Aleksa Avramovic, one of the stars of the Serbian Olympic team, has received interest from the Hawks and Clippers, according to BasketNews, relaying a report from Ozon Press, a Serbian newspaper.
Avramovic, who was named Best Defensive Player in the Paris Games, has an out clause in his contract with CSKA Moscow that permits him to sign with an NBA team. However, the clause will expire Tuesday, so time is limited to get a deal completed.
Avramovic has a buyout fee in his CSKA contract that an NBA team could contribute up to $850K to help cover. Neither Atlanta nor L.A. has made a formal offer so far, according to Mozzart Sport.
Avramovic is currently preparing to travel to Moscow for the start of training camp on August 26, BasketNews adds. He’s expected to continue his career in Russia if he doesn’t sign with an NBA team.
The 29-year-old point guard averaged 10.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals in six games as Serbia captured the bronze medal in Paris. He averaged 3.4 steals per 40 minutes in the tournament and had four against Germany in the third-place game.
The Hawks and Clippers currently have 15 players on standard contracts, so either team would have to part with guaranteed money before the start of the season to add Avramovic to the roster.
Was the best defensive player the last two Olympics. If he can get his deep dropping and open up his float game, he’ll be worth a risk. Plenty of lesser players on rosters.
Just in basketball IQ he’s better than half the league. The reason euro guards struggle in NBA is defense. In Europe It is more a team concept. Even Luka surfers in individual defense.
So much more of a team game in Europe. Even the minutes played are more evenly distributed amongst the roster.
For example, in Avramovic’s club team, Partizan 15 players averaged between 14-22 mpg.
Some surfer with defense, some surfer with English lol
He is 29 already… he is going to get like 10-15min because he is a role player. I guess if he is cheap but not sure he would be happy with that.
I thought he’d be perfect as a cheap backup point guard in Denver playing with the Joker. With Denver losing some key FAs in recent years and their financial situation likely going to get tighter if/when Murray signs his next contract, there’s a Serbian roster of players that has shown that not only can they play at a high level with Jokic but they can do it against NBA level talent too. Bring some in.
When in doubt draft a Serbian
Didn’t we just go 3-0 vs Serbia? Seems like when in doubt you should clearly draft a Black guy.
The Black guys on the U.S. team are kind of expensive.