By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet bid farewell to Montenegrin point guard Nikola Ivanovic on Saturday. VTB United League’s Runa announced his arrival on Friday.
Ivanovic, 29, is a veteran of 54 appearances in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, including 46 as a member of Crvena Zvezda the last two seasons. However, in 2023-24 he will instead focus on the VTB.
The spell with the Belgrade outfit produced two Admiral Bet Basketball League of Serbia championships, two Triglav osiguranje Radivoj Korac Cups, and one AdmiralBet ABA League.
Making his way to 19 games of the 2022-23 edition of EuroLeague, he averaged 4.9 points, 1.9 assists, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per contest. Also, he tallied 5.9 points, 2.7 assists, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.7 steals per ABA game over 21 appearances.
The Podgorica native became the eighth player leaving Crvena Zvezda en route to a new team. Earlier in the offseason, Ben Bentil opted for the Gunma Crane Thunders, Facundo Campazzo reunited with Real Madrid, Ognjen Dobric switched to Virtus Segafredo Bologna, John Holland landed at Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, Hassan Martin joined Shimane Susanoo, Filip Petrusev was picked up by the Philadelphia 76ers, and Luca Vildoza went to Panathinaikos.
Moving from Belgrade to Moscow, his new side is among the new additions to the VTB with 14 teams preparing for the next season. Entering the league, Runa will take on Avtodor, Astana, CSKA, Enisey, Lokomotiv Kuban, MBA, Minsk, Pari Nizhny Novgorod, Parma-Pari, Samara, UNICS, Uralmash, and Zenit.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net