Alen Smailagić
Serbian basketball player (born 2000)
 Smailagić with Partizan in 2023 | |
| No. 9 – Partizan Mozzart Bet | |
|---|---|
| Position | Center / Power forward |
| League | Basketball League of Serbia ABA League EuroLeague |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (2000-08-18) 18 August 2000 (age 23) Belgrade, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Serbian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 2019: 2nd round, 39th overall pick |
| Selected by the New Orleans Pelicans | |
| Playing career | 2017–present |
| Career history | |
| 2017–2018 | Beko |
| 2018–2019 | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| 2019–2021 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2019–2021 | → Santa Cruz Warriors |
| 2021–present | Partizan |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats  at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Alen Smailagić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ален Смаилагић; born 18 August 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League 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–present)
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.
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.[15]
Career statistics
| 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 |
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 | |
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 | |
Personal life
Smailagić's father comes from Dubovo, while his mother comes from Lipica, with both places being located in Tutin, in southwestern Serbia.[16]
See also
References
- ^ "2019 NBA Draft Profile: Alen Smailagic". stats.nba.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Focus on: Alen Smailagić". serbiahoop.com. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ "Alen Smailagic Is The Warriors' Draft Target They Don't Want You To Know About... Yet". forbes.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ "Alen Smailagic G-League Stats". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "2019 NBA Draft Grades: Pick-by-pick evaluations for every first- and second-round selection". cbssports.com. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ "Warriors Acquire Draft Rights to Alen Smailagić from New Orleans". NBA.com. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ "Pelicans complete trade with Golden State". NBA.com. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ^ "Warriors Sign Jordan Poole, Eric Paschall, and Alen Smailagic". nba.com. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ "Alen Smailagic debuts as Warriors' furious rally gives them fourth straight win". knbr.com. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Warriors Waive Forward Alen Smailagić". NBA.com. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Smailagić u Partizanu!". b92.net. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "Alen Smailagic moves to Partizan". eurohoops.net. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ "PARTIZAN MOZZART BET ARE 2022/23 ADMIRALBET ABA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS". aba-liga.com. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "2016 Serbia 11 - Alen Smailagic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ Miletić, Aleksandar. "Iz centra Koteža u krem NBA lige". Politika Online. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
External links
- Alen Smailagić at aba-liga.com
- Alen Smailagić at eurobasket.com
- Alen Smailagić at euroleaguebasketball.net
- Alen Smailagić at gleague.nba.com
- Alen Smailagić at realgm.com
- Alen Smailagić on Instagram
