Mike Brown says Olympiacos star Sasha Vezenkov is ‘really good’ fit for Sacramento Kings
Kings coach Mike Brown traveled to Greece to see Sasha Vezenkov compete in the EuroLeague playoffs amid growing speculation that one of Europe’s top NBA prospects could be coming to Sacramento.
Brown watched Vezenkov post 17 points and five rebounds to lead Olympiacos to an 84-72 victory over Fenerbahce on Tuesday at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus, Greece. Brown said he liked what he saw from Vezenkov during a halftime interview with Greek media.
“Obviously, the way that they’re guarding, that makes it tough, but when you guard somebody like that, you like that person on the floor because it creates a lot of space for everybody else,” Brown said. “The way we play, he fits in really good. 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, 27, is the reigning Greek League MVP and a leading candidate for EuroLeague MVP this season. The Kings acquired his draft rights last summer when they traded the No. 49 pick in the 2022 NBA draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Vezenkov, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward, averaged 17.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals this season. He shot an impressive 59.5% from the field and 43.4% from 3-point range.
“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.”
Brown said Vezenkov’s game should translate well to the NBA.
“At the end of the day, basketball is basketball,” Brown said. “I really like Olympiacos, the ball movement, the player movement. It’s beautiful basketball to watch. Everybody touches it. Everybody shares it. And then, defensively, both teams have a physicality about them that you really, really like, especially in a playoff environment.”
Kings general manager Monte McNair, vice president of player personnel Phil Jabour and other members of the organization have also gone overseas to scout Vezenkov.
Brown was asked if the Kings intend to make an offer to Vezenkov after failing to reach an agreement last summer.
“We’ll let him finish the season out and then we’ll talk to him, but we’ve obviously been highly, highly intrigued with him,” Brown said. “We made a trade to get his rights last year. This is the fourth or fifth time somebody from our organization has come over … so, for us, the interest is at a high level, but we’ll let him finish the season and then he’ll make decisions as well as us when it’s time.”
McNair offered a similar response when asked about Vezenkov after the Kings lost a seven-game series to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
“We’ve been able to get to know him a little bit, so we’ll sit down and see what our offseason looks like in the next few weeks,” McNair said. “That will be a decision for later in the summer, but right now we’re enjoying watching him in the playoffs.”
