The Sacramento Kings turned themselves into a team to watch entering the NBA’s free agency period. On the heels of a surprising regular season, the Kings were in a financial position to make a splash over the summer, something that was hammered home when they made a move on the night of the NBA Draft to send Richaun Holmes to the Dallas Mavericks to open up even more cap space.
A major swing — the team was reportedly very interested in stealing Draymond Green from the Golden State Warriors — didn’t come to fruition, so they opted to just bring back Harrison Barnes. In a further use of their cap space, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN brought word that Sacramento signed Sasha Vezenkov, the reigning MVP of the EuroLeague, on a 3-year deal worth $20 million.
Sasha Vezenkov – a 6-foot-9 reigning EuroLeague MVP – has agreed on a three-year, $20 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agents Mark Bartelstein and George Roussakis of @PrioritySports and Nick Lotsos of Team Lotsos tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/zCVsT9gnWk
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023
Vezenkov, who was born in Cyprus and plays his international basketball for Bulgaria, comes to the Kings after spending the last five years with Olympiacos. The 27-year-old forward was selected 57th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft, but his draft rights were sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021, and a year and a half later, the Cavs sent his draft rights to Sacramento.
Last season Vezenkov played in 40 games for Olympiacos and averaged 17.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 29.1 minutes a night while hitting 37.8 percent of his threes. Olympiacos made it to the EuroLeague finals, where it lost to Real Madrid, 79-78. Wojnarowski noted that the expectation is that Vezenkov will “play a formidable role” in Sacramento.