Thunder Journal: Meet Vit
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When the Washington Wizards selected Vit Krejci in the 2nd round of the 2020 NBA Draft, the reaction from Wiz fans was a resounding, “Who?!”
When Washington traded Krejci to Oklahoma City, the reaction from Thunder fans was a resounding, “Why?!”
And when OKC bought out Vit Krejci’s European contract, the reaction from confused NBA blog boys like myself was a resounding, “Where?!”
As in, where was Krejci going to play in 2021? According to the CBA rules, a buyout likely meant Vit made it to the big league instead of the G League. But the past couple seasons have pulled and Silly Putty stretched the NBA rulebook to murky territory.
On Friday, we finally got our answer when the Thunder signed Krejci to a four year minimum contract. In what has become known as the Sammy Special, Vit’s first year is fully guaranteed, the second year has around an $800,000 guarantee and the final two seasons are team options.
While Krejci will become best buds with the OKC Blue man group this season, he is now officially the newest member of the OKC Thunder and deserves a proper introduction.
Daily Thunder readers, meet Vit Krejci.
Name: Vít Krejčí
Age: 21 (June 19, 2000)
Height: 6’8”
Weight: 195 pounds
Wingspan: unknown (but probably long because Sam Presti)
Position: Guard
Draft: #37 overall pick in 2020
European Team: Basket Zaragoza
Hometown: Strakonice, Czech Republic
2019-20 Stats: 3.2 points and 1.1 rebounds on 61.1% shooting (33.3% from 3) in 7.6 minutes per game.
Vit Deets:
- Made his professional debut for Zaragoza in 2017 at 16 years old. It was the second youngest debut for a team in the club’s history.
- Named to the 2020 ACB All-Young Players Team.
- Represented the Czech Republic a number of times on the youth level and once as a member of the senior national team.
- The only other Czech Republic basketball player currently in the NBA is the Pelicans’ Tomas Satoransky.
- Tore his ACL in a game against Real Madrid in September 2020. Sam Presti still thought enough of him to trade for his rights on draft night just two months later. Vit rehabbed in OKC to be around the team.
- Feels his shooting has improved since being in OKC as a result of putting up 1,000 shots per day.
- On March 31st, the Thunder sans SGA infamously beat the Toronto Raptors non-sans Siakam, FVV, OG, GTJ and Boucher. When I signed the Thunder media sheet, I noticed the signature above me: “Vit Krejci.” I tweeted how it was cool he was at The Peake (RIP) to watch the squad. Vit’s wholesome response: “Didn’t missed a single home game this season since I was allowed to go to the arena! Living the dream *prayer hands emoji*”
- Vit says the 11 threes Steph made against OKC was the greatest performance he’s ever seen in person. Krejci obviously didn’t have tickets to the 2017 Thunder vs Nuggets game in Denver.
