Filip Petrusev has been very active during the summer as he was part of the Philadelphia 76ers Summer League roster a month, while he’s preparing for the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers and the EuroBasket.
The promising big, who was selected with the 50th overall pick by the Sixers, spoke on the possibility of joining the 76ers at some point, while relayed on the reason he signed with EuroLeague side Crvena Zvezda this summer.
“I considered my options and picked the team with the best possible conditions for development,” Petrusev said of his free agency decision (h/t Hoopsrumors). “That is why I signed with Crvena Zvezda.”
After a disappointing individual season with EuroLeague champions Efes, where the young Serbian received limited time on court, Petrusev hopes to develop in Crvena Zvezda on a bigger role for him.
“I went to the Summer League with Philadelphia, the team that drafted me,” Petrusev said. “Being there, talking to everyone. They have a plan for me and everything is going according to that plan.”
The Serbian big had shown some promise, winning the ABA MVP award during the 2020-21 season. However, the EuroLeague and the Turkish Basket League was a different story. Petrusev could have the chance to be part of the Serbia NT in EuroBasket this season.
As of now, he has the chance to work alongside elite level players like two-times MVP Nikola Jokic and EuroLeague superstar Nikola Milutivov. Serbia will take on Greece (August 25) and Turkey (August 28) in the first two games of the second round of the FIBA WCQ.
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 of the preliminary stage.