Alen Smailagić

Alen Smailagić
Smailagić with Partizan in 2023
No. 18 – Žalgiris Kaunas
PositionPower forward / center
LeagueLKL
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (2000-08-18) 18 August 2000 (age 24)
Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2019: 2nd round, 39th overall pick
Selected by the New Orleans Pelicans
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017–2018Beko
2018–2019Santa Cruz Warriors
2019–2021Golden State Warriors
2019–2021→Santa Cruz Warriors
2021–2024Partizan
2024–presentŽalgiris Kaunas
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Alen Smailagić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ален Смаилагић; born 18 August 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.

Smailagić was the youngest player in history to play in the NBA G League.[1][2]

Early career

Smailagić was born in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia).

Smailagić started to play basketball with his hometown club Beko. In 2012, he joined their youth system. In the 2017–18 season, Smailagić played for Beko in the Junior Serbian League and averaged 21.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game over 19 games.[3] He was named the Junior Serbian League MVP.

Professional career

Beko (2017–2018)

Smailagić made his senior debut for Beko of the semi-professional 3rd-tier Serbian Regional League in the 2017–18 season. Over ten league games, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.[3][2]

Santa Cruz Warriors (2018–2019)

On 20 October 2018, Smailagić was selected as the 4th pick on the 2018 NBA G League draft by the South Bay Lakers, but he was traded right away to the Golden State Warriors-affiliated Santa Cruz Warriors, which makes him the youngest player in the history of the NBA G League.[4] Smailagić made his debut for the Warriors on 3 November 2018, scoring 3 points in 7 minutes he spent on the court.[2] Over 47 league games, he averaged 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.[5]

Golden State Warriors (2019–2021)

Smailagić was drafted as the 39th pick of the 2019 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans.[6] He is the third international player drafted into the NBA from the NBA G League, joining Greek forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Nigerian center Chukwudiebere Maduabum, and the seventh overall to play in the NBA's official minor league before being drafted by an NBA team. Smailagić was then traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to two future second-round picks along with cash considerations.[7][8] Smailagić officially signed a multi-year contract with the Warriors on 11 July 2019.[9] Smailagić made his regular-season debut on 27 December 2019, recording 4 points and a rebound in a 105–96 win over the Phoenix Suns.[10]

On 4 August 2021, the Warriors waived Smailagić. He appeared in 29 games (one start) over two seasons with Golden State, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game.[11]

Partizan (2021–2024)

On August 6, 2021, Smailagić officially signed a three-year deal with his hometown club Partizan, under head coach Željko Obradović.[12][13] During the 2022–23 season, Smailagić for the first time played in EuroLeague where Partizan was eliminated from the Real Madrid in tight playoffs series. Over the season, Smailagić averaged 5.4 points and 2 rebounds per game. Partizan ended the 2022–23 season by lifting the ABA League championship trophy, after 3–2 score against Crvena zvezda in the Finals series.[14]

Over 2023–24 season, Smailagić averaged 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 31 EuroLeague games. The season was deemed to be unsuccessful for Partizan as they finished the season without lifting any trophy.[15]

Žalgiris (2024–present)

On 28 June 2024, Smailagić signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.[16]

National team career

Smailagić was a member of the Serbian under-16 national team that competed at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Radom, Poland. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.[17]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Golden State 14 0 9.9 .500 .231 .842 1.9 .9 .2 .3 4.2
2020–21 Golden State 15 1 5.6 .407 .400 .333 1.1 .3 .2 .3 1.9
Career 29 1 7.7 .463 .304 .720 1.5 .6 .2 .3 3.0

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2022–23 Partizan 30 13 10.7 .555 .465 .629 2.0 .4 .5 .4 5.4 5.0
2023–24 31 11 15.9 .598 .462 .737 2.2 .6 .6 .4 5.5 6.3
Career 61 24 13.3 .577 .464 .684 2.1 .5 .6 .4 5.5 5.7

EuroCup

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2021–22 Partizan 15 8 22.5 .440 .314 .744 4.9 1.2 1.0 .7 7.8 10.2
Career 15 8 22.5 .440 .314 .744 4.9 1.2 1.0 .7 7.8 10.2

Domestic leagues

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 United States Santa Cruz Warriors G League 47 17.4 .495 .244 .659 4.0 1.0 .9 .9 9.1
2019–20 United States Santa Cruz Warriors G League 19 25.9 .512 .341 .585 6.2 1.4 1.0 .8 15.2
2020–21 United States Santa Cruz Warriors G League 10 17.0 .517 .150 .667 4.4 1.5 .4 .8 7.5
2021–22 Serbia Partizan ABA 30 19.2 .558 .295 .774 4.3 1.1 .8 .5 8.1
2022–23 Serbia Partizan ABA 29 16.5 .626 .460 .697 3.3 .8 1.0 .7 9.1
2023–24 Serbia Partizan KLS 4 14.4 .500 .667 .750 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.5 4.0
2023–24 Serbia Partizan ABA 31 16.6 .512 .304 .705 2.5 1.1 .6 .3 5.5

Personal life

Smailagić's father comes from Dubovo, while his mother comes from Lipica, with both places being located in Tutin, in southwestern Serbia.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "2019 NBA Draft Profile: Alen Smailagic". stats.nba.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Golden State Warriors: Analyzing Alen Smailagić, the newest G-League addition". bluemanhoop.com. November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Focus on: Alen Smailagić". serbiahoop.com. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Alen Smailagic Is The Warriors' Draft Target They Don't Want You To Know About... Yet". forbes.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Alen Smailagic G-League Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. ^ "2019 NBA Draft Grades: Pick-by-pick evaluations for every first- and second-round selection". cbssports.com. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Warriors Acquire Draft Rights to Alen Smailagić from New Orleans". NBA.com. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Pelicans complete trade with Golden State". NBA.com. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Warriors Sign Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall, and Alen Smailagic". nba.com. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Alen Smailagic debuts as Warriors' furious rally gives them fourth straight win". knbr.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Warriors Waive Forward Alen Smailagić". NBA.com. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Smailagić u Partizanu!". b92.net. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Alen Smailagic moves to Partizan". eurohoops.net. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  14. ^ "PARTIZAN MOZZART BET ARE 2022/23 ADMIRALBET ABA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS". aba-liga.com. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Očekuje nas burno leto u Partizanu – ko ostaje, a ko odlazi?" (in Serbian). 6 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Zalgiris lands explosive big man Alen Smailagic". EuroLeague. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  17. ^ "2016 Serbia 11 - Alen Smailagic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  18. ^ Miletić, Aleksandar. "Iz centra Koteža u krem NBA lige". Politika Online. Retrieved 21 November 2021.