By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
Malaga lost Jayson Granger from the perimeter and Joan Plaza wanted to replace him with someone who, in terms of the way he plays, is more like Zoran Dragic. And he found him in Nemanja Nedovic, whose story unfolded like a soap opera.
His career
He’s only 24 years old but he has already managed to do so many things in his career. Nemanja Nedovic comes from a sporting family. His father was a handball player and that’s how he made his first steps in the Italian Ascoli when he was 11. He returned to Serbia and from the age of 15 he developed his talent in Crvena Zvezda. At the age of 21 in 2012 he decided take the big step but he didn’t go to a rich team. He chose Lietuvos Rytas and he completed his first year at the top level of the Euroleague as a protagonist, as the Lithuanian team allowed him enough room for him to develop his talent and he did just fine.
The following summer he was selected by the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors acquired his buying rights and he made the decision to play in the NBA immediately. He didn’t find any room among this year’s champions and so he played in just 24 games without a lot of participation time. He was confined to the NBDL and he didn’t like that situation at all. In the summer he didn’t play with the Serbian national team in the Mundobasket and this year’s season started similarly. He asked to leave, and this was what happened. Valencia acquired him with a three-year contract, but after a few months released him for him to end up in Malaga.
Prediction: Point guard or combo guard?
Nedovic is one of those players that stand out for their talent but have a hard time, by nature, getting into certain playing “molds.” He’s quite effective in a free style of basketball on the open court. He has an explosiveness that he can exploit in fast breaks or in 1v1 situations. He’s a relatively reliable scorer from mid- and long-range, while he can create plays for himself. Also, he can drive the ball really well in order to create rifts in the opponent’s paint.
However, the crucial question regarding whether his term in Malaga will be successful, but also his career in general, is whether he is considered a point guard or a backcourt player. So far he hasn’t shown consistency or adaptability in 5v5 situations in offense. Plaza chose him as a substitute for Granger with the goal of bringing to the team what Dragic brought a year ago. However, based on what Nemanja Nedovic has shown, he can be excellent in formations with a creative guard on his side, while he can throw his teammates as well as himself in a situation where he will have to guide the team in offensive set pieces. In any case, he’s still 24 years old and has his whole future ahead of him in order to further refine his game. And Plaza can definitely help him in that direction.