Serbian star Vasilije Micic is leaning toward making the jump to the NBA next season but not necessarily to the team that owns his rights, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (hat tip to RealGM).
The Thunder acquired Micic’s draft rights from the 76ers, who drafted him in the second round in 2014, in December 2020. With a glut of guards on the OKC roster, Micic’s agent is working with the team to trade his rights once again, this time to a team looking for backcourt help.
Micic stated earlier this month he was mulling a move to the NBA. “If this option comes out, I would be ready to risk (it),” he said.
He won his second consecutive Final Four MVP trophy in Europe this spring playing for Anadolu Efes in Turkey. The 28-year-old signed a three-year extension with Anadolu Efes last summer that contains an escape clause after each season.
Micic does a lot of ballhandling and shot creating in Europe, but he’s not really an NBA point guard. He’s 6’5″, solidly built, and an excellent shooter. He’s a SG.
He’s definitely a pg. He’s like the prototypical picknroll nba pg
Micic (MEET-sich) could run with a short SG, there’s enough of those around.
He may not drive to his left as well— or didn’t in the vids I saw. Good floater technique could save that.
Fun fact: His sister is Serbia’s best snowboarder.
“me-chitch”
Nah. Can’t stay in front of any decent NBA point. He’s fail completely if brought over as a point.
He can only be brought over as a pg lol thats the only position he’s ever played. He’s the best player in Europe as a pg, not as a 2guard. Defensively he’s gonna have issues but ofc so does every other great pg in the game from Dame to Trae to Steph to Ja to Luka & on & on. He’s played against nba comp before & handled himself well enough. He might not be an all-star but if you’ve seen him play you should be able to tell that he’s gonna be just fine in the league
He’s a SG in the NBA, I guarantee it, or a team might fig-leaf it and call him a “combo” guard. Doesn’t matter what he played in Europe. With that size and that body type, no one’s gonna take him as a PG. There’s only one Luka and this guy’s not that.
Lol you obviously haven’t seen this guy play, which is fine. But why speak in such certain terms about something you clearly not knowledgeable about? Seems pretty obv you would have thought Luka, Giddey, Ben weren’t the right size to play pg either. It’s 2022 dude lol most pgs are bigger nowadays. It makes them more efficient in p&r. More than anything tho how about you watch a few games of Micic playing pg before finalizing your opinion of him & throwing around guarantees like this is the Men’s Warehouse or something
Does it matter? In 2022 a guards a guard.
Alot of guys play both guard spots interchangeably. But (everything else being equal) guys that can play pg are more valuable than guys that can’t. This dude is saying Micic can’t or won’t be playing pg in the league & that’s just obv wrong. He’s gonna primarily be a pg same as Delon Wright or Josh Giddey or Dalano Banton or Marcus Smart or any other # of big pgs
This is a weird opinion. Lol They tried to force Alexey Shved to be a SG and it failed miserably. If he’s always played PG, he’s a PG. doesn’t matter if he’s big.
Micic is pretty much a better version of Shved tbh. Actually Greivis Vasquez is the guy that he reminds me of most
Why insist on rdefensive positioning by offensive skill. Ther’s no rule that says he has to cover the other team’s quickest player. A player can do one thing on offense and another on defense. And why not call him a combo guard? Ther’s no room for simple-mindedness in defensive assignments, unless you want to Ben Simmons it.
Rules that limit players like this show the league as one corporation, not 30 with a league office like they like to claim of themselves in court actions.
In other words stashing rights should nott be recognized in the CBA.
I disagree. In baseball teams project what a highchooler will do 5 years down the road. In soccer teams will sign young teenagers and assign them to an academy.
The long term development in the g league is very unproven. And many of the euros wouldn’t accept. They can make more at home and live in larger cities. Teams are smart to allow them develop at home.
They will develop regardless. No need for an NBA team to sit on them until they are ready to leave home.
At least, make the NBA team use a first on him to have the right to keep his rights indefinitely.
A possible low risk move for the Knicks? Give up the 2023 2nd coming in from Utah, or pick 42 this year. Knicks come a couple of combo guards, but none at Micic’s size.
Gonna take more than a 2nd rd pick to get Micic. A 1st plus Grimes or Obi plus a 2nd might do it tho
That’s WAY too much. You vastly overestimate what NBA teams think of older Euro players. Facu Campazzo was a star “PG” in Europe as well, just for example. He’s washed out of the NBA two years after signing.
Smh. Again I implore you to watch this dude play basketball before you criticize his basketball skills. Micic is very clearly much better than Campazzo. Campazzo didn’t even start until his last yr at Madrid. Micic is literally the best player on the continent like 3yrs running… it’s extremely obvious that u don’t know Micic at all smh nor do u apparently have any interest in getting to know him or his game. You’ve staked out a position & facts would just be in your way smh. Do a lil research dude. Micic is a starter level pg in the NBA. Those type guys don’t come cheap
I’m holding you to this
Way to compare a 5-10 guy to a 6-5 guy. Campazzo does not usually have a drive option; all Micic needs is a pick.
Definitely worth a shot
No NBA team is giving up substantial assets for Micic’s rights. Comical to suggest it. Europe is full of top NBA prospects. But if you take away Luka (who was 18 when he was a Euro MVP), the very best players in Europe (on the court) over the past decade have not (at the time) been top NBA prospects. A good percentage used to be that, almost all were drafted, and some even had good NBA careers, but all that’s history now. Age alone (almost all are late 20’s to early 30’s) usually precludes it. All of them could certainly still play in the NBA, but they are not guys any NBA team is going to chase with assets or $$. BIG DIFFERENCE. Mirotic, Vessly, Bjelica were recent Euro MVPs just like Micic. Micic is 28, and fits more with them than with the young draft age Euros that teams chase every year in the draft, or shortly after they’re drafted. I hope he comes here and has a great back half to his career, and becomes worth a 1st rounder or more in a trade. But no team can rationally give up those type of assets for him now. I’m not sure I’d even be comfortable giving him 3 years fully guaranteed (although he should get more than minimum, it won’t be even veteran rotation money, his maximum will be the MLE). He’s as likely to be back in Europe in 2 years as a starting NBA PG. BTW, he knows this, even if some here don’t.
A second rounder is a “substantial asset”? Don’t know what you’re saying exactly that is, did not say. The OP said #42.
So you want to comp euro-bigs, but not Doncic, about the same size & position. Pretty selective.
A single 2nd in that range (whether considered substantial or not), is about the right compensation to OKC for Micic . One of the reasons it wouldn’t be higher, IMO, is he’s not signing (I assume) a minimum contract (covering his age 29 and later seasons).
I’m compared him (value-wise) with Euros of the same age and accomplishment (nothing to do with size or position). The distinction with Doncic is age. An 18 year old that’s at the top of Europe (and ahead of the American players his age) is a prodigy, who if he ascends at the assumed normal rate, should one day be among the best players in the NBA. A 28 year old at the top of Europe doesn’t project to have that kind of future. Thus, Micic’s initial contract rights are not the same kind of asset. As an aside, Micic’s contract rights don’t carry those valuable RSC rights (slot, 7-8 years of control, pay as you go, etc.).
Doncic demonstrates a type that has found success, the smart lead guard with size. But there is a big talent gap between a Doncic and a #42 pick. Better comparisons to Micic are Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon, Goron Dragic, Bogdanovic, Satoranski, Bellinelli, some French Blacks, older Argentines, younger Australians. The bigs & littles that have been mentioned for comparison are not his type. There have been many of the big floating type from Europe that would have a different fate than Micic.
Bet on Serbia
Lakers or Bulls could use his skillset, so could Nix but their timeline is different. Not sure what OKC would want from those teams. Also Charlotte come to think of it. He would not likely start any of those places, but he wouldn’t in OKC either. Pels maybe could use him, distributor to take pressure off CJ