By Stavros Barbarousis & George Adamopoulos/ info@eurohoops.net
The NBA odyssey of Sasha Vezenkov serves as a case study in the importance of timing and coaching alignment, as detailed by his longtime representative, Nikos Lotsos, during his interview with Eurohoops.
Reflecting on a journey that ultimately saw the player return to Greece, the veteran agent suggested the foundation for later frustrations was laid years earlier when a significant opportunity with the Denver Nuggets was bypassed. During his tenure at FC Barcelona, the then-assistant general manager of the Nuggets, Arturas Karnisovas, reached out with a firm commitment. “Tell him to stay in the draft,” Lotsos recalled of the conversation. “We are giving him a guarantee, a promise that we will select him.”
Despite additional outreach from Nikola Jokic and head coach Mike Malone, the reigning EuroLeague MVP opted to withdraw from the annual NBA draft, a decision he would eventually lament once sidelined in Sacramento. “You know what? You were right,” the player admitted to his agent. “I should have gone when you told me to, and I didn’t listen.”
When the 30-year-old power forward finally joined the Sacramento Kings in 2023, following a draft path that saw his rights start from the Brooklyn Nets and later reach California, the emotional disconnect was already present. Lotsos maintains that the move happened at the wrong time, describing a player who felt pressured by external expectations rather than personal conviction.
“He went there because everyone was telling him he had to go,” the agent explained. “His heart was here.”
This lack of internal drive was compounded by a perceived absence of support from Mike Brown. While the Kings‘ front office conducted multiple scouting missions to Greece, Lotsos remained skeptical of the head coach’s interest, suggesting that “everyone else wanted him except for Brown.” The agent believes the lack of a true advocate in the coaching staff directly resulted in Europe’s Larry Bird, as he dubbed him, failing to secure consistent playing time.
Upon his exit from the NBA in the summer of 2024, the landscape in Greece shifted into a momentous pursuit between the country’s basketball giants. As Vezenkov prepared to leave the Toronto Raptors following a trade from Sacramento, Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos made a bold, personal play for his services.
“You know, there’s one player I want from you, and that is Vezenkov,” Giannakopoulos told the agent in a direct message.
Despite this aggressive pursuit, the star forward ultimately chose a homecoming with Olympiacos, closing a chapter of what might have been had the timing across the Atlantic been different.