With Bjelica arriving, project Smailagic out
Alen Smailagic spent much of his free time the past two seasons watching YouTube highlights of fellow Serbian big man Nemanja Bjelica.
Logic might suggest that NBA MVP Nikola Jokic would be a better countryman for Smailagic, 20, to study than Bjelica — a role player with career averages of 7.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. But the Warriors wanted to develop Smailagic into a floorspacing power forward, and Bjelica has been one of the league’s best pickandpop big men.
Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that Golden State waived Smailagic on Wednesday — little more than 24 hours after news broke that Bjelica had agreed to a oneyear, veteranminimum deal with the team worth $2.1 million. It became glaring this past season that Smailagic wasn’t close to becoming a helpful rotation piece in the NBA.
In need of a bigbodied floorspacer to give Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson more room to operate, the Warriors were pleased that Bjelica was available on a minimum deal. His catchandshoot prowess — he’s a career 38.7% shooter from 3point range — and passing ability make him the ideal frontcourt player off Golden State’s bench.
The Warriors’ offense is at its best when a big man acts as a fulcrum, reading the defense on the low block and kicking out to open shooters. That’s part of why David West (201618) and Zaza Pachulia (201618) were valued members of two championship teams despite being well past their primes. But outside of Andrew Bogut’s 11game return in 201819, the Warriors haven’t had a playmaking big man — 6foot6 Draymond Green excluded — since West and Pachulia departed three years ago.
Bjelica grew up playing point guard in Belgrade, and his court vision and feel for the game have remained essential parts of his skill set. His 4.2 assists per 36 minutes last season bettered those of Warriors centers Kevon Looney (3.7) and James Wiseman’s (1.1) last season.
During his first two seasons with the Kings (201820), Bjelica’s penchant for the game’s subtleties — dribble handoffs, screens, offensive rebounds — earned him a spot ahead of Marvin Bagley III on the depth chart. Former Sacramento head coach Dave Joerger’s decision to play Bjelica over Bagley, the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA draft, in crucial situations reportedly caused friction with the front office.
But Joerger was willing to prioritize winning over player development, and Bjelica was part of the Kings’ most productive lineups. When Luke Walton replaced Joerger as head coach before the 201920 season, he thought of Bjelica merely as a stretch power forward, only to learn that Bjelica was more skilled than he realized.
Bjelica posted careerhigh averages of 11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists that year while shooting careerbest percentages from the field (48.1) and 3point range (41.9). But hobbled by a lingering ankle injury last season, he struggled to make catchandshoot jumpers.
Within two weeks of being traded to Miami in the spring, Bjelica was out of the Heat’s rotation. Reports have suggested that his poor conditioning and repeated pleas for more playing time irked head coach Erik Spoelstra.
His oneyear deal with the Warriors is an arrangement rooted in mutual need: Bjelica hopes to resuscitate his market value, and Golden State hopes he’s the passhappy, knockdown shooter who was once an integral part of the Kings’ rotation.
As for Smailagic? He’ll watch from afar as his longtime idol fills the role he wanted to occupy for the Warriors.
Though Smailagic flashed a smooth jump shot in practice, he shot just 7for23 (30.4%) from 3point range in two seasons with Golden State. Many of his limited minutes were spent flailing his arms and looking overwhelmed.
One of the few high points in Smailagic’s brief Warriors career came in a loss to the Bucks in January 2020, when he needed only 11 minutes to post 10 points and four rebounds. Two nights earlier, during a loss in Sacramento, he heard someone calling his name as he ran back on defense after botching a layup attempt.
“Don’t hurry,” the voice said. “You’re 19 years old. Just play your game.”
It was Bjelica.