Recent reports indicate that the Sacramento Kings are angling to land famed Serbian international point guard Milos Teodosic.
What was once a quiet offseason for the Sacramento Kings is very slowly starting to heat up.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Kings forward Rudy Gay is sticking to his guns and will opt out of his current $14 million deal, which will make him an unrestricted free agent. Now the Kings have been attached to a notable name that has long been rumored to make his way to the NBA.
According to European basketball insider David Pick, the Kings are reportedly in the running to potentially add Serbian international and current CSKA Moscow star Milos Teodosic:
Source: Kings legit contender to land Milos Teodosic. GM Vlade Divac has strong Serbian bond with All-Euroleague PG for CSKA.
— David Pick (@IAmDPick) May 11, 2017
Of course, Teodosic has been a well established figure overseas and he’s often been referred to as the best player that is not currently playing in the NBA.
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At 30 years old, Teodosic is an incredibly skilled offensive player, capable of scoring at efficient levels from all areas of the floor as well as being one of the most willing and creative passers around the world.
For example, Teodosic averaged 16.2 points per game on a 62.4 percent true shooting percentage, 37.5 percent shooting from deep and he dished out 7.0 assists per game in his 27 games of Euroleague competition.
On top of his individual accolades, Teodosic has led a very decorated career playing for both Olympiacos and CSKA Moscow, the latter being the team in which he captured a Euroleague title in the 2015-16 season.
For as much of a fixture Teodosic has been for basketball overseas, he had remained a mystery for many people who aren’t as well versed with the game internationally.
That was the case until last summer, however, as Teodosic captured everyone’s attention during the 2016 Olympic games as he helped lead his native Serbia to silver medal honors.
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As Pick notes, the reason the Kings are reportedly a potential landing spot for Teodosic, should he make the jump to the NBA, is due to his connection to fellow Serbian Vlade Divac, the Kings’ vice president of basketball operations and general manager.
Between this and Bogdan Bogdanovic potentially coming over and joining the Kings this offseason, Divac is certainly using his connections to accomplished Serbian players and trying to turn it into an advantage for the Kings.
Beyond that, though, there’s more to Divac’s ties to Serbia with which he can entice Teodosic to join the Kings next season.
Given both Darren Collison and Ty Lawson are set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, the Kings will be in the market for adding at least a point guard or two, whether it’s through the draft or free agency. In addition to the ample playing opportunity, the Kings are poised to have plenty of cap space to operate with this summer, which will certainly catch Teodosic’s eye.
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At this point, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, especially with the season still far from over. But it feels like this won’t be the last time we hear of the Kings being linked to Teodosic this offseason.