A sports director of “Prometey” Bronislaw Wawrzynchuk gave a large interview to Tribuna.com, where he has told a lot of interesting things about the team composition for the 2023/24 season, told in details about the newbies of the team and, also, shared the details of negotiations with some players of the club.

About the team’s newbies Ronald March, Davon Reed and Marcus Keene.

- We were focusing on basketball players who are currently in the physical prime of their careers. "Prometey" plays very aggressive and intensive basketball, therefore we needed guys who would be ready for that physically and match our coach's style. Another thing we also looked closely at were people who have something to prove. We give players the opportunity to show themselves, to shine in a high-level team that plays in the Eurocup and prove that, one day, they might be worth a look at Euroleague clubs.

It is important to be very creative in the market now because everything that happens in the United States has a significant influence on basketball all over the world. Now, every NBA team has been given the right to sign a third two-way contract, which means appearing of 30 new jobs in the league - but there are a hundred of good players vying for those jobs and don't even want to look towards Europe. We also have to consider how much money Asian clubs have - in South Korea, Japan, China. So, you constantly have to create something, look at players who are not a hundred percent correct and successful bet. You have to pick up insider information, search for underestimated talents, and, which is the most important, analyse how this or that basketball player fits “Prometey” in terms of style.

If to bring everything together and do a great job, it is possible to cheat a little in the market. That is a true value of my position in the club – we have to be creative and carefully calculate all risks.

About why “Prometey” signed exactly centers Ondrej Balvin and Tai Odiase first.

- If you look at “Prometey” composition retrospectively, the first club signing after the end of the season was Ondrej Balvin, and right after that you filled up the second center vacancy – first, Jehyve Floyd was signed, who did not pass the medical check-up, and then, Tai Odiase was invited. The emphasis on frontline players was more than obvious – does this confirm the fact that European market is now as small as never before for good bigmen?

- Exactly. In Asia, basketball players are paid a lot of money - but usually frontcourt players. China is 50/50, but Korea and Japan mainly take only center-legionnaries, they have no shortage of their own small players. Therefore, bigmen are really in great demand, because if they go to Asian markets, where they are highly paid, it is obvious that there are significantly fewer of them in Europe. Therefore, actually, we were filling up exactly this position.

Also, after we prolonged Balvin, it was pretty obvious what else we had to add to our front line was to find a more athletic center. At that time, we still did not have full information regarding the extension of contracts with players in other positions, about the center, we realised everything almost immediately and went for the ones we needed.

About the signing of Davon Reed

- I would not call the signing of Reed a risk at all. The issue is either he will be just a good played in Europe or very-very good one. The main thing Davon has to get used to and what to learn is to take more responsibility in offensive actions. Since in the NBA he was a 3-and-D type basketball player, played mostly without the ball, and was considered a defensive specialist for the opponents’ best players. He also has to adjust to the fact that in European basketball he will need to shoot faster – it means to adapt his game to the European space on the court, which is less than in the NBA. And, of course, to execute closeouts more aggressively, which many American players have trouble with, allowing runs.

There will be no problems with anything else, I think. In terms of tactics and professionalism, Reed is the player who "lives" in the practice hall, who watches opponents carefully and searches for their weaknesses. He is a former NBA basketball player, actually, a current champion of the league, who has played over 100 matches in it. Of course, we should not expect Reed to score every time he gets the ball – he is a basketball player of a different profile. But looking at the team picture as a whole, I think it's a great boost.

About why D.J. Kennedy and D.J. Stephens have left the team

- As for Kennedy, it is a player’s health issue. He was injured last season, in fact, he is injured and is just undergoing rehabilitation - which is, actually, going great, by the way, so do not be surprised if he is back on the court somewhere in the middle of the season. Let’s say, we are not closing the door on him, but at some point we simply cfilled all available vacancies in the squad. So, now we can only wish him luck. Aside from the health factor, we wanted to improve “Prometey” shooting level in general in the offseason, and DJ did not fit perfectly with our desires for the players on the position we had to cover.

As for Stephens, “Prometey” offered him a contract extension right after the previous season ended, but he rejected our offer and the amount we were ready to pay him. He got a much more lucrative alternative from Asian market, which we simply could not duplicate at the time. But he still means a lot to our club, we are very happy for him and grateful for what he has done for the team. We parted as friends and saved a good relationship.

About the signing of Arnoldas Kulboka

- We expressed our interest in this player quite early, but Kulboka was waiting for offers from the Euroleague. Six Euroleague teams were really interested in him this summer. He was training at a camp in “Valencia”, which was arranged for him by his agent, and it was exactly “Valencia” Arnoldas expected to receive a real offer from. And everything was quite close.

All the time we were fighting for this player, but initially, apparently, Euroleague was his priority, so we had to wait. Of course, we looked carefully at other basketball players for this role, but we could not find a one we were sure – this is the guy who will definitely give “Prometey” more than Kulboka.

In the end, everything came down to us and another Eurocup team, which offered Kulboka much more money. But he has believed that, playing in our system and under our coach, he would be able to end up in the centre of attention and, as a result, to have not just interest from Euroleague clubs, but to get real offers. And, of course, an important factor was the closeness to home. Arnoldas is Lithuanian, there are also Lithuanian specialists in the “Prometey” front office, and this also helped to resolve the situation in our favour.

Arnoldas Kulboka: "Prometheus" is the right place to continue my career"

About the extension of the contract with Issuf Sanon

- Both parties expressed the interest to continue cooperation from the very beginning; however, we gave each other time and space to make a final decision. Issuf, certainly has ambitions to play for the foreign clubs, his agent has researched different options. Sanon also hoped that he might have an option to play in the NBA Summer League. To play there, it is forbidden to have a valid contract with a European club. So, also because of this, we  postponed the decision of a full-fledged agreement.

We are happy he remained with “Prometey” for another season. We have the possibility to extend this contract for a longer period, but we will look at this in the future. Both sides, also, have the option of deciding whether we continue cooperation already in the middle of the season. I actually think it is great that he is back because we are trying to create a unique environment for him.

Sanon is believed to be the next Ukrainian player who is able to pursue a great international career, we understand the position he is in and create opportunities for him. We give him space and create a situation where he can grow to the level he wants to play at.

About Ukrainian newbie of “Prometey”  Andrii Voinalovych

- We have signed a two-year contract with Voinalovych. He was already one of the best players in the Latvian-Estonian league in the previous season and played a big role in his previous team (Estonian "Tartu" – auth. note). Undoubtedly, he will get chances at the EuroCup level, but fairly saying - everything will depend only on him. And we will see what he is capable of at this level - for five minutes of playing time, fifteen or even more.

In August, Andrii played pretty well for the National team. In modern basketball, the differences between the third and fourth positions are gradually blurring, players on these positions can easily replace each other, and with his size, mobility and shooting skills, Voinalovych can cover both of them easily. To be honest, it is a luxury thing to have in the roster such Ukrainian basketball players as him and Lypovyy.

There is another player inside Voinalovych, who has a great potential to progress. He needs to get stronger physically, become a more skilled and regular shooter. I do not expect him to become a super-important basketball player for “Prometey” from the very first match, but I do expect him to continue growing in his role on the team through the next two years, along with his level. I hope, with him, we will get another high-quality player.

About what “Prometey” has to achieve this season to be considered a successful one

- We are even not questioning the winning the Latvian-Estonian league; we just have to attain it. I will be happy if we reach the EuroCup final, and in the final, let happen what should happen. But we will, any way, try to win the trophy. This is my first season in a job like this, so, maybe I want too much, but it is what it is.

Source: Tribuna.com