Olympiacos star and Sacramento Kings prospect Sasha Vezenkov wins EuroLeague MVP award
European basketball star Sasha Vezenkov has earned the most prestigious award of his career as he contemplates a move to the United States to join the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Vezenkov was named the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player for the 2022-23 season after leading Olympiacos to its second consecutive Final Four appearance.
EuroLeague president Dejan Bodiroga presented Vezenkov with the MVP trophy as Final Four festivities got underway Thursday at Zalgirio Arena in Lithuania. Olympiacos will play Monaco in the EuroLeague semifinals Friday. The winner will advance to face Barcelona or Real Madrid in Sunday’s championship game.
Vezenkov, a 27-year-old forward, is a two-time Greek League MVP and All-EuroLeague First Team selection. He led the EuroLeague in scoring and ranked second in rebounding this season, averaging 17.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 53.8% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range.
Vezenkov has flourished in the years since the Brooklyn Nets selected him with the 57th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired his draft rights in January 2021 in a multi-team trade involving James Harden. The Cavaliers traded his rights to Sacramento in June 2022 in exchange for the 49th pick in the 2022 draft.
The Kings engaged in talks with Vezenkov last summer, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. Veteran NBA insider Marc Stein recently reported via Substack that a deal between Vezenkov and the Kings for the 2023-24 season is “trending toward inevitable.”
Several members of the Kings organization have traveled overseas in recent months to see Vezenkov, including assistant coach Jay Triano, head coach Mike Brown, vice president of player personnel Phil Jabour, general manager Monte McNair and Chief Operating Officer Matina Kolokotronis. Earlier this month, Brown watched Vezenkov score 17 points to lead Olympiacos to an 84-72 playoff victory over Fenerbahce at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Greece.
Brown told Greek media he believes Vezenkov would be a good fit in Sacramento, where the Kings reached the playoffs for the first time since 2006 as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Vezenkov would join a team that features point guard De’Aaron Fox and center Domantas Sabonis, both of whom received All-Star and All-NBA Third Team honors this season.
“The way we play, he fits in really good,” Brown said. “He shoots the 3 ball. He’s got size. He’s got toughness. He rebounds. All those things are exciting with the way we play the game of basketball, so we’ll let him finish out his season, and then we’ll make decisions from there.”
Vezenkov could start alongside Keegan Murray in Sacramento as a potential replacement for free agent Harrison Barnes or play a key role off the bench. Either way, the Kings believe he is ready for the NBA.
“I tell you what, the way he shoots the ball, we like to get up a lot of 3s,” Brown said. “We space the floor, in my opinion, really, really well. We play extremely fast, and so I think he can be a really effective player in the NBA at a high level, especially with his toughness. He’s not afraid at all and I love that about him.”
