One of the biggest questions surrounding Kings rookie Sasha Vezenkov this summer was whether his EuroLeague success would translate to the NBA.
That question still needs time to be answered, but nearly three months after signing a three-year contract with Sacramento, the reigning EuroLeague MVP is on the right track.
Vezenkov received an immense amount of praise from his new teammates at Kings Media Day on Monday, with all of them collectively amazed at how the 6-foot-9 forward can shoot the 3-ball.
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“Man, he shoots the piss out of the ball,” Kings All-Star point guard De’Aaron Fox said Monday. “It's crazy. One of our shooting drills, it's like 150 shots and I think he missed seven. He's up there with some of the best shooters in the world. … We want him to be comfortable and we want him to know that he has the green light to shoot the ball.
“Like I said, he's one of the best shooters in the world. That's why you're here. We want you to shoot the ball. If you think it's a bad shot, it might not actually be a bad shot. But once he gets it going, man, the net's not even moving. It's crazy sitting there watching him shoot the ball.”
Over the course of his eight-year career in the world's second-best basketball league, Vezenkov shot 40 percent from 3-point range and 63 percent from inside the arc. But if Fox’s stats were correct, that means Vezenkov shot roughly 95.3 percent in the shooting drill.
Fox was fact-checked the following day when Vezenkov thanked his 25-year-old teammate for the slight exaggeration.
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“Basically, it was a little bit more [that I missed]. Thank you for Fox,” Vezenkov admitted, laughing, after Day 1 of training camp Tuesday. “It wasn't seven but it was OK. Every day is different. I try to make as much as I can.”
Vezenkov described the first day as “intense,” but he was excited to get the ball rolling on the court with the team as a whole.
He and the Kings are confident in his fit with the team this season, and they know his shooting will elevate their already distinguished offense. Like every shooter, Vezenkov knows there will be good days and bad days, but he’s focused on being as consistent as possible and willing to put the work in to accomplish just that.
“Shooting, you have to work on it every day,” Vezenkov said. “As you see, the rim is like this, the ball has to go in so it's tough. It's not like soccer where the goal is [bigger]. So you have to practice every day, every day. Some days will be better than others, but you have to work hard and give everything in practice. Whatever you practice, you'll bring to the game.”
The Brooklyn Nets drafted Vezenkov No. 57 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft and then traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sacramento acquired his draft rights last summer and signed him to a reported three-year, $20 million contract in July.
Vezenkov arrived in Sacramento in late August and immediately got to work. From workouts to pickup games to shooting drills, it didn’t take long for him to impress his new teammates.
Even Kings guard Kevin Huerter, one of the best shooters on the team, was blown away by what he witnessed from Vezenkov beyond the arc.
Huerter revealed that in Vezenkov’s short time with the team, the European phenom already has broken all the Kings’ shooting records that were set last year.
Knowing that there’s yet another player who can light it up from 3-point range, Huerter acknowledged Vezenkov’s presence might serve as a friendly reminder for the other shooters on the team.
“Sasha shoots the hell out of the ball,” Huerter said. “He's come in here and broken all our shooting records that we had last year. He's somebody who's already been in pickup, he's just a shotmaker. So he's really exciting.
“We have a lot of shooting drills we do as a team, stuff we do on off days. He comes in and he doesn't miss. So a couple of us have some work to do to try to catch up.”
Kings forward Trey Lyles, who re-signed with Sacramento this offseason, also can heat up from downtown at times.
And he stepped up when it mattered most for the Kings last season, dropping 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from deep in Game 1 of Sacramento’s first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.
Lyles knows how much this team relies on the 3-ball, and he’s looking forward to the optionality the team will have after adding Vezenkov to the shooting mix.
“I think adding him to the team is a great depth to the shooting area,” Lyles said Monday. “He can definitely shoot, breaking a couple of those records already. So it just shows that he's capable and it's going to transition over here. I think everybody, including him, is just excited to have him a part of the team.”
Last season, the Kings ran a historically great offense built off pace, moving and cutting. With Domantas Sabonis or Fox at the helm, their non-stop moving schemes allowed for easy buckets in the paint or wide-open shots beyond the arc.
Vezenkov, who played a similar style with Olympiacos over the last couple of years, referred to the Kings' style of play as "beautiful."
Sacramento's DHO game was particularly successful with Sabonis and Huerter, and Kings coach Mike Brown said they might experiment and try to implement some of that action with Sabonis and Vezenkov. Sabonis is eager to try it out in practice and is confident Vezenkov's basketball IQ will help make things much easier.
"He's EuroLeague MVP, so to do that, how his style of play is with shooting, not a lot of dribbles, cutting, [all] speaks enough," Sabonis said. "So I just can't wait for training camp to get some time with him on the court.
"[The DHO] is going to be big. I feel like he's a really smart player and he'll know how to exploit defenses and the things they throw at him. He can really shoot. He's probably the best shooter on the team. We're going to have to use that to our advantage."
While it's unclear exactly what Vezenkov's role is going to be just yet, the European rookie is just itching to get on the court and help his team win games.
And if that means coming off the bench, he's perfectly fine with that.
"Good question, I don't know," Vezenkov responded when asked about his role. "You'll have to ask the coach. I'll be ready for anything. I'll work out, you have to be ready to get the opportunity. So I'm waiting for the opportunity. I think I can help the team. And whatever the coach decides, I'm here to do it.
"It doesn't affect me or doesn't mean anything if you come off the bench. The most important thing is to help the team and help the team win. As you see, when the team wins, everybody is happy y and the whole organization works better. So whatever it takes to win."