By Johnny Askounis, Aris Barkas/ barkas@Eurohoops.net
With NBA free agents coming and going since the opening of the free agency period on Friday, Nemanja Bjelica is heading in a different direction and back into familiar territory.
Bjelica, 34, has reached an agreement with Fenerbahce Beko on a two-year contract and a total salary of $4M net, according to Eurohoops sources. Despite attracting interest from NBA teams as an unrestricted free agent, he is set to ink a two-year contract with Fener.
The agreement with Fenerbahce was first reported by Turkish journalist Ugur Ozan Sulak.
The Serbian big man played for the Turkish giant from 2013 to 2015, before moving his talents across the Atlantic to the NBA. His departure was a couple of years prior to Fener going all the way and winning the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for the first time in team history, in 2017. However, he was named EuroLeague MVP in 2015 and was also crowned domestic league champion in 2014, during the two-year run. Other former teams in Europe include Caja Laboral/Laboral Kutxa/Baskonia and Crvena Zvezda mts.
The biggest achievement of his NBA career was helping the Golden State Warriors win the championship outlasting the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals. He averaged 2.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game in the Playoffs adding on the 6.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest in the 2021-22 Regular Season.
Previously a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, and Miami Heat, Bjelica drew 471 games played in the NBA generating 7.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per contest over the seven seasons.
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