By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
From making noise in the 2023 FIBA World Cup to Fenerbahce Beko with an interpoint at BC Wolves. Being a free agent will not be the case much longer for Arturs Zagars.
Zagars, 23, is expected to sign with Fener and will be loaned to BC Wolves to at least start the 2023-24 season, as reported by Aris Barkas.
He was named on the All-Second Team of the World Cup after firing on all cylinders for Latvia. Averaging 12.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game over eight appearances included a new record for the most assists in a single World Cup game with 17 against Lithuania last Saturday.
Arturs Zagars is near a deal with Fenerbahce. The player who stole the show in the #FIBAWC is expected to sign with the Turkish powerhouse and play on loan in Lithuania with Wolves BC or at least start the season there. More on @Eurohoopsnet and @EurohoopsTR
— Aris Barkas (@arbarkas) September 11, 2023
Nearing a deal with the Istanbul giant can eventually translate into a huge step, especially compared to the 2022-23 season and playing for Nevėžis-OPTIBET in Lithuania’s Betsafe LKL.
While staying in the top-flight division of Lithuania for a second season in a row, the Wolves would resurface Zagars in the BKT EuroCup, the second-tier club continental competition organized by Euroleague Basketball. He carries the experience of 20 games played between the 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22 seasons, as a member of Joventut Badalona.
Repeating recent showings can surely confirm him as a candidate to move up to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with Fenerbahce, even before the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
The most intriguing free agent in the 2023 FIBA World Cup
Traveling from Latvia to the Catalonia outfit as a teenager in 2017, his progress earned him a debut with the senior team at the bottom end of the 2017-18 edition of Spain’s Liga Endesa. After five years with Badalona, including multiple loan assignments, he signed with Nevezis last summer. Upon the end of his contract, turning heads in the World Cup attracted the interest of multiple teams.
Prior to aiding debuting Latvia on ranking fifth overall in the World Cup, representing his country at the senior level was limited to windows attached to Qualifiers. At the junior level, he made his way to the 2018 U18 European Championship, and the 2015 and 2016 U16 European Championships.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL