This morning, the most significant signing of the summer in Russian basketball happened: Alexey Shved returned to CSKA and signed a 1-year agreement with the Army team with the possibility of extending it for another 1 season.
But there are at least 9 strong Russian basketball players on a free agent market who would not get lost in the VTB League. Who are they? We are going to tell you:
Timofey Mozgov
Center, 35 years old
Teams during career: Khimki, New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic
Previous team: Khimki (6 games, 8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
TiMo is another Russian basketball player who continued his career at Khimki after returning from the NBA. However, more than 3 years passed between his last game in the NBA and the first game for the Moscow Region team – the center was recovering from a knee injury for a long time. In fact, Mozgov was supposed to play for Khimki back in the 2019/20 season, but his appearance on the court was postponed due to injury.
As a result, Timofey still managed to play for national team, whose colors he wore back in the late 2000s. Even during the 2011 NBA lockout, he specially came to help Khimki in the VTB League. In the 2020/21 season, Mozgov spent 6 games in the United League, and with each game, he acted more and more successfully. In the regular season game with Avtodor, center was close to a double-double (9 points + 8 rebounds), and in the playoff game against Loko, he scored 15 points and made 4 steals, becoming the second most effective player of his team after Anton Ponkrashov.
TiMo is unlikely to want to play in the SuperLeague-1 and will try to find a new team – if he plans to continue his career, of course.
Vitaly Fridzon
Guard, 35 years old
Teams during career: Standart, Khimki, CSKA, Lokomotiv-Kuban, Zenit
Previous team: Zenit (30 games, 4.2 points with 46% three-pointers, 1.5 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
After leaving CSKA in 2018, Fridzon managed to restart his career at Loko, and last summer he surprised everyone by signing a contract with Zenit. Guard did not become one of the key players in the rotation of Xavi Pascual, but definitely helped the team with his main weapon, hitting 46% of three-pointers.
Now the two-time All-Star Game three-point contest winner has again become a free agent, but he is not in a hurry to choose a new club yet.
In his United League career, there are exclusively top clubs: Khimki and CSKA-with whom he became the League champion, Loko-from which he went to two All-Star Games, and Zenit-which he helped to win the regular season for the first time. Vitaly did not play only for UNICS. Of course, it is unlikely that the sniper will move to Kazan, which has already signed Artem Komolov from NN for this position.
Nevertheless, Vitaly and his revolvers can still help one of the VTB League teams. The question is whether the 35-year-old guard himself is going to continue his career and whether he is ready to lower the level after playing in the Euroleague team. By the way, Fridzon is the leader of the United League in the number of games played (294) and can become the first basketball player to cross the 300-game mark in the League history.
Sergey Monia
Forward, 38 years old
Teams during career: Avtodor, CSKA, Portland Trailblazers, Sacramento Kings, Dynamo Moscow, Khimki
Previous team: Khimki (20 games, 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
During his 21-year career, Monia played for Avtodor and Dynamo Moscow, went to the NBA and became the Russian league champion with CSKA… But can someone imagine Captain Russia not in the Khimki jersey? The forward spent 11 seasons in the Moscow region club. In fact, he has played his entire career in the United League in one team.
And even despite his age (Monia was the oldest player in the VTB League in the 2020/21 season), he remained an important rotation player in the team at the playoff level of the tournament.
Now Khimki is missing a season in the VTB League, and Monia has a serious choice: where to play next? It is obvious that the forward is able to help both on the court, in the locker room, and in training, where he would be especially useful as a mentor for young players.
Who will sign a contract with Captain Russia in the end? Maybe, he will return to Avtodor where he started his professional career? Saratov team are not too active in the transfer market and have a lot of space in the roster. Or maybe he will move to Enisey ,where there will be a lot of young players next year? Is the transfer to Loko real? It remains only to wait for the decision of the player himself.
Anton Ponkrashov
Guard, 35 years old
Teams during career: Pulkovo, Konti, Spartak Saint-Petersburg, CSKA, Khimki, Krasnye Krylia, Lokomotiv-Kuban, Krasny Oktyabr, UNICS, Zenit, Khimki
Previous team: Khimki (14 games, 5.2 points with 44.4% three-pointers, 3.1 assists, 3.0 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
Ponkrashov is the VTB League record holder for the number of clubs. Point guard managed to play for CSKA, Krasnye Krylia, Lokomotiv-Kuban, UNICS, Krasny Oktyabr, Zenit and even for Khimki.
But there is a chance that the list will end there – Anton has been interested in 3×3 basketball and even claimed to go to the Olympics as part of the Russian national team. Will he be able to combine these two sports, or will he finally go to 3×3?
Anyway, it’s nice to watch Ponkrashov play on the court – he knows how to create:
Vladislav Trushkin
Forward, 28 years old
Teams during career: Sparta and K, Dynamo Moscow, Spartak-Primorye, Enisey, UNICS, Zenit
Previous team: Zenit (25 games, 3.7 points with 41.5% 3-point, 2.4 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
Trushkin should not have been on this list: in the offseason, the forward safely moved from Zenit to Loko, came to the training camp…and was waived by Lokomotiv-Kuban.
The club said that Vladislav did not pass a medical examination. But the Krasnodar team broke up with Trushkin strangely: “We are forced to terminate the contract, but perhaps we are not saying goodbye.”
It’s all about the player’s shoulder injury. According to Trushkin’s side, the recovery after the operation should take another month, but the club apparently did not agree with these terms.
That’s how suddenly Trushkin returned to the free agent market. The question of whether the forward will have to accept playing for Loko for the second time after recovery or find a new team remains open.
Maxim Grigoryev
Guard, 31 years old
Teams during career: Lokomotiv-Kuban, Nizhny Novgorod, PARMA
Previous team: PARMA (18 games, 5.2 points in the 2020/21 season)
After a bright 2019/20 season (13.5 points, 45.3% from deep) in the previous season, the guard disappointed a little: he reduced the effectiveness to 5.2 points per game, and the percentage of three-pointers fell to 28.6% – not at all sniper indicators.
This is probably why PARMA decided not to renew the contract with Grigoryev. Even despite that fantastic three pointer in Moscow, which brought the Perm Krai team a victory over CSKA:
Another reason for the decision not to renew player can be his traumatic nature. Since the 2015/16 season, Grigoryev has not spent a single season without missing games.
Officially, PARMA has not announced the departure of the guard yet. But even if Grigoryev does not get an extension of the agreement with them, it is unlikely that he will remain without a team. And if the top clubs were staffed almost entirely, then, for example, Enisey or Avtodor may offer the guard a contract. Who knows, the sniper can return to Nizhny, in which he spent 4 years?
Egor Vialtsev
Guard, 35 years old
Teams during career: Pulkovo, CSKA, Ural-Great, Triumph, Khimki
Previous team: Khimki (18 games, 6.7 rebounds with 40.4% 3-point, 1.6 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
Like Monia, Egor played his entire career in the VTB League – 10 seasons in Khimki. He holds the League record for three-pointers in the game; Vialtsev made 12 long-range shots against Astana in February 2016.
At the moment, the guard does not have a contract with any team, but he is in great shape. For example, in one of the Moscow UBA league game, he scored 7 three-pointers.
In addition to long-range shots, Vialtsev acts perfectly in defense and charges his teammates with his energy. Where will the guard, who showed an impressive 51.8% of two-pointers and 41.2% of three-pointers in his career in the United League, continue his career?
Artem Zabelin
Center, 33 years old
Teams during career: Avtodor, Dynamo Saint-Petersburg, CSKA, Lokomotiv-Kuban, Spartak-Primorye, Krasnye Krylia, PARMA, TEMP-SUMZ-UMMC
Previous team: TEMP-SUMZ UMMC (3 games, 5.0 points, 3.0 rebounds in the 2020/21 season)
The two-time All-Star Game participant reached the peak of his form closer to the age of 30: in the 2018/19 season, he scored 42.9% of three-pointers in Avtodor, and the next season in PARMA, he showed his best stats in his career: 10.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Everything was ruined by an injury: in February 2020, Zabelin suffered a knee injury, after which he recovered for almost a year and only returned in March, immediately becoming the Russian Cup winner with TEMP-SUMZ.
The center spent the summer preparing for the new season, training with CSKA guard Ivan Ukhov.
The center with a height of 215 cm is dangerous not only in the paint – he creates a threat on the perimeter. According to rumors, PARMA is interested in Zabelin, but the parties have not officially announced the signing of a contract.
Grigory Motovilov
Guard, 23 years old
Teams during career: Zenit, Ural, Spartak-Primorye, Lokomotiv-Kuban
Previous team: Lokomotiv-Kuban (25.games, 2.5 points in the 2020/21 season)
Having proved himself in the Russian national team at the 2019 World Cup, Motovilov moved from the SuperLeague-1 to Loko. But the point guard failed to gain a foothold in the Krasnodar club: 2.9 points + 0.7 assists in the 2019/20 season and 2.5 + 0.8 in the previous one, 34 games in total for 2 years.
Therefore, this summer, Loko decided to part with the guard, while in the comments of Andrey Vedischev did not rule out the possibility of returning the player in the future: “Now he is a free player. But under certain circumstances, we may see him again in the Loko squad”
After a not too bright performance in Krasnodar, Motovilov is unlikely to be interested among top teams of the VTB League, and in Nizhny Novgorod and PARMA there are no vacant places in the back line. Grigory has only 2 options left – moving to Saratov or Krasnoyarsk or returning to the SuperLeague-1, where he will definitely have a more important role and more playing minutes.
