San Antonio Spurs Roster News: Serbian Rookie Boban Marjanovic Recalled from D-League
It looks like the European connection in the NBA has seen a rebirth this year with several players from the continent carving their niche in the world's most competitive professional basketball league. Everyone knows that the French lead the number of active players, but the likes of Kristaps Porzingis and Mario Hezonja are injecting new blood, too.
One man who has yet to make an impact though is San Antonio Spurs rookie Boban Marjanovic. The towering Serbian was signed by the team last July for a one-year contract after going undrafted, but he was later assigned to the Austin Spurs, San Antonio's D-League affiliate by December.
Good news for him, though, head coach Gregg Popovich decided to recall the 7-3 rookie on Sunday after appearing in two games for Austin. In those games, he showed why he's a class above the rest in the D-League by averaging 25.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. But what's really more interesting is that the center was able to dish out almost four assists, too; something that European bigs are known for.
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Marjanovic's recall is a strategy by Popovich to keep up with the back-to-back games the team is set to face this weekend, not to mention a total of four games for the entire week. They play with the Lakers and Hawks on consecutive nights over the weekend, something that can be too much for veterans like Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. Marjanovic is expected to fill the frontline as of the moment as several of the Spurs' starters are expected to be given some rest, including Tim Duncan.
In a total of 10 appearances for the team so far, the Serbian averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds with just over three minutes of playing time. But in his latest game for Austin, he simply dominated the floor, in the process scoring 34 on a remarkable 16-18 shooting. His team won over Reno, 137-132.
