Savic: “Lesor became the best center in Europe”

The sports director of Partizan, Zoran Savicdeified him Matias Lessor referring to the boost his French center’s career got Panathinaikou after working with Zeljko Obradovic.

“When we brought Matias Lessor, everyone asked why we did it. They said he was troubled. We never had the slightest problem with him. He has a great career. He became the best center in Europe and tripled his earnings. Normal. The only way for us was to take risks“, he said.

At the same time, he ruled out the possibility of further aid. “We have 15 players. We won’t take anyone else. Last year we were lucky, we had 13 players in the squad and we didn’t have to deal with serious injuries for most of the season. This year we have 15 and if we are healthy we will be covered at every position“, were the words of the former ace of PAOK.

On the transfer of Dozier and Kaminski from the NBA he said: “It’s easy to explain how we got PJ Dozier and Frank Kaminsky. Dozier was playing in Denver and we got some great information on him. We give him the money Exum was getting last year and he’s making six times as much in the NBA as he was making us.».

As for Dante Exum, who after Partizan returned to the NBA and excelled? “Dante is the perfect example of someone who can spend a season or two in Europe and return to the NBA. This is something we want to use in the future. It is important for us to have a good relationship with NBA teams. They helped us a lot last year when Exum came back there, that’s why we signed Dozier and Kaminski, because through Partizan they see the possibility of returning to the NBA».

Regarding the addition of two teams to the NBA and the Euroleague, he noted:If the NBA expands and adds two more teams, they will get a budget of $250,000,000 to build their rosters. This will be a problem for Europe. Player prices will go up. Two-way contracts are killing us, because 90% of players don’t come to Europe. At the same time, the NCAA also has a problem, because there the athletes can sign a sponsorship agreement and make 400-500 thousand dollars a year at 18 and 19. We have a lot of problems and even if the teams in the EuroLeague increase, things will not get better. In this market we are all targeting the same players. Point guards and fives are the most expensive players. Sometimes you know that you will pay an amount that does not correspond to the real value of the player. Do you think things will be better when Dubai, Paris, London come in? It will be even worse».

About the G-League he commented: “I hate watching the G-League. I don’t understand why players want to go there. They think they are getting closer to the NBA, but all NBA teams have scouts in Belgrade. General Managers from the NBA come here and think it’s better to play in Europe or the EuroLeague than to sign a two-way contract and play for nothing in the NBA. Last year I contacted players from three or four teams in the G-League and it was a disaster. They have no idea about Europe. Even his agents are afraid to recommend them to teams in June lest they lose their jobs. That’s why the players wait until the pre-season and the cuts are over and then maybe they decide to come to Europe. And we are not talking about players who are 23 years old, but about players who are 25-26 years old who have not played in the NBA for 5-6 years. And they feel like NBA players. Those two-way contracts didn’t help them get better».

Finally, he emphasized the need to increase the buy out of European teams to the NBA. “Anything we can do to follow the NBA’s example is good, but why don’t they make it a rule to pay a $5,000,000 buy-out? That would help. Raising the buy-out to $5 million for a team that has a budget of $200 million is nothing. This is something for the EuroLeague and FIBA ​​to sort out. Now NBA teams pay $825,000 for buy-outs (and players who move from Europe to the US cover the rest out of pocket). These are crumbs for them and for us».