It's an embarrassing development for the Kings. A year ago they recruited him heavily and to put it plainly - he was a bust. He seemed intimidated by the length and athleticism of the NBA. A quick shot became hyper-quick in order to get the shot off. Too bad, but it's not as if the Kings committed to a long term contract for a lot of money either. It was worth the try.
Why Isn't Sasha Playing?
- Thread starter Kraft
- Start date
When Monte McNair acquired the draft rights to Sasha the Kings were coming off a 30 win season and had just hired their 12th head coach in 16 years. In that context you're trying anything to add talent to the roster and see who sticks.
By the time Sasha actually signed his contract with the Kings a year later they were a 48 win team coming off a hard-fought 7 game playoff series loss to the Warriors. Roles were established, expectations were high, and there wasn't an opportunity to bring the new guys up to speed slowly because our schedule was front-loaded with 3 "prove-it" games against the Warriors in the first month not to mention the in-season tournament games in November and December.
I don't think Mike Brown had a problem with Vezenkov, he just had other priorities. Maybe Vezenkov took it too personally? I'm not sure what his expectations were. Barnes and Lyles getting re-signed already made it so he would have an uphill battle to establish rotation minutes and Coach Brown prioritizing defense this year didn't work out in Vezenkov's favor either. It's kind of odd for a guy who has played in only 42 NBA games to say "I don't like my role, trade me out of here". Now the impression is out there, accurate or not, that he's a me-first player who cares more about getting his minutes than team success. I don't think that helps trade value so if his goal is to get traded, he just sabotaged himself by going public with a trade demand.
By the time Sasha actually signed his contract with the Kings a year later they were a 48 win team coming off a hard-fought 7 game playoff series loss to the Warriors. Roles were established, expectations were high, and there wasn't an opportunity to bring the new guys up to speed slowly because our schedule was front-loaded with 3 "prove-it" games against the Warriors in the first month not to mention the in-season tournament games in November and December.
I don't think Mike Brown had a problem with Vezenkov, he just had other priorities. Maybe Vezenkov took it too personally? I'm not sure what his expectations were. Barnes and Lyles getting re-signed already made it so he would have an uphill battle to establish rotation minutes and Coach Brown prioritizing defense this year didn't work out in Vezenkov's favor either. It's kind of odd for a guy who has played in only 42 NBA games to say "I don't like my role, trade me out of here". Now the impression is out there, accurate or not, that he's a me-first player who cares more about getting his minutes than team success. I don't think that helps trade value so if his goal is to get traded, he just sabotaged himself by going public with a trade demand.
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There was a whole campaign for him to be persuaded to leave Greece and move to NBA around this time last year. Brown had traveled all the way to Athens to watch him play a couple of times and it wasn't an easy decision for Sasha to leave and also for Olympiacos to agree to release him getting those "buy out" money that if I am not mistaken were "deducted" by Sasha's rookie contract.
No details were mentioned if there were some promises, but who knows? Also it might have nothing to do with Kings and his limited role, it could be because he was away from family/friends/girlfriend for such a long time, and during the whole time there was a whole social media outburst that was impossible for him or his people not to notice. At one side we had the Greek/Bulgarian/European sites going in full war against MB for not giving him much playing time (way before the injuries) and on the other side there were the Kings group/fan pages that people that were not aware of him as a basketball player were mocking him and calling him a bust, because he fell way off those high expectations that he could make an impact.
As someone else wrote before, it could be connected with him coming back to Greece that caused him wanting to leave the Kings but that would probably mean leaving the NBA in total and not just the Kings.
FYI, Sasha was never causing chaos via media all his years in Europe, he was friendly with journalists, willing to give interviews (he speaks perfect Greek, you can't even tell he is not native, way better than my and his English) but he is a low profile guy. If the leak indeed occured by his side (that is the most possible thing) it was not from him but by someone else (agent?) that wanted to push/press things in a certain way. I hope he gets to stay in the NBA but I will not be watching his matches if the Kings are playing at the same time as well, unless he is the one we are playing against.
No details were mentioned if there were some promises, but who knows? Also it might have nothing to do with Kings and his limited role, it could be because he was away from family/friends/girlfriend for such a long time, and during the whole time there was a whole social media outburst that was impossible for him or his people not to notice. At one side we had the Greek/Bulgarian/European sites going in full war against MB for not giving him much playing time (way before the injuries) and on the other side there were the Kings group/fan pages that people that were not aware of him as a basketball player were mocking him and calling him a bust, because he fell way off those high expectations that he could make an impact.
As someone else wrote before, it could be connected with him coming back to Greece that caused him wanting to leave the Kings but that would probably mean leaving the NBA in total and not just the Kings.
FYI, Sasha was never causing chaos via media all his years in Europe, he was friendly with journalists, willing to give interviews (he speaks perfect Greek, you can't even tell he is not native, way better than my and his English) but he is a low profile guy. If the leak indeed occured by his side (that is the most possible thing) it was not from him but by someone else (agent?) that wanted to push/press things in a certain way. I hope he gets to stay in the NBA but I will not be watching his matches if the Kings are playing at the same time as well, unless he is the one we are playing against.
Naa. I just don't think it's likely at all, that the guy who went all the way over there and spent part of his summer recruiting him and was obviously high on his potential,....would then proceed to overlook how valuable he was to the team.
My opinion is that the team would not have had a better record, if he had played more more than Barnes or Lyles. I think Brown and staff in this case, were right on the money with their evaluation of what was best for the team. They took a chance on a guy from overseas and it was a swing and miss.
My opinion is that the team would not have had a better record, if he had played more more than Barnes or Lyles. I think Brown and staff in this case, were right on the money with their evaluation of what was best for the team. They took a chance on a guy from overseas and it was a swing and miss.
I think it was largely a numbers game and the injuries. Before he signed we had a thread “Sasha or Lyles” or something like that and one of the arguments was that we might not be able to get the most out of both of them. Although they are different players, their roles overlapped too much. A lot of us thought Sasha coming over meant Lyles was going to be the permanent back up 5 and that never happened.
I doubt he was promised anything, Brown seems on the level with this, possibly to a fault. Both Brown and Monte were involved in the recruiting.
I really think this could be to ward off a trade to a 20 win team because one report was the Kings told him he isn't in their plans. I could see teams calling about him. Let's not forget when we took his rights most people said he would never come over here at all, so he already is more valuable with two years remaining on the contract than he was as an imaginary trade chip.
I really think this could be to ward off a trade to a 20 win team because one report was the Kings told him he isn't in their plans. I could see teams calling about him. Let's not forget when we took his rights most people said he would never come over here at all, so he already is more valuable with two years remaining on the contract than he was as an imaginary trade chip.
Some of the takes here about the kings handling of him seem a bit over the top. He had some flashes but his shot seemed inconsistent (as beautiful as it looks leaving his hand) as he was getting adjusted to the nba and then injuries seriously impacted his second half of the year. I found he was a better team defender than I expected but clearly if he’s not hitting his 3s he’s going to struggle getting playing time. The kings weren’t in a position to develop an old rookie in his prime. He needed to seize the opportunity and he didn’t clearly come out on top of others options.
There were rumors he was very homesick so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is about not loving the transition to living in the US and being at best a role player in the NBA. Maybe just wants to get back to getting star treatment in Europe, closer to family and friends.
There were rumors he was very homesick so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is about not loving the transition to living in the US and being at best a role player in the NBA. Maybe just wants to get back to getting star treatment in Europe, closer to family and friends.
This would make the most sense in that the reports I've seen were of Sasha's camp asking for his release. That would make me think they are asking to be released so he can return to Europe. If he wants to return to Europe, I don't see the Kings refusing that request. He took his shot at the NBA and apparently he didn't like what he saw, so he has every right to go back home if he wants.
But, if I were the Kings, I would make sure that there is a stipulation in the release that if he returned to the NBA during his Kings contract, that the Kings get compensated by the other team.
But, if I were the Kings, I would make sure that there is a stipulation in the release that if he returned to the NBA during his Kings contract, that the Kings get compensated by the other team.
He was out of position many times on defense. He got blown by the other team too often. He did get deflections, but I would not call him a good team defender. His shooting was below average and not the knock down shooter he was advertised to be. The fact is Lyles is a far better and more consistent player. He won’t get minutes over Lyles, nor should he.
Lyles took a step back last year, but I do agree, he's proven to be a better player, thus far. I think had Sasha been able to stay healthy, he would have shown to be a better impact player. Disagree on the defense; he was expected to be a sieve, but I think his physicality and good hands kept him competitive on the defensive end. Good? No. But playable if he was able to get his offense really rolling
So question is, if he doesnt get traded (hope he does) and doesnt report, can the kings use his $6M on another player? Its different from the nets/kyrie debacle where he was "willing" to play in away games. Id this guy is unwilling to play, what arenthe recourses short of buying him out (which I wouldnt want to do given he isnt honoring his part of the deal).
I just didn't see what I wanted to see from Sasha in his first year with the Kings. There do seem to be some statistical analyses that suggest he was worthy of more minutes, particularly over guys like Duarte, but I remain unconvinced that Sasha was any kind of high impact answer just waiting on the bench. Keon Ellis was that guy because he's got otherworldly defensive skill, of which the Kings were sorely in need. By contrast, Vezenkov looked lost out there much of the time. He really needed to be a flame thrower from deep, especially considering the regression of Kevin Huerter. Still, it was just year one. It'd be a shame if the Kings and Vezenkov decided to break up over a rocky initial season together.
It's part of the risk when bringing in these uber-established players from the European leagues, particularly those with winning bonafides. Vezenkov is older than Fox, but the NBA absolutely represents culture shock for most international players when they decide to make the jump. The game is faster. It's stronger. The talent and skill level are insane. There's considerably less margin for error defensively. So I have no qualms with Mike Brown's hesitation to give Sasha more playing time in his rookie season. I just don't think it's worth giving up after one year together. It was a tough season for everybody. Lots of ups and downs. Assorted injuries. I'd want Sasha to stick around for a bounce back year.
Ideally you would want to see how year 2 unfolded before making any decisions on Sasha. Who knows, maybe we ship out Lyles in a trade for a bigger fish and a spot opens up in the rotation for him. It seems pretty rash for Sasha to request a release after one sub-par injury filled rookie season. Hopefully the Kings can back him off the ledge and have him come back for another season to see if we can make it work.
He's still relatively young, so he can still go back to Europe after year 2 or 3 and make a good living there, if it doesn't work out here.
He's still relatively young, so he can still go back to Europe after year 2 or 3 and make a good living there, if it doesn't work out here.
Yeah I think the thing that doomed him aside from the three consecutive ankle injuries that absolutely robbed him of all momentum in the season was that Trey at the five wound up being one of our worst lineups of the season whereas Len/Trey together in the front court wound up being on of our better units. Lyles also had a regressive season as a scorer but was still solidly better on the defensive end (not a stopper there or anything but capable of getting switched without immediately getting roasted) and has sorta figured out how to play in this offense in his sleep.
Actually it's about the most basic one you can get. Whether or not those statistics prove out fully with more minutes or not, when on the floor, that WAS your per minute productivity on average. Nobody can argue that, it's the result. It's not some crazy wonked out stat like some of the ones these days. Pretty cut and dry.