A referenced player in Europe, Kevin Punter is one of the best scorers in the Euroleague, averaging 16.1 points this season in the most prestigious European competition, with Partizan Belgrade.
Enough to arouse the interest of FC Barcelona, which he almost joined before signing a new two-year contract in Serbia, but also of the Raptors, who approached him this summer…
But the one that some compare to a reduced version (1m93) of Kevin Durant lacked certainties.
“We talked a lot with the Raptors. I thought there was an opportunity. We’ve been speaking with them for a while now, so I thought it was possible I’d go to Toronto.”revealed Kevin Punter to Donatas Urbonas and Errick McCollum. “But it didn’t work. Obviously, it is a question of playing with the different levers. You can’t leave too much control to the NBA because the NBA is going to use it.”
Not enough certainty
With his experience in Europe, where he has been playing since he was not drafted in 2016, even receiving a Serbian passport, Kevin Punter was an interesting target for the Raptors and their new coach, the Serbian Darko Rajakovic.
The problem is that Toronto didn’t seem to want to offer him a fully guaranteed contract.
“It wasn’t about the coach. Honestly, Europe played a role, but I was just worried about the role: ‘Where do you see me in your team? Should I come before camp? If I have to come before camp, does that guarantee me a minimum wage? Is this an unsecured contract?’ » he thus sums up his questions.
Now a major player in Europe, and captain at Partizan Belgrade, Kevin Punter obviously did not want to experience the uncertainty of a training camp in Toronto with an unsecured contract…
“I was just trying to find out if the offer was real or not. Often in the NBA, it’s virtual. They give you an unsecured contract and say, ‘If it works, that’s cool. If not, you leave. For me, this situation was real, but you have to know how to walk the talk. So here I am back in Europe. »
