Alen Smailagić ( sr-cyr, Ален Смаилагић; born 18 August 2000) is a Serbian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, link ...

of the Serbian KLS, the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

and the EuroLeague. Smailagić was the youngest player in history to play in the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

Early career

Smailagić was born in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, FR Yugoslavia (present-day

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

). Smailagić started to play basketball with his hometown club

Beko Beko ( ; stylized as beko) is a Turkish major appliance and consumer electronics brand of Arçelik A.Ş. controlled by Koç Holding. History Beko Elektronik A.Ş. was founded by Vehbi Koç, the founder of Koç Holding (who also founded Arç ...

. In 2012, he joined their

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

. In the 2017–18 season, Smailagić played for Beko in the Junior Serbian League and averaged 21.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game over 19 games. He was named the Junior Serbian League MVP.

Professional career

Beko (2017–2018)

Smailagić made his senior debut for

of the semi-professional 3rd-tier Serbian Regional League in the 2017–18 season. Over ten league games, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Santa Cruz Warriors (2018–2019)

On 20 October 2018, Smailagić was selected as the 4th pick on the 2018 NBA G League draft by the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first National Basketball Associa ...

, but he was traded right away to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

-affiliated

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

, which makes him the youngest player in the history of the

. Smailagić made his debut for the Warriors on 3 November 2018, scoring 3 points in 7 minutes he spent on the court. Over 47 league games, he averaged 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Golden State Warriors (2019–2021)

Smailagić was drafted as the 39th pick of the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

by the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

. He is the third international player drafted into the NBA from the NBA G League, joining Greek forward

Thanasis Antetokounmpo Athanasios Rotimi "Thanasis" Antetokounmpo, (born Adetokunbo; July 18, 1992) is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at 6 feet and 7 inches, he plays the ...

and Nigerian center

Chukwudiebere Maduabum Chu (born Chukwudiebere) Maduabum (born March 19, 1991), sometimes credited as "Chuk", "Chuck", or "Chu Chu", is a Nigerian professional basketball player for the Tryhoop Okayama of the B.League. He was drafted 56th overall by the Los Angeles Lak ...

, and the seventh overall to play in the NBA’s official minor league before being drafted by an NBA team. Smailagić was then traded to the

in exchange for the draft rights to two future second-round picks along with cash considerations. Smailagić officially signed a multi-year contract with the Warriors on 11 July 2019. Smailagić made his regular-season debut on 27 December 2019, recording 4 points and a rebound in a 105–96 win over the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. On 4 August 2021, the Warriors waived Smailagić. He appeared in 29 games (one start) over two seasons with Golden State, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game.

Partizan (2021–present)

On August 6, 2021, Smailagić officially signed a three-year deal with his hometown club

, under head coach

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ABA League, ...

National team career

Smailagić was a member of the Serbian under-16 national team that competed at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

, Poland. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 14 , , 0 , , 9.9 , , .500 , , .231 , , .842 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , .2 , , .3 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 15 , , 1 , , 5.6 , , .407 , , .400 , , .333 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , .3 , , 1.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 29 , , 1 , , 7.7 , , .463 , , .304 , , .720 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .2 , , .3 , , 3.0

Personal life

Smailagić's father comes from Dubovo, while his mother comes from

Lipica Lipica may refer to several places: Poland *Lipica, Poland, a village in the Province of Warmia-Masuria Serbia *Lipica (Tutin), a village in the Municipality of Tutin Slovenia *Lipica (border crossing), a border crossing near Lipica betw ...

, with both places being located in

Tutin Tutin may refer to: Places *Tutin, Serbia, town in Serbia Surname *Arthur Tutin (1907–1961), English footballer *Dorothy Tutin (1930–2001), English actress *Mary Tutin, maiden name of Mary Gillick (1881–1965), English sculptor *Tom Tutin (1 ...

Raška District The Raška District ( sr, / , ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It expands to the south-western part of the country. According to the 2011 census results, it has a population of 309,258 inhabitants. Th ...