Dual-championship-winning guard Dejan Vasiljevic has left the Sydney Kings to explore overseas options, forcing the Kings to reconfigure their backcourt on the hunt for an NBL three-peat.
Vasiljevic was the Kings' shooting guard in back-to-back titles under coach Chase Buford and had been contracted through to the end of this season, with a mutual option for another year.
But the 190cm-tall 26-year-old had a clause in his contract permitting him to explore avenues in Europe or the NBA, and needed to trigger it by June 30.
Vasiljevic will play in the NBA Summer League with the Washington Wizards, who signed Kings forward Xavier Cooks to a fully-fledged deal in March, and is yet to publicly announce his next move after that tournament finishes in mid-July.
"It was a difficult decision to exercise the option but when you have won two championships at my age, an opportunity overseas is hard to pass up on," Vasiljevic said.
"I had a long and in-depth conversation with (Kings CEO) Chris Pongrass and (co-owner) Luc Longley and they fully supported the decision as they want me to achieve my goals.
"When you've got people like that pushing you to go and explore these opportunities, along with my family being from Europe, it's hard to pass up on the opportunity."
Vasiljevic was co-pilot in the backcourt during the Kings' back-to-back titles, first to MVP-winning import Jaylen Adams, and then to Adams' fellow American Derrick Walton Jr.
His departure follows those of Buford and Cooks and makes the Kings' search for depth in the backcourt all the more urgent.
New Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah had already been set to sign an overseas guard for one of the remaining two import spots on his roster.
Local guards Angus Glover and Shaun Bruce are contracted for the 2023/24 season.
Vasiljevic had been in contention for NBL rookie of the year honours before rupturing his Achilles tendon in his first of three seasons with the Kings.
But the Canadian-born guard bounced back to full strength and was a crucial cog in the Kings' championship-winning machine, particularly for his shooting from deep.
The Boomers representative averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists across his 88 games.
"This isn't a goodbye forever but a see you later to the hoops capital of Australian basketball," Vasiljevic said.
