If EuroLeague star Vasilije Micic makes the jump to the NBA, he wants a clearly-defined role and believes he may not be a good fit with the Thunder, he told Semih Tuna of Eurohoops.net.
Oklahoma City holds the rights to Micic and GM Sam Presti recently stated the Thunder came “pretty close” to signing Micic, who has won back-to-back EuroLeague titles and Final Four MVPs with Turkish club Anadolu Efes.
Micic, 28, indicated he was hesitant to sign because he was unsure if he’d be part of the rotation.
“Talking about OKC, they have my rights and I have the desire to go there, but maybe our opinions are conflicting,” he said. “They want to develop their players and build a young team with all those great young guys they have. Maybe there is no space for me.”
Micic’s representatives were rumored to be urging the Thunder to trade his rights. However, he was still under contract in Europe and ultimately decided to stay with Efes for another season.
A conversation with Nikola Jokic also led to his decision to stay in Europe. They are teammates on the Serbian national team.
“From what I heard from my agents, there were rumors about some teams. Some teams were interested in me. As far as I understand, people there are hesitant to give me the role that I want,” he said. “I was talking to Jokic, he’s the best player out there. He said to me, ‘it doesn’t matter who you are when you’re there, what matters is the role you get, whether they will sign you, and the money in return. That’s how they look at you and show their confidence in this way.'”
Micic mentioned the possibility of joining an NBA team during the postseason but “that’s out of my hands.”
In terms of playing here next season, he’s more focused on getting playing time than a big contract.
“I don’t expect anything too cheap or anything crazy high on the contract,” he said. “The main issue for me is not money, but rather the trust of the team in me.”
More must-reads: