Partizan's Punter: 'Obviously, our goal is to get to the EuroLeague' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: BasketNews.lt/D. Lukšta Credit BasketNews.lt/D. Lukšta

After completing his best individual season in the EuroLeague, Kevin Punter was a hot commodity in this year's European basketball market. His team, AX Armani Exchange Milan, finished third in Europe's top competition, he was the team's top scorer, so everything was in place to secure a huge payday in EuroLeague.

Kevin Punter

Position:SGAge:28Height:190 cmWeight:86 kgBirth place:New York, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

That huge payday happened, just not in the EuroLeague.

Punter became the first signing of the offseason for Partizan Belgrade, signing a two-year, reportedly, $3M contract. By doing so, he agreed to compete in a lower-tier competition, EuroCup.

At first, it was a difficult decision for Punter.

"It was a little hard, ain’t gonna lie," Punter said talking to Hidden Gems Podcast. "Most people expect you to play EuroLeague because I’ve been playing for 2-3 seasons now, established myself as one of the top ballers. So obviously they expect me to play Euroleague."

"But it was kinda weird offseason, it did not pan out that way and this opportunity came up. Most people would be scared or nervous to not even do it, but for me, I’m a kinda risk-taker. I was kinda nervous before because I knew I was gonna get a lot of backlashes, but I thought about it and said 'you know what, I’m gonna do it'. I’m happy I made that decision, I’m excited and I’m just going from there, just going to keep working."

Several big names followed Punter's suit, with Zach LeDay and Rodions Kurucs being the biggest of them.

With coach Zeljko Obradovic leading the group, Partizan seems to be poised to go far in the EuroCup.

Is it championship or bust for Partizan?

"I don’t know if it’s win or bust," Punter said. "But I know for sure we gonna put in some real work. I know guys are coming in with a chip on their shoulders. And to have a coach with a chip on his shoulders that likes challenges - I love it. I love everything about it. It’s going to be fun. Obviously, our goal is to get to the EuroLeague and win as much as possible, Eurocup, ABA. But you got to take a step at a time."

Last season he was leading AX Armani Exchange Milan to EuroLeague final four, averaging 14.3 points per game and knocking on 50-40-90 club's doors, shooting 50.7 percent on twos, 39.2 percent on threes, and 89.4 percent on free throws.

Previously he played in Crvena Zvezda also for coach Sasha Djordjevic in Virtus Bologna, so Serbian experience will not be something new to Punter. But the opportunity to work with coach Obradovic intrigued him from the first phone call.

"It made me wanna come even more because he’s serious, he believes in me a lot, he knows what I can do to help the team to be successful. Once you get a call from a coach of that stature, it’s like ‘Alright, we can really do this’," Punter said.

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.