Serbia has trimmed its roster for the upcoming Basketball World Cup Qualifiers and EuroBasket to 20 players.
As revealed by the head coach of Serbia, Svetislav Pesic, Nikola Jovic and Aleksej Pkusevski will not be part of the roster moving forward.
“For [Aleksej] Pokusevski and [Nikola] Jovic, we did not get permission from their teams. The teams want the players to work there and get ready for the new season,” Pesic told media on Wednesday.
Pokusevski has been playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2020, while Jovic was selected by the Miami Heat with the 27th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
🇷🇸 Srbija počela pripreme za nove izazove: Slede kvalifikacije za @FIBAWC a potom i @EuroBasket
🔗 https://t.co/MBH1EpASNG#FIBAWC #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/tMND401DEG
— Košarkaški savez SRB (@KSSrbije) August 3, 2022
The 20 players that will continue their preparation for the EuroBasket are as follows:
Aleksa Avramovic, Nemanja Bjelica, Dejan Davidovac, Ognjen Dobric, Marko Guduric, Marko Jagodic-Kuriza, Ognjen Jaramaz, Nikola Jokic, Nikola Kalinic, Balsa Koprivica, Vladimir Lucic, Vanja Marinkovic, Vasilije Micic, Nikola Milutinov, Nemanja Nedovic, Filip Petrusev, Dusan Ristić, Borisa Simanić, Alen Smailagic and Milos Teodosic.
Serbia will take on Greece (August 25) and Turkey (August 28) in the first two games of the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers.
They will then travel to Prague for the group stage of the EuroBasket. They will face the Netherlands, Finland, Poland, Israel and the Czech Republic in Group D.