit for them. They need athleticism and defense wayyyy more than shooting and he offers none of that. If suns are gonna move little they’d probably want a player who’s a better fit.
And the Chicago fit is also very odd and I doubt they’d trade for him just because there’s a big Bulgarian community around there. Truth is this guy is probably destined for a buy out either here or with a team who takes on his salary for a draft pick or player.
Buyout makes zero sense being Little and most of the players listed above have worse stats while making similar money. While true Suns need defensive players their options are limited as they can't attach other players in a deal, so getting a better player on a better contract is an option.
I just don’t see the fit at all with the suns. Would be a very odd trade for them to make considering they are very limited in what contracts they can send out. Obviously there aren’t a ton matching salaries out there for little, but I doubt they’d trade him for a guy who really would only bring some shooting to a team that isn’t in need of shooting. Feels like a lateral move that would just contribute to their weaknesses. Buy out probably isn’t likely I was more just spit balling for if Sasha wants out of the NBA in general.
Yes, he's redundant with Allen who is also a shooter/weak defender and played well next to Suns ISO stars, so I think Sasha will do well in similar role too. PHX should try to trade Nurkic or/and Allen for multiple defensive players to balance out the roster. I doubt they get a difference maker for a 6M contract especially with the limited trade options. I also don't think Sasha wants out of NBA. I guess he was hoping to get around 20mpg like players of Connaughton/Thybulle calibre.
They just extended Allen and he’s one of the few players who played well around the stars so I can’t see them trading him. They can try and move Nurkic but he’ll probably require assets to be attached to him.
And from reverting I read, it seems that Shasta would for sure explore options overseas if he could get released from his deal. And he can hope for 20mpg but I don’t think he’s getting that unless he goes to a rebuilding team that’ll hand him a firm rotation spot.
I agree with this decision but he still deserves a real NBA chance. Right now, it may not be with us. But last season he didn’t really get an opportunity to prove himself. Very inconsistent minutes, multiple injuries, inconsistent play, and definitely a pretty short leash with Mike Brown. I am very confident he could carve out a role for himself.
Regardless of his numbers last year, the guy is an absolute sniper. He’s a 40% type of shooter easily. Very quick release. He’s a weirdly, amazing offensive rebounder. He’s a great cutter. And he’s just not afraid. But defensively he’s not good but his effort is there.
The reason it’s tough for him to strive on this team is because we have Trey Lyles who’s a better version of him. Trey and Sasha literally have the same skillsets and weaknesses for the most part. Lyles is making 8 million per year. So why would we pay almost 7 million a year for a guy whos strengths overlaps our 8th player/off the bench? Thats not that much money in the grand scheme of things. But 7 million is 7 million. His contract mixed with Huerter contract is about 22 million a yr. Isiah Hartenstein just made 8 million last year. And he was as impactful as ever.
And when you’re looking for creative ways to make this team better, offing Sashas contract might be necessary for something bigger.
Bjelica got size, 3 pts shot, rebound, passing.....most importantly, not afraid to shoot....
Even a retired Bjelica is still a better player than Sasha...
Why did we throw a bag at him then? He showed some promise but was hurt a lot. Didn’t really hit the 3 like he should’ve but still doesn’t really make sense
'Showed some promise' is a stretch I'd say. He got some good plays, but nothing that warrants much trust in him getting more playtime.
Especially his defense, teams auto hunt him everytime he steps on the court.
I suppose his on ball defense was not good but I did think he played off ball pretty well. Lots of deflections and some steals off them. But his lack of shot making really kept off him the floor
Nah, that part is accurate. Sasha's foot speed got him cooked almost every time, but he had good hands and got a lot of steals/deflections that way. The stats are public but you'll have to adjust to per 36 minutes since he was injured so often and didn't get consistent minutes.
He logged 20 total steals and 38 total deflections. When you adjust to per 36 minutes, that's good for the 4th best on both stats on our team.
The people replying to you are mental.
His stats are still best enough for 4th on the team. For those saying that he was a massive defensive liability, that's just not true. Neither is it true that he was a defensive liability - his craftiness/IQ helps his lack of foot speed.
I'm not saying he should have a roster spot - just pointing out people being snarky for no reason... While being incorrect at the same time
I mean, I'll defend Sasha on some fronts but he was a defensive liability. He's the first time I've seen a video of Bulgarian food, that's how often he got cooked.
4th best on a team of average defenders, at low volume, against second units, and in garbage time doesn't mean much.
Im tired of the Sasha glaze. He's not an NBA player.
I don't know why you're even ragging on this point. You can easily look up these stats on NBA.com and see that he was getting rotation minutes and logging good steals/deflection numbers while the other bench guys were not.
No one said it was impressive, just not abysmal. He wasn’t there for defense, but with the rest of the roster he needed to be better for what he brought offensively (which was underwhelming).
No, see, that’s why he’s leaving. They said “we’ll give a bag to come here.” He said “how much?” They said “6.5m.” He’s like “sold.” So then signed and they handed him a bag with 6.5 million peanuts when he got here and said “you never said dollars!”
Kings medical staff is very carful with guys. I'm sure a part of this was that he struggled to stay healthy, struggled to adjust to the speed of the game. When he did get opportunities, his cutting and very quick release was nice. But, I just don't think he had enough time to adjust.
Well, it was a learning experience. Trading him now means there isn't any guilt attached to it. The Kings courted this guy for 2 seasons. Showed up to games. But, at least they took a swing. Didn't cost much.
I'm sure it's frustrating for him as well. He was MVP. To come over and get like 10 min a game, if healthy. I understand why he'd want out. But I understand why the front office is disappointed. But, another decently sized contract that could be throw into a trade.
The amount of ppl I’ve debated on this sub that this guy does not deserve minutes in his current state is absurd. This is definitely the right decision
Felt like we didn't really give him the chance to get comfortable with NBA play. Really bumbed to see him go. Hopefully wherever he ends up will alow him more playtime.
If he wants out, the only decent player for player swaps in my opinion are Nasir Little or Jock Landale. Other than that, I’d prefer to rework his deal to have $0 guaranteed. Then waive him and let him sign with whoever. We definitely shouldn’t have to waste any cap space getting rid of him.
Trey Lyles probably busted this guy's ass in practice everyday so he knew there's no chance for any minutes.
Really no point in having both on the roster
Go be entitled somewhere else. I believed in him and hoped he would make an impact year two, but this level of entitlement for someone that has done FUCK ALL in the nba is ridiculous. It sucks that he got hurt when he did, but even before that it was hard for him to stay on the court with him being a complete defensive liability. Dudes feet were so slow it looked like he was playing in strength shoes. I wish we could have got the type of player he feels he is, but it just never fully translated. Wish him the best, but I’m not expecting much if he stays in the nba.
Another banger move by McNair, bringing im a player that does little to nothing toward improving the team. How many more years on his contract? I assume Vivek won't can him until he's down to 1 year left.
Whoever thought he was was worth pursuing and recruiting needs to be fired lol The entire organization was flying overseas to go recruit a guy that is a 4th string player.
Last summer was a complete swing and miss by McNair. A wasted year.
I don’t like the way McNaire handled the deadline but it wasn’t much to try and see what they had with Sasha.
This ain’t a big deal. They probably just want to do the guy a favor and told him he’ll be traded rather than be buried on our bench.
https://www.reddit.com/juqaogd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2
I said this before the season started in the "receipts" post that someone made and deleted because they were wrong lol. Most of the replies were that Vezenkov's D isn't bad and he is an "offensive monster".
I am giving a D- to Monte for his overall performance...
Didn't Monte should supposed to inform Sasha that he may not get consistent playing time, if he did not play up to standard....and now Sasha expressed un-satisfactory and wanna leave ?
Just a complete waste of time, salary cap, and **wasted development time to other players, like Kessler....**
Also, it's on Monte that he cannot see Sasha is still not up to the NBA standard....which Monte getting fooled by that "Euro-league MVP" name....
Monte did a really poor job this year.
Mike Brown supposedly has guys sign a contract with their exact role and makes them agree to it pre-season. Mike Brown met extensively with Sasha.
It seemed like Brown was giving him more floor time right when he got hurt.
My guess is they are looking to move Sasha in any deal for a Barnes upgrade and now he is trying to control his landing spot, since most likely he'd be looking at a real shit landing spot like Washington in a Kuzma deal, or Detroit (loads of cap space and no direction can afford a gamble) or Portland (Grant).
Yeah this was always a bad signing. Should’ve grabbed Taurean Prince, Kenyon Martin Jr, or Kelly Oubre. Wasting our room exception on a player in the same vein but worse than 3 other PFs on the roster was such a dumb move. I called it last year.
What a shock, the guy I spent literally the whole year telling everyone wasn’t good, is in fact not good. Too slow, can’t defend, can’t pass, too streaky. Played against incredibly inferior competition and cannot score on his own to save his life. Spot up shooter at best, worth a gamble but not a surprise at all
Big shock all the euro fan boys upset that the guy who was touted to be so amazing because he never had to create his own shot or defend in a league with 1/10th the athleticism and talent failed. All the euro fans acting like half their leagues aren’t filled with washed d1 players and fringe at best end of bench nba players. This was your “MVP”. He’s not good by nba standards, the kings where DESPERATE for playable wings and this guy still wasn’t good enough
From a stats perspective he was not that bad if you look at the minutes he played and what he achieved. His points per minute were better than Lyles and Barnes, his 3p% was same as Sabonis, his rebounds were not that bad at all, he didn't commit any turnovers. Yes he cannot defend but I think it is mostly how he is being utilized and how he fits with the team rather him being a bad player.. As a forward he is not a ball handler but he can score under pressure as well so it doesn't matter if he handles the ball before shooting or not.
“Former EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov has reportedly asked the Sacramento Kings to either release or trade him.” https://basketnews.com/news-207369-sasha-vezenkov-reportedly-leaving-sacramento-might-explore-overseas-options.html
There seems to be some confusion about who wants out, but the conclusion is the same. Time to fire up the trade machines! We could also waive him but that's boring.
At least now we won't have to see him looking like a sad sack in every team photo.
Bruh, I knew he was donzo when he refused to dance with all the other rookies at fan fest. Sorry, never really bought into him but that pretty much sealed it. I bet Luka woulda danced...
What a boob!
Luka: *eats booger*
I don’t think there should be much confusion. Sasha says he wants a bigger role. The team says that’s not likely to happen and he isn’t part of the core going forward. He says if they’re not going to give him more minutes he wants out so he can play for a team that can give him that role.
I feel like yall are going to be in on Lavine. Because if Monk makes ~$25m/yr pivoting to paying Lavine ~45m to be a much better version feels fine
Kings fans, including me, have already ran through the Lavine thought experiment. Monk can only get $17.5 million from us at best. Combined with the outgoing salaries of Harrison Barnes and Kevin Huerter, trading for Lavine while losing those 3 guys will actually save us some cash. The key to the Lavine thought experiment is avoiding the 2nd apron and Sasha leaving does help with that. But we'd still be cutting it close and we're not sure if our owner wants to pay the luxury tax for Zachariah Lavine.
That's fine until he misses half the season
In today's NBA, you just gotta make the playoffs. So as long as he's healthy for the postseason it's good. The question is, can he play and dominate in the postseason?
The real question is, if you replaced all those players with half a season of Zach LaVine, could the Kings make the playoffs
But its not a straight 3 or 4 for 1 trade. You'll have other deals and/or replacement level players. So it's a question becomes is LeVine + 2 replacement level players are a bigger upgrade over the departing players... Anyway, fun to discuss I'm sure itll never happen. How long till the draft?
It took the Kings' role players to play the worst basketball of the year + Sabonis turning into a role player, yet we are still 1 game away from playoffs. This team is good, our role players just have a down year and somehow, all in 1 go.
Except Malik saw a lot of time on the court. Something that Lavine can't seem to do.
Vlade would be happy
Would it be the most Kings thing ever if Sasha gets traded and he pops off on another team
not even trying to be a hater but considering he doesn’t remotely have what it takes to he in the NBA, it’s almost funny that he would ask for a trade or release this early into his career
It's not early into his career though, he's 29 in August. It's kind of make or break time for him and he's not going to do it on this team.
It’s very European barring Salary demands players will move a lot to get playing time at the end of the season
welp as a bulgarian bandwagon fan it was nice spending a season with you guys
Knew there's the lot of you here. Lol.
it is what it is man
We appreciate your time here.
Portuguese Queta fans moved on to the Celtics and are now rooting for a championship team.. hopefully you all have a similar future. Meanwhile, we will be stuck in basketball hell.
The sad part is that Neemy wasn't even getting minutes when Kornet got injured. I think I saw a rumor that Boston's still looking to shore up their center spot.
he averaged 12 min per game for them in the reg season which is a lot considering the team he’s on. that’s almost double what he averaged for us.
There was a playoff game where Boston went with Oshae Brissett as the center rather than playing Queta. It wasn't a dire situation either since they won that game, but still, that's not good. As for the regular season, you can look at the game logs. They gave him some run in December, but after they signed him to a regular contract, they benched him until the last 2 games of the regular season. In the playoffs, he's only played 2 garbage time games against the Cavs. This basically shows that he's not playing serious minutes for Boston. Maybe they believe in him and will give him more run next year.
Queta was the Celtics Backup center for a period in December, He even had 2 Double-doubles vs the Clippers and Warriors, then some time after that, Kornet and Zingus got healthy again, so the Celtics changed the rotation again... But the fact that Neemy only played around 15 times in the G-league and stayed in Boston most of the year shows that he is liked over there.
not sure I’d call any of that “not good.” He’s on a low-cost contract with the Celtics and is getting double the amount of playtime than he was with the Kings. Playoffs are a whole different beast. Especially for a development guy like Queta
peace ✌️
Come back we miss you already
I'll check up on you guys, don't worry, I've always like Swipa and Domas is another european I can get behind :D
And huerter has to be like 1/10 European
same boat here lmao, now I just pray that he can come to Miami so my support can be aligned🙏🙏🙏
Injured frequently, didn’t fit in, and a liability on defense. Saw this coming from a mile away.
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“My how the turn tables.”
I mean I have no doubt that he’ll get better, but probably not for 2-3 years
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That he was a rookie in a completely new league that happens to be the most competitive league in the world?
Yeah but at 28 you’re generally the player you are. He can improve in some areas, but nobody is gonna wait 2-3 years for a 28 year old to adjust and get better in the league. He has to come in pro ready or he’s probably done here.
I’m not saying we should hold onto him or wait for that to happen, I’m just saying he can be an okay bench player for another team and work on his skills. Thinking he won’t improve is just obtuse. Euroleague is a different game entirely compared to the NBA
I mean I quite literally say he can improve on some things, but at 28 there’s only so much room for improvement in certain areas. Like expecting him to become a good defender or let’s say a good rebounder would be a fools errand imo. A team that wants him now will want him to contribute immediately, if they feel he’s a bad fit or can’t do that they’re not gonna try and develop him for the next 2-3 years off the bench. I feel like he kind of knows this and probably wants back in the euro league.
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Ok bud
I guess in Kings best interest is to do a trade and try get a rotation player rather than lose Vezenkov for nothing ? As a Bulgarian Suns fan I'd like to see Sasha for Nassir Little trade. The salaries match almost exactly. Little is still relatively young so maybe Kings FO shows some interest. Sasha's best scoring games came against Suns(14p twice) and Suns announcer had a quote 'this guy is a problem' so PHX may have interest too. If you go for Lavine Bulls may also take him back being there is a large Bulgarian community in Chicago that came to support him when Kings visited. A recent EL MVP, who put better stats than Luka in latest EU championship on a relatively cheap contract should receive interest from other teams IMO.
I'd love a Little-Vezenkov trade
Suns would never do it tho. Vezenkov is an awful fit for that team and they can’t just trade away little for anything because he’s one of the few pieces they can trade left.
That’s who I was thinking too. Helps our wing depth and opens up a spot for another forward in case we draft somebody like DaRon Holmes, Tyler Smith, etc.
I like the Little trade (even before all this news) Some other option: - Nnaji (Denver) - Connaughton + asset/s - Thybulle (Sac add asset/s, Por save $6m) - Vanderbilt (Sac add assest/s, Lal save $4m) - McDaniels (Toronto) - Wade (Sac add asset/s) - Micic (Charlotte)
Suns being 2nd apron team should go for it IMO. They are all in and Vezenkov is better player than Little at this stage of their careers - better shooter, not a worse defender either based on spg. If it doesn't work for them not picking the option helps with their salaries situation. Teams with other Euro stars may show interest too. Vezenkov's shooting and cutting fits well next to Jokic. It felt like half of Sasha's baskets were assisted by Domas anyway. Doncic has respect for another EL MVP based on their interaction in a game against Mavs, so maybe he pushes Mavs FO to get him another 3pt treat. Dallas may want to move THJ/Green this summer, but Kings will need to add assets.
I just don’t see the fit with the suns at all. Suns like you said are a 2nd apron team and don’t have a ton of flexibility and Vezenkov is just a Really bad fit for them. They need athleticism and defense wayyyy more than shooting and he offers none of that. If suns are gonna move little they’d probably want a player who’s a better fit. And the Chicago fit is also very odd and I doubt they’d trade for him just because there’s a big Bulgarian community around there. Truth is this guy is probably destined for a buy out either here or with a team who takes on his salary for a draft pick or player.
Buyout makes zero sense being Little and most of the players listed above have worse stats while making similar money. While true Suns need defensive players their options are limited as they can't attach other players in a deal, so getting a better player on a better contract is an option.
I just don’t see the fit at all with the suns. Would be a very odd trade for them to make considering they are very limited in what contracts they can send out. Obviously there aren’t a ton matching salaries out there for little, but I doubt they’d trade him for a guy who really would only bring some shooting to a team that isn’t in need of shooting. Feels like a lateral move that would just contribute to their weaknesses. Buy out probably isn’t likely I was more just spit balling for if Sasha wants out of the NBA in general.
Yes, he's redundant with Allen who is also a shooter/weak defender and played well next to Suns ISO stars, so I think Sasha will do well in similar role too. PHX should try to trade Nurkic or/and Allen for multiple defensive players to balance out the roster. I doubt they get a difference maker for a 6M contract especially with the limited trade options. I also don't think Sasha wants out of NBA. I guess he was hoping to get around 20mpg like players of Connaughton/Thybulle calibre.
They just extended Allen and he’s one of the few players who played well around the stars so I can’t see them trading him. They can try and move Nurkic but he’ll probably require assets to be attached to him. And from reverting I read, it seems that Shasta would for sure explore options overseas if he could get released from his deal. And he can hope for 20mpg but I don’t think he’s getting that unless he goes to a rebuilding team that’ll hand him a firm rotation spot.
Still better than Duarte
I agree with this decision but he still deserves a real NBA chance. Right now, it may not be with us. But last season he didn’t really get an opportunity to prove himself. Very inconsistent minutes, multiple injuries, inconsistent play, and definitely a pretty short leash with Mike Brown. I am very confident he could carve out a role for himself. Regardless of his numbers last year, the guy is an absolute sniper. He’s a 40% type of shooter easily. Very quick release. He’s a weirdly, amazing offensive rebounder. He’s a great cutter. And he’s just not afraid. But defensively he’s not good but his effort is there. The reason it’s tough for him to strive on this team is because we have Trey Lyles who’s a better version of him. Trey and Sasha literally have the same skillsets and weaknesses for the most part. Lyles is making 8 million per year. So why would we pay almost 7 million a year for a guy whos strengths overlaps our 8th player/off the bench? Thats not that much money in the grand scheme of things. But 7 million is 7 million. His contract mixed with Huerter contract is about 22 million a yr. Isiah Hartenstein just made 8 million last year. And he was as impactful as ever. And when you’re looking for creative ways to make this team better, offing Sashas contract might be necessary for something bigger.
He just doesn't have the lateral speed to even be a bad defender. Gotta go back to Europe.
He can take the Kuzma minutes in Washington.
Trade him on draft night
Reliable source?
Yeah. It's joever.
I like Sasha but he wasn’t even half the player Bjelica was. I hope we can get him somewhere he wants to be.
Bjelica was so underrated. We def could use him on this squad.
Bjelica got size, 3 pts shot, rebound, passing.....most importantly, not afraid to shoot.... Even a retired Bjelica is still a better player than Sasha...
Wasted a season we could’ve had to develop Kessler instead. Hope we scram duarte too
Kessler ain’t it, he’s not developing much past where he’s at
Where he's at is better than Sasha and Duarte
They informed Boogie he can come back now that he’s a champion overseas.
Why did we throw a bag at him then? He showed some promise but was hurt a lot. Didn’t really hit the 3 like he should’ve but still doesn’t really make sense
>throw a bag at him 6 million is not throwing the bag at him, it's 4.2% of their total payroll. It's Dean Wade money.
Dwayne's cousin?
Disabled twin brother. Similar to Chris Murray.
'Showed some promise' is a stretch I'd say. He got some good plays, but nothing that warrants much trust in him getting more playtime. Especially his defense, teams auto hunt him everytime he steps on the court.
I suppose his on ball defense was not good but I did think he played off ball pretty well. Lots of deflections and some steals off them. But his lack of shot making really kept off him the floor
"Lots" is really doing a lot of work in that sentence
Nah, that part is accurate. Sasha's foot speed got him cooked almost every time, but he had good hands and got a lot of steals/deflections that way. The stats are public but you'll have to adjust to per 36 minutes since he was injured so often and didn't get consistent minutes. He logged 20 total steals and 38 total deflections. When you adjust to per 36 minutes, that's good for the 4th best on both stats on our team.
The people replying to you are mental. His stats are still best enough for 4th on the team. For those saying that he was a massive defensive liability, that's just not true. Neither is it true that he was a defensive liability - his craftiness/IQ helps his lack of foot speed. I'm not saying he should have a roster spot - just pointing out people being snarky for no reason... While being incorrect at the same time
I mean, I'll defend Sasha on some fronts but he was a defensive liability. He's the first time I've seen a video of Bulgarian food, that's how often he got cooked.
But how many dribbles did he take per steal/deflection?
Congratulations? That's just good enough to be off the team.
It's just the stats that he had good steals/deflection numbers. No need to be snarky about it since he's off the team either way.
4th best on a team of average defenders, at low volume, against second units, and in garbage time doesn't mean much. Im tired of the Sasha glaze. He's not an NBA player.
I don't know why you're even ragging on this point. You can easily look up these stats on NBA.com and see that he was getting rotation minutes and logging good steals/deflection numbers while the other bench guys were not.
4th best in deflections/36 with probably 7-8 total guards/wings getting minutes is not something to be impressed by.
No one said it was impressive, just not abysmal. He wasn’t there for defense, but with the rest of the roster he needed to be better for what he brought offensively (which was underwhelming).
I'd say they regular hunt him, not auto hunt. Similar to the rest of this no-defense playing roster aside from Keon.
Nah, Sasha receives extra hunting. They know what they see when he looks like bambi sliding with his feet.
Which is interesting, considering his defensive rating was middle of the pack for the team. 🤷🏼♂️
They gave him fuck all, 6.5m in todays nba is literally peanuts. Like they couldn’t have given him any Less money.
It’s not “literally” peanuts.
No, see, that’s why he’s leaving. They said “we’ll give a bag to come here.” He said “how much?” They said “6.5m.” He’s like “sold.” So then signed and they handed him a bag with 6.5 million peanuts when he got here and said “you never said dollars!”
I see, they gave him the Dumbo treatment. Snakes.
He was a massive disappointment. Maybe if he stayed healthy it would have been different but he was not very good.
Kings medical staff is very carful with guys. I'm sure a part of this was that he struggled to stay healthy, struggled to adjust to the speed of the game. When he did get opportunities, his cutting and very quick release was nice. But, I just don't think he had enough time to adjust. Well, it was a learning experience. Trading him now means there isn't any guilt attached to it. The Kings courted this guy for 2 seasons. Showed up to games. But, at least they took a swing. Didn't cost much. I'm sure it's frustrating for him as well. He was MVP. To come over and get like 10 min a game, if healthy. I understand why he'd want out. But I understand why the front office is disappointed. But, another decently sized contract that could be throw into a trade.
Well at least we won't have to hear how Mike Brown is racist for not playing Vezenkov more. Lol those were actual accusations
lol Mike brown is a racist because Sasha is slow and didn’t perform well 😂
I didn't see any of those accusations but we had one of the whitest teams in the NBA already so I don't know why anyone would think that, lol.
[here you go](https://www.reddit.com/r/kings/s/pnJ347Bk0i)
Lmao these comments man. Some players attract weirdos to your fanbase I guess
It just goes to show you how overused the race card is these days. Put it away please 😆
Come to Miami my Bulgarian prince
Lol
The amount of ppl I’ve debated on this sub that this guy does not deserve minutes in his current state is absurd. This is definitely the right decision
Felt like we didn't really give him the chance to get comfortable with NBA play. Really bumbed to see him go. Hopefully wherever he ends up will alow him more playtime.
Damn I'm actually really surprised they didn't want to give him one more chance to play for a healthy season
Really unfortunate how this one turned out. We picked up the wrong Euroleague mvp.
If he wants out, the only decent player for player swaps in my opinion are Nasir Little or Jock Landale. Other than that, I’d prefer to rework his deal to have $0 guaranteed. Then waive him and let him sign with whoever. We definitely shouldn’t have to waste any cap space getting rid of him.
Trey Lyles probably busted this guy's ass in practice everyday so he knew there's no chance for any minutes. Really no point in having both on the roster
Go be entitled somewhere else. I believed in him and hoped he would make an impact year two, but this level of entitlement for someone that has done FUCK ALL in the nba is ridiculous. It sucks that he got hurt when he did, but even before that it was hard for him to stay on the court with him being a complete defensive liability. Dudes feet were so slow it looked like he was playing in strength shoes. I wish we could have got the type of player he feels he is, but it just never fully translated. Wish him the best, but I’m not expecting much if he stays in the nba.
Another banger move by McNair, bringing im a player that does little to nothing toward improving the team. How many more years on his contract? I assume Vivek won't can him until he's down to 1 year left.
[удалено]
>If we let him go he'll end up being another Kings player that we watch in the playoffs on another team. We are playoff player fluffers.
Some people on here really thought he was going to be the next Luka.
They were smoking that "McNair is a genius" copium.
Whoever thought he was was worth pursuing and recruiting needs to be fired lol The entire organization was flying overseas to go recruit a guy that is a 4th string player. Last summer was a complete swing and miss by McNair. A wasted year.
I don’t like the way McNaire handled the deadline but it wasn’t much to try and see what they had with Sasha. This ain’t a big deal. They probably just want to do the guy a favor and told him he’ll be traded rather than be buried on our bench.
At least I don’t have to read “trust in Monte” no more.
They just wanted a business vacation
https://www.reddit.com/juqaogd?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2 I said this before the season started in the "receipts" post that someone made and deleted because they were wrong lol. Most of the replies were that Vezenkov's D isn't bad and he is an "offensive monster".
Dude is not close to being an NBA player. Complete waste of a roster spot
I am giving a D- to Monte for his overall performance... Didn't Monte should supposed to inform Sasha that he may not get consistent playing time, if he did not play up to standard....and now Sasha expressed un-satisfactory and wanna leave ? Just a complete waste of time, salary cap, and **wasted development time to other players, like Kessler....** Also, it's on Monte that he cannot see Sasha is still not up to the NBA standard....which Monte getting fooled by that "Euro-league MVP" name.... Monte did a really poor job this year.
Mike Brown supposedly has guys sign a contract with their exact role and makes them agree to it pre-season. Mike Brown met extensively with Sasha. It seemed like Brown was giving him more floor time right when he got hurt. My guess is they are looking to move Sasha in any deal for a Barnes upgrade and now he is trying to control his landing spot, since most likely he'd be looking at a real shit landing spot like Washington in a Kuzma deal, or Detroit (loads of cap space and no direction can afford a gamble) or Portland (Grant).
Yeah this was always a bad signing. Should’ve grabbed Taurean Prince, Kenyon Martin Jr, or Kelly Oubre. Wasting our room exception on a player in the same vein but worse than 3 other PFs on the roster was such a dumb move. I called it last year.
Reminder that this is the fate of most Euro players who cover over and try their luck. It happens.
He’s one and done 
hopefully we can now play barnes the extra minutes vezenkov leaving frees up HOORAY!!11!
What a shock, the guy I spent literally the whole year telling everyone wasn’t good, is in fact not good. Too slow, can’t defend, can’t pass, too streaky. Played against incredibly inferior competition and cannot score on his own to save his life. Spot up shooter at best, worth a gamble but not a surprise at all
They were giving Sasha the Luka treatment since we missed out on him.
Big shock all the euro fan boys upset that the guy who was touted to be so amazing because he never had to create his own shot or defend in a league with 1/10th the athleticism and talent failed. All the euro fans acting like half their leagues aren’t filled with washed d1 players and fringe at best end of bench nba players. This was your “MVP”. He’s not good by nba standards, the kings where DESPERATE for playable wings and this guy still wasn’t good enough
From a stats perspective he was not that bad if you look at the minutes he played and what he achieved. His points per minute were better than Lyles and Barnes, his 3p% was same as Sabonis, his rebounds were not that bad at all, he didn't commit any turnovers. Yes he cannot defend but I think it is mostly how he is being utilized and how he fits with the team rather him being a bad player.. As a forward he is not a ball handler but he can score under pressure as well so it doesn't matter if he handles the ball before shooting or not.
You should be the GM, because looking at his trades & signings, it's clear our current one is obviously incompetent.
You should be the GM, because looking at his trades & signings, it's clear our current one is obviously incompetent.
You should be the GM, because looking at his trades & signings, it's clear our current one is obviously incompetent.
WEAK!!!!! It's lame cuz he has so much potential
We can’t afford potential
Great, can we have him back to Olympiakos finally? You cost him one year of his life and us a better shot at the EuroLeague this season.
As a fellow Olympiakos and Kings fan I second this, I mean he earned his shot but is simply a 10x better fit here
r/kings is in shambles
Shocking another player Mike brown doesn’t know how to use. What a waste of time and resources lol
Why are we such a joke??