{"id":126736,"date":"2025-03-03T15:53:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T20:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=126736"},"modified":"2025-03-03T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T20:53:26","slug":"vasilije-micic-euroleague","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/03\/vasilije-micic-euroleague\/","title":{"rendered":"Suns Guard Can Become Highest-Paid EuroLeague Player"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vasilije Micic<\/a> has been in the NBA for two years. But it seems like the former MVP of the EuroLeague might be heading back to Europe. While he has a contract with the Phoenix Suns for one more season, there are rumors that teams across the Atlantic would love to get him on their team.<\/p>\n

Suns Guard Can Become Highest-Paid EuroLeague Player<\/h2>\n

One team that is serious about getting the former EuroLeague MVP is Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv. The team turned heads by adding high-profile names to the roster in the offseason. Now, club owner Ofer Yannay<\/a> said that they want to bring back one of the best players in EuroLeague history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an ongoing process. I\u2019ve been pursuing him for a month and a half. He misses the passion of European basketball and the camaraderie of a fighting unit. He\u2019s grown tired of the NBA routine and loves the story of Hapoel.\u201d<\/p>\n

If such a thing were to happen, Yannay plans to make Micic the highest-paid player in the league. Currently, that title<\/a> belongs to Sasha Vezenkov<\/a>, another player who came back to Europe after a short NBA stint. He earns $4.1 million for playing for Olympiacos. The Hapoel owner said,<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to sign him for next season. I told him I\u2019d make him the highest-paid player in Europe. No one else will offer him $5 million, but I\u2019m ready. That\u2019s the kind of deal you break the bank for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does Vasilije Micic Want To Go Back?<\/h3>\n

Micic is a two-time EuroLeague champion and a former MVP. He began his career last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder but was later traded to the Charlotte Hornets, where he got significant playing time. At this deadline, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Micic’s averages for the 2024-25 season are 7.3 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Before coming to the NBA, he averaged 16 points, 5.4 points, and 3.2 rebounds for Anadolu Efes in 32 minutes per game. Recently, Micic<\/a> talked about his will to continue playing in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I never considered going back to Europe. As long as I have a contract in the NBA. The reason I came (to the NBA) was definitely for my own challenge, coming out of the comfort zone. As long as I have an NBA contract, I’ll be 100% dedicated to this.”<\/p>\n

Vasilije Micic, the Highest-Paid Player in the EuroLeague?<\/h3>\n

Vasilije has a team option for next season at $8.1 million. That is a lot more than what Hapoel can offer him but it’s also likely above his NBA market value. This season, he will earn $7.7 million. Currently, the highest-paid player in Europe is Sasha Vezenkov, earning $4.1 million for Olympiacos.<\/p>\n

Two other former NBA players round up the top three. Shane Larkin<\/a> earns $3.75 million playing for Anadolu Efes, and Mike James<\/a> earns $3 million playing for Monaco.<\/p>\n

Micic will be 31 years old before next season. The problem is right now, the Suns are a complete mess. There are rumors they are trying to trade<\/a> Kevin Durant<\/a> in the offseason. Whether they decide to go into a complete rebuild<\/a> or pivot, nobody knows. However, that might leave Micic hanging on and waiting to see what they decide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vasilije Micic has been in the NBA for two years. But it seems like the former MVP of the EuroLeague might be heading back to Europe. While he has a contract with the Phoenix Suns for one more season, there are rumors that teams across the Atlantic would love to get him on their team. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":126752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,28],"tags":[1721,69,49356],"class_list":["post-126736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-suns","tag-euroleague","tag-kevin-durant","tag-vasilije-micic"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126736"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126753,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126736\/revisions\/126753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}