Alexander Vezenkov is officially part of the Sacramento Kings
The best Bulgarian basketball player Alexander Vezenkov was officially announced as a new addition to the Sacramento Kings. This morning, the Kings finally boasted about signing the EuroLeague MVP, with the deal between the two sides worth $20 million over the next three years. In this way, the former athlete of Aris, Barcelona and Olympiakos will become the second Bulgarian in the NBA after Georgi Glushkov, who had one season with the Phoenix Suns team in 1985/86.
"Vezenkov was named the MVP of the Euroleague season after averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals on 55% shooting from the field, 38% from the three and 84% from the free throw line in 40 games with the Olympiakos team. He received the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Award and was selected in the All-Tournament Team for the second consecutive year.
In the 2022/23 season, Vezenkov also played in the Greek league, where he averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals on 58% shooting from the field, 39% from three and 80% from the penalty line. Through his performance, Vezenkov was voted the most valuable player of the championship for the second consecutive season and helped his team triumph with the championship title.
Vezenkov, who is a native of Bulgaria, started his career in the Greek league with Aris, where he spent four seasons from 2011 to 2015. He then joined Barcelona where he spent a further three years before moving to Olympiakos for the start of the 2018/19 season. Vezenkov was selected with pick #57 in the 2017 Draft by the Brooklyn Nets. Sacramento acquired his rights through a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the Draft last year," reads the news about the transfer of the Bulgarian national on the Kings' official website.
Thus, Vezenkov is now officially part of one of the teams with the highest potential in the league, and in the new campaign he will join forces with two of the most impressive players overseas - the team's playmaker De'Aaron Fox and center Domantas Sabonis, who led the Kings to their first playoff appearance in 16 years last year. The Kings, however, failed to get past the first round and dethrone the Golden State Warriors, falling to the Warriors in seven games after Steph Curry scored a historic 50 points in the series finale.
Making Vezenkov official was also one of the last key moves by the Sacramento organization this summer. Mike Brown's team inked Sabonis with a new contract, then retained key role players like Alex Len, Trey Lyles and Kessler Edwards, brought in a backup center in Nerlens Noel and acquired the services of Chris Duarte, who moved to Indiana Pacers.
Vezenkov was already in California earlier this month to sign his contract and meet his new teammates. He attended several Sacramento games in the Las Vegas Summer League in the company of some members of the team's management, owner Vivek Ranadive and head coach Mike Brown. Brown, assistant coach Jay Triano and vice president Phil Jabour reportedly traveled to Greece to watch Vezenkov play with Olympiakos last season.
Vezenkov is currently in Botevgrad, where he traditionally conducts individual training before the start of the new season. As he himself shared, his return to the United States and joining the training process of Sacramento will happen at the end of August. The first games of Bulgaria's Sportsman #1 for last year in the NBA will be at the beginning of October, when the "Kings" will play several preseason matches.
