By Vaggelis Ioannou/ info@eurohoops.net
Hours after announcing its new head coach, Barcelona also got its new star.
After being named ABA League Finals MVP and being inserted in the All-EuroLeague Second Team, Kevin Punter won’t play anymore for Partizan Belgrade under Zeljko Obradovic. The University of Tennesse product and seven-year veteran in Europe, in fact, will join Barcelona in the 2023-24 EuroLeague, signing a two-year deal for six million euros gross, having a net salary of 4,2.
In his second season with Partizan, the first as the team’s captain, the 30-year-old shooting guard was a crucial asset in the black-and-white team run in the EuroLeague, getting to the Playoffs and being inches away from eliminating the then champions of Real Madrid.
He averaged 16.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 49.1% from two, 44.3% from beyond the arc, and 91.7% at the line per game between the Regular Season and the Playoffs this year in the International competition.
He then stepped up to drag Partizan Belgrade to its 7th ABA League title, averaging 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. In the decisive Game 5 of the ABA League Finals against Kevin Punter’s former team and Partizan Belgrade’s eternal rivals of Crvena Zvezda, he had 32 points.
Before playing in Serbia for the second time in his career, Kevin Punter wore the jerseys of Lavrio, Antwerp, Rosa Radom, AEK Athens, Virtus Bologna, Olympiacos, Crvena Zvezda, and Olimpia Milan. He won twice the Basketball Champions League but never managed to lift up the EuroLeague trophy at a Final Four: he will try to do so next year with Barça.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague