By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Forced to the sidelines with a calf injury for most of the 2022-23 season, Nemanja Bjelica looking to potentially bounce back seems to prompt a return to Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet.
Bjelica, 35, will be joining the training camp of the team based in Belgrade, according to Serbian outlet Meridian Sport.
Early in his career, his first stint at Crvena Zvezda lasted from 2008 to 2010. Productive displays earned him a spot in the 2010 NBA draft as the Washington Wizards selected him with the 35th pick and traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
After helping the Golden State Warriors win the NBA championship in 2022, he inked a two-year contract with Fenerbahce Beko. The deal runs through the 2023-24 season, but he is not part of the plan for the team coached by Greek tactician Dimitris Itoudis, as officially clarified by team GM Derya Yannier.
In 2022-23, Bjelica was limited to seven games played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, upping his total to 109, including the previous two-year spell at Fener from 2013 to 2015 and playing for Caja Laboral / Laboral Kutxa between 2010 and 2013. He averaged 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest, coming off the bench in all appearances. At the domestic level, he logged only one appearance in Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi.
Switching from Europe to the NBA, his run produced 471 games played between the Warriors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, and Timberwolves from 2015 to 2022.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL