According to Keith Smith of Yahoo! Sports, Serbian center and San Antonio Spurs 2015 draftee Nikola Milutinov will reportedly sign a 3-year deal with CSKA Moscow.
Nikola Miluntinov, whose NBA draft rights are maintained by the San Antonio Spurs, is signing a three-year contract with CSKA Moscow in Russia. The 25-year old Milutinov is a native of Serbia and was drafted in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft by San Antonio.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 11, 2020
Milutinov was drafted by the Spurs back in the 2015 NBA draft with the 26th pick in the first round, which means he’s had a first round cap hit carry over year after year until he informs the NBA he’s not signing each season in the NBA.
Milutinov has made Greece his home over the last 5 years, spending the last five seasons playing with Olympiacos Piraeus.
The Serbian center has become one of the better prospects overseas who has not come to the NBA. This season, he was averaging 10.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 0.2 blocks in 24.4 minutes per game in the Euroleague.
We don’t know yet if Milutinov’s new contract with CSKA will have a contract clause to go to the NBA in any of the 3 seasons, but, with Milutinov continuing to get older, it seems his chances of coming to the NBA will be dwindling even more.
For the Spurs, with Milutinov staying overseas this offseason, it appears they’ll need to really work on trying to re-sign their current traditional center in Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl will be a restricted free agent this offseason, giving San Antonio the right to match any offer sheet he signs from another team.
