Charlie Neibergall/AP
In his first NBA game, Serbian guard Milos Teodosic proved that his overseas highlight passes were not a mirage.
Teodosic made a name for himself in the Euroleague with CSKA Moscow as one of the best passers in all of basketball.
This past summer, at age 30, Teodosic decided to make the move to the NBA, and signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, effectively filling in for Chris Paul, who was traded to the Houston Rockets.
Kevin Durant once told Bill Simmons on the “B.S. Podcast,” Teodosic threw the best pass he had ever seen.
“I can’t wait to see him. He made the greatest pass I’ve ever seen in my life last summer … He was at the three-point line and flicked it to somebody over his head with his right hand, and hit him on a dime. And it kind of faked me out. I spun in a circle. I’m like, ‘That was the greatest pass I’ve ever seen in my life.’ From anybody. Best pass I’ve ever seen.”
And in Teodosic’s preseason debut with the Clippers on Sunday, he lived up to the hype, throwing several gorgeous passes to teammates, like this no-look pass to DeAndre Jordan:
He found Blake Griffin with a nifty look-away in a pick-and-roll:
Welcome to the NBA, Milos Teodosic 🔥🔥🔥
A post shared by DIME on UPROXX (@dimemagazine) on Oct 2, 2017 at 9:01am PDT on Oct 2, 2017 at 9:01am PDT
And he seems to be falling in line with the Clippers’ “Lob City” moniker:
Though it was far from a perfect game for Teodosic, as he finished with 1 point on 0-of-5 shooting in 20 minutes, his eight assists quickly gained him a following in the NBA world.
Feels strange that Chris Paul is gone but Clippers fans will remain entertained because Milos Teodosic is FUN pic.twitter.com/ERv3l6g37Q
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) October 2, 2017
Milos Teodosic is going to be awfully fun this season. For fans who don’t know about him, this play is a prime example of why. https://t.co/X8ZI0Hw7eY
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 2, 2017
Milos Teodosic is going to be so fun to watch.
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) October 2, 2017
All the way in on Teodosic.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) October 2, 2017
ESPN’s Zach Lowe said on his podcast, “The Lowe Post,” that there are concerns about Teodosic’s defense and ability to play all 82 games in the NBA after playing shorter seasons in Europe. It’s clear he can’t truly be a replacement for Paul, one of the best point guards in the NBA.
However, if Teodosic’s first preseason game was any indication, he already has a feel for the NBA game and the vision to make highlight passes. On a Clippers team with plenty of scorers to feed, that should make him, at least, a consistent member of the rotation and source of entertainment.
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