From EuroLeague Excellence to NBA Newcomer: Who Is Vasilije Micić?

Mitch Kupchak and the new ownership were looking to add draft capital and some veteran experience to their backcourt rotation at the trade deadline. They did just that in a trade that saw Gordon Hayward head to Oklahoma City. Charlotte on the other hand received two second-round picks and multiple players, one of them being veteran point guard Vasilije Micić, who had been in and out of Mark Daigneault’s rotation.

Background

The 6’3ft facilitator only made his way to the NBA last summer but has been on the league's radar for quite a while. In 2014 he participated in the Eurocamp, an event that offers NBA prospects from all over the world to showcase their game to the scouts in attendance. Some standouts from Micić’s Eurocamp class include Jaylen Brown, Isaiah Hartenstein, Brandon Ingram, Dennis Smith Jr., and Vasilije himself.

Although his lack of athleticism was a slight concern, his combination of playmaking, scoring, and relative size at the one spot had him projected somewhere in the second round. He ended up being picked at 52nd overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 draft, only a few minutes after fellow countryman and then-teammate Nikola Jokić. While the Joker’s overseas tenure ended in 2015, Micić stayed, racking up accolades and becoming a household name in European basketball.

After two streaky seasons for Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade, the Hornets' new number 22 found some consistency playing for Tofas SC in Turkey, Micić then transferred to Žalgiris Kaunas in the summer of 2017 and was a steady rotation piece for a team that finished third in the following EuroLeague season. His greatest stretch of basketball was yet to come, as he changed clubs again in 2018, joining Anadolu Efes. Back in Turkey, he immediately led the league in assists and his team to a national title. Two more of those would follow, as well as some international success. Efes went on to win the EuroLeague in 2021 and 2022, with Micić playing a major role in both runs. He bagged three MVPs in the process, one in the regular season and two at the Final Four. The 30-year-old also led the league in scoring for the 2021-22 season, putting up 18.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists on average.