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Rodions Kurucs

Rodions Kurucs (born 5 February 1998) is a Latvian professional basketball player for UCAM Murcia of the Spanish Liga ACB. At 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) tall,[1] he plays the small forward position.

Rodions Kurucs
No. 00 – UCAM Murcia
PositionSmall forward
LeagueLiga ACB
Personal information
Born (1998-02-05) 5 February 1998 (age 26)
Cēsis, Latvia
NationalityLatvian
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2018: 2nd round, 40th overall pick
Selected by the Brooklyn Nets
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2015VEF Rīga
2015–2018FC Barcelona
2015–2017→Barcelona B
2018–2021Brooklyn Nets
2018–2020→Long Island Nets
2021Houston Rockets
2021Milwaukee Bucks
2021–2022Partizan
2022Real Betis
2022–2023SIG Strasbourg
2023–presentMurcia
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Latvia Latvia
FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2014 Latvia

Professional career

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Early career

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In March 2014, Kurucs signed a multi-year contract with the Latvian club VEF Rīga,[2] after having played for the club's youth academy, VEF Rīga Skola, in Latvia's second men's division (LBL2). He made his debut on VEF's first team, during the 2014–15 campaign, logging his first minutes in Latvia's top-tier level league, the LBL,[3] in the Eastern European regional VTB United League,[4] and in Europe's second-tier level league, the EuroCup.[1] He played at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in 2015.[5]

FC Barcelona

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In July 2015, Kurucs agreed to a four-year deal with the Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona.[6] He then spent the 2015–16 season playing in the junior club of FC Barcelona. In 2016, after turning 18 years of age, Kurucs joined the reserve team of FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona B, of the LEB Oro, which is the second-tier level in the Spanish league system.[7]

Kurucs made his debut in the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague, on 24 March 2017, in a 67–54 home win against Crvena zvezda Belgrade. In his first EuroLeague game, he logged three minutes of playing time, and scored two points.[8] On 13 July 2018, Kurucs parted ways with FC Barcelona, but the Catalan club reserved the player's rights in case he returned to play in Europe.[9]

NBA draft rights

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Kurucs entered his name into the 2017 NBA draft,[10] being one of a record-high 182 underclassmen to do so that year. Despite being consistently considered a first round draft pick throughout most mock drafts, Kurucs ultimately withdrew his name from the draft, on 12 June 2017; the deadline date that international players had decide to whether or not to withdraw their names from the draft.[11] Kurucs entered his name for the 2018 NBA draft on 21 April 2018[11] as one of 236 underclassed prospects willing to enter the draft.[12]

Brooklyn Nets (2018–2021)

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On 21 June 2018, Kurucs was selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the second round (40th overall).[13] On 16 July 2018, Kurucs signed a multi-year contract with the Nets.[14] Kurucs made his NBA debut on 17 October and scored three points in 103–100 season-opening loss to the Detroit Pistons.[15] On 21 December, Kurucs scored a career-high 24 points in the Nets' 114–106 loss to the Indiana Pacers.[16] On 23 December, Kurucs recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 111–103 win over the Phoenix Suns.[17] On 26 December, he had 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a 134–132 double overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets.[18] On 7 January 2019, he repeated his career high 24 points in a 116–95 loss to the Boston Celtics.[19] On 29 January, Kurucs was named a participant of the 2019 Rising Stars Challenge as a member of the World Team.[20]

Houston Rockets (2021)

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On 14 January 2021, Kurucs was traded to the Houston Rockets in a multi-player, three-team deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers that sent James Harden to Brooklyn Nets.[21]

Milwaukee Bucks (2021)

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On 19 March 2021, Kurucs was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks along with P. J. Tucker for D. J. Augustin, D. J. Wilson, and the right to swap draft picks in the 2021 NBA draft.[22] On 12 May, he was waived by the Bucks after making five appearances.[23]

Partizan (2021–2022)

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On 7 July 2021, Kurucs signed with KK Partizan of the Basketball League of Serbia and the ABA League.[24]

In May 2022, after not appearing in any games since early March, Kurucs parted ways with Partizan as the club allowed him to continue training individually in Latvia due to not featuring in coach Željko Obradović's plans.[25]

Kurucs joined the Toronto Raptors for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[26]

Real Betis (2022)

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On August 23, 2022, he signed with Real Betis of the Liga ACB.[27]

SIG Strasbourg (2022–2023)

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On December 19, 2022, he signed with SIG Strasbourg of the French LNB Pro A.[28]

UCAM Murcia (2023–present)

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On July 19, 2023, he signed with UCAM Murcia of the Spanish Liga ACB.[29]

National team career

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Kurucs played for the Latvian national under-16 team at the 2014 Baltic Sea Cup, and at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He played a crucial role in helping Latvia win the silver medal at the tournament, as he averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocked shots per game,[30] en route to earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team,[31] and being selected to the Eurobasket.com's website All-European Championship Under-16 First Team.[32]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Brooklyn 63 46 20.5 .450 .315 .783 3.9 .8 .7 .4 8.5
2019–20 Brooklyn 47 9 14.6 .446 .367 .632 2.9 1.1 .5 .1 4.6
2020–21 Brooklyn 5 0 3.2 .333 .500 — .6 .4 .0 .0 .6
Houston 11 0 6.8 .238 .133 .500 1.0 .4 .5 .4 1.2
Milwaukee 5 0 6.8 .625 .750 1.000 1.8 .8 .6 .0 3.0
Career 131 55 16.1 .444 .329 .739 3.1 .9 .6 .3 6.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019 Brooklyn 4 3 17.0 .400 .250 .778 5.0 .8 .5 .0 6.3
2020 Brooklyn 4 1 14.5 .550 .000 .000 3.3 .8 .3 .5 5.5
Career 8 4 15.8 .475 .125 .636 4.1 .8 .4 .3 5.9

Personal life

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Kurucs' brother Artūrs is also playing competitive basketball.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kurucs, Rodions". euroleague.net. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  2. ^ "VEF Rīga sign Rodions Kurucs". www.vefriga.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Rodions Kurucs profile". www.fiba.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Rodions Kurucs – game statistics, games, data, player photo Rodions Kurucs, VEF". www.vtb-league.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  5. ^ "VEF Riga star Kurucs looks to stands for guidance". ADIDAS Next Generation Tournament. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  6. ^ "FCB Lassa inks teenage star Kurucs for four years". EuroLeague.net. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Resultados y estadísticas – Kurucs, Rodions". competiciones.feb.es (in European Spanish). Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  8. ^ "FC Barcelona Lassa vs. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade – Game". euroleague.net. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Acord per a la desvinculació de Rodions Kurucs". FC Barcelona (in Catalan). 13 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Rodions Kurucs Enters 2017 NBA Draft". Hoops Rumors. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  11. ^ a b Givony, Jonathan (21 April 2018). "Euroleague's Rodions Kurucs declares for NBA draft again". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  12. ^ Givony, Jonathan (24 April 2018). "NBA draft: Every player who has declared early for 2018". NBA.com. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  13. ^ Dowd, Tom (22 June 2018). "Brooklyn Nets Select Dzanan Musa, Rodions Kurucs in 2018 NBA Draft". NBA.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Brooklyn Nets Sign Rodions Kurucs". NBA.com. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  15. ^ Eliņš, Rolands (18 October 2018). "Kurucs NBA debitē ar trim punktiem un saspringtu zaudējumu Detroitā". Sportacentrs.com (in Latvian). Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  16. ^ Lewis, Brian (21 December 2018). "Nets rookie making it 'hard' to take him out after career night". New York Post. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  17. ^ Lewis, Brian (23 December 2018). "Rodions Kurucs giving Nets no reason to change starting lineup". New York Post. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  18. ^ Lewis, Brian (27 December 2018). "Nets rookie Rodions Kurucs looking like the real deal". New York Post. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  19. ^ Lewis, Brian (7 January 2019). "Shorthanded Nets get dose of reality in lopsided loss to Celtics". New York Post. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  20. ^ "Doncic, Simmons headline Mtn Dew Ice Rising Stars rosters". NBA.com. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Brooklyn News Acquire James Harden". NBA.com. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks Acquire P.J. Tucker And Rodions Kurucs From The Houston Rockets". NBA.com. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Milwaukee Bucks Request Waivers on Rodions Kurucs". NBA.com. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  24. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (7 July 2021). "KK Partizan announces Rodions Kurucs". Sportando. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Kuruc napustio Partizan usred ABA finala". b92.net. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Toronto Raptors 2022 NBA2K23 Summer League Roster". NBA.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  27. ^ Borghesan, Ennio Terrasi (23 August 2022). "Real Betis, Rodions Kurucs agree to 1-year deal". Sportando. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  28. ^ "Rodions Kurucs renforce la SIG Strasbourg". sigstrasbourg.fr (in French). 19 December 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  29. ^ "UCAM Murcia inks Rodions Kurucs". Sportando. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  30. ^ "Rodions Kurucs". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  31. ^ "Tillie Towers Above The Competition". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  32. ^ "European Championships U16 Basketball, Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings - eurobasket.com". www.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  33. ^ "RODIONS KURUCS BUILT HIS ROAD TO BROOKLYN FROM A FAMILY TREE GROWING UP IN LATVIA WITH YOUNGER BROTHER ARTURS, THEIR GRANDFATHER GUIDED THEM TO THE GAME". NBA.com. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
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