Mussatto: Why time was right for OKC Thunder guard Vasilije Micic to make NBA leap
Inside the press conference room Monday at Thunder media day, on the second floor of the cavernous Oklahoma City Convention Center, it was anybody’s guess as to whom would walk through the door next as players were shuttled from station to station throughout the building.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault was first behind the press conference podium. Then came the face of the franchise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Lu Dort, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams logically followed SGA at the top of the lineup, but then it became a fun game to see which player would appear next.
Everyone perked up when Vasilije Micic (va-SEAL-yay me-tzitch) entered the room.
“First of all, hello, everyone,” said Micic, easing into the first question.
The first question was the obvious one: Why now?
Why did the 29-year-old Serbian guard, a European champion and EuroLeague MVP, wait until now — 10 years after he was drafted — to make the NBA leap? Why did he want to make the leap at all? Why, after his draft rights were traded from the 76ers to the Thunder four years ago, was the timing right for Micic to trade in his superstar status in Europe to be a role player in the NBA? Why take the risk?
“Common desire,” Micic said.
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“First of all, two years ago we had a very serious conversation,” said Micic, adding that he had no such conversations with Philadelphia. “After that, I felt like I needed to prove something more for myself in Europe, and this summer finally everything settled well.
“I wanted to come somewhere that someone knows me and someone really wanted me, and this is what happened this summer.”
Micic left Anadolu Efes, the Turkish club he had played for since 2018, to sign a three-year, $23.5 million contract with the Thunder. The deal was reported in July, one month after Micic visited Oklahoma City for the first time to meet with Thunder management.
From a team-building standpoint, the timing of Micic’s arrival feels unnatural. He’ll turn 30 in January, making him well ahead of the Thunder’s age curve. Gilgeous-Alexander turned 25 in July. Josh Giddey is still eight days shy of his 21st birthday. Micic, by the way, chose jersey No. 29 to match his age.
And while the Thunder is expected to be competitive coming off a play-in appearance last season, OKC’s focus has been on developing younger players. How Daigneault balances the backup guard minutes of rookie Cason Wallace, whom the Thunder just selected with the No. 10 pick, with Micic, for example, remains to be seen.
Micic and the Thunder are aligned, though, in giving it a go.
“He’s kind of thrusting himself into this position because he’s really got nothing to prove as a player, and yet he’s putting himself kind of at square one in the NBA,” Daigneault said, “and he’s doing so with great vulnerability.”
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Thunder general manager Sam Presti, without getting into the details of the negotiations, echoed Micic in saying everything synced up as far as timing. One year, for example, Micic didn’t have an out in his contract.
“Everything is kind of always moving,” Presti said. “Nothing stands still. To get a trade done or a signing done, so many things have to fall into place, and in this case, a lot of things kind of just fell into place and it made sense.
“As far as his game goes, I think everybody knows the NBA is very, very favorable to skill players that know how to play, that are really good with the ball and can anticipate how to serve the game. He has a lot of that.”
How exactly will Micic, a 6-foot-5 and 203-pound guard, translate those skills from Europe to the NBA? Who the heck knows. As far as his role, though, we at least know Micic isn’t going to be in the opening night starting lineup. That his status as a star in Europe will have to be earned in the NBA.
“Of course I'm aware of that, and the reality that I'm facing to be here with such talented players that they have already, or we have,” Micic said. “But at the same time, so far in my life, nothing was given to me, and nothing was easy to reach.”
If Micic didn’t make the move this summer, he said he likely never would have.
So, why now? Micic more than answered that Monday.
“I’ve got to challenge myself once again,” he said.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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Vasilije Micic at a glance
Born: Jan. 13, 1994
Hometown: Kraljevo, Serbia
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 203 pounds
Position: Guard
Drafted: Selected 52nd overall by the 76ers in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft.
Notable: Micic signed a three-year, $23.5-million contract with the Thunder in the 2023 offseason.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder's Vasilije Micic explains why it was time to make NBA leap
