Vasiljevic Eyes NBA Deal, Won't Forget Sydney

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Departing Sydney guard DJ Vasiljevic believes "the time is now" to kickstart his NBA aspirations.

Sydney sharpshooter DJ Vasiljevic has exercised the NBA/European out clause in his Kings contract and, as a result, the two-time reigning champions are likely to head into NBL24 with a completely different starting lineup to last season.

While returns for any of import trio Justin Simon, Tim Soares and Derrick Walton Jr have not been ruled out, it can be presumed that new signing Jonah Bolden is likely to start at centre in place of Soares, while DJ Hogg or Alex Toohey will start at small forward in place of Simon.

Vasiljevic is set to link up with former Kings teammate and reigning league MVP Xavier Cooks with the Washington Wizards at NBA Summer League, and he told ESPN that now is the time to make his NBA push.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Two-time NBL champion DJ Vasiljevic will not be returning to the <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL24?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL24</a>. <br><br>Read more: <a href="https://t.co/nsUcB174LA">https://t.co/nsUcB174LA</a> <a href="https://t.co/ooX1w5RXWe">pic.twitter.com/ooX1w5RXWe</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1674570423743438850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I’m trying to push hard to get this two-way contract in the United States,” Vasiljevic said. “If not, there are a lot of teams asking for my services.

"The time is now, the opportunity is there.

“This isn’t saying goodbye to the Sydney Kings. I had in depth discussions with Chris Pongrass and Luc Longley straight after the finals about the opportunities. They supported it.

“They said the door will always be open at the Kings, and I’ve told them if I ever return to the NBL it’s only going to be for one team – and that’s the Sydney Kings.”

Vasiljevic’s upcoming stint with the Wizards will not be his first foray into the world of the Summer League. He joined the Phoenix Suns for the tournament ahead of last season.

He says he’s far more prepared to make the most of the opportunity this time around.

“It’s so much different to last year where I finished the NBL in May, played NBL1 and all of a sudden I was on the Phoenix roster for Summer League,” Vasiljevic said.

“I got the phone call around 10 days ago, Washington was interested in bringing me in for a free agent workout.

“I got [to Washington] on Sunday, first workout was 7am on Monday, we went through physicals, the whole gym procedure, meet the coaching staff and then, bang, next thing you know we were into it.

“The last two days have felt like I was in a different zone. I left knowing I gave everything I could.

“They asked if I had other opportunities and I did, but I wanted to play somewhere I was wanted – and I feel like I’m wanted here – it was a great vibe overall.”

For the full story head to >> “Inseparable” Vasiljevic and Cooks united again at Wizards.