By Stefan Djordjevic / sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
The availability of the NBA stars to their respective national teams has always been rather questionable and that is especially the case when the team goes deep into the playoffs or the player doesn’t have his contract status taken care of.
Nemanja Bjelica will be in a peculiar situation this summer as his obligations towards the Miami Heat ended after the team got swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
According to Mozzart Sport, however, the Serbian star will travel to Belgrade soon and will without a doubt make himself available to coach Igor Kokoskov for the summer and the Olympic qualifiers.
It is an important commitment by an NBA star for the Serbian squad as three of their other NBAers have a chance to go deep into the playoffs – Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jokic, Boban Marjanovic.
Serbia will play as the host (in Belgrade) in the qualifying tournament in Group A with the Dominican Republic and the Philippines while, in Group B, await Italy, Puerto Rico, and Senegal.