Kevin Punter joined FC Barcelona on a one-year deal as the Catalans announced Wednesday. Punter who was a free agent after parting ways with KK Partizan, joins the Spaniards with hope of leading them to glory.
Punter is the first signing of the 2024/25 season for FC Barcelona. The Catalans announced the hiring of Joan Penarroya a few days earlier and began to build for the next season after a disappointing ending to the 2023/24 season.
“I really want to be in Barcelona, I am very excited about next season and I hope to do my best . See you soon and Força Barça!” Punter said in his first statement as part of his new team.
The American guard is coming from a strong three-year stint with KK Partizan. Last summer, he was once again close to a move to the Spanish giants but he decided to stay in Belgrade.
This offseason, he opted to leave the club as the Serbian are set to refurbish their roster after missing the EuroLeague playoffs. The combo guard will turn 31 on June 25 and he will join the rest of the star-studded Barca roster which includes Jabari Parker, Willy Hernagomez, Jan Vesely and Tomas Satoransky.
From Bronx to the region of Catalonia: Punter hopes to become a leader for FC Barcelona
Starting his basketball career at the University of Tennessee, the Bronx, New York born and raised guard spent time in various different countries around Europe before arriving in Spain for FC Barcelona. He started his professional career in Greece playing for Greek club Lavrio in his first season in Europe.
He moved up in the ranks having stints in Belgium, Poland, Greece again and then Italy where he made his breakthrough with Virtus Bologna. He then joined Olympiacos to make his debut in the EuroLeague before moving to Crvena Zvezda, Olimpia Milano and finally Partizan.
In the Black and White Punter had his best seasons of his career providing MVP-type of play under EuroLeague coaching mogul Zeljko Obradovic. In his last two seasons in the EuroLeague, the American shooting guard played a total of 65 EuroLeague games, with an average of 15.6 points.
