Nemanja Bjelica

Eventually, Fenerbahçe finished in 4th place, after losing in the third-place game to CSKA Moscow, by a score of 80–86.

Bjelica had his best season since coming to the club, averaging a career-high 12.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Fenerbahçe, however, finished the season without winning any trophy, after also losing in the semi-final series of the Turkish League championship, to the eventual league champions Pınar Karşıyaka.

Nemanja Bjelica (Немања Бјелица, ; born 9 May 1988) is a Serbian former professional basketball player.

He represented the senior Serbian national team in international competition.

He began his professional career in the 2007–08 season with the Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions of the Austrian League, averaging 8.5 points in 26 games.

After one season abroad, he returned to the Serbian team Crvena zvezda, and spent two successful seasons there, under head coach Svetislav Pešić.

During the 2008–09 season, he made breakthroughs, and earned a place in the first lineup.

He was particularly noted for his performance during the EuroCup, for his outside shooting.

Later in his career, Bjelica cited coach Pešić as one of the main reasons for his improvement as a player.

Coach Pešić trusted Bjelica with the ball, and gave the 6"10 Bjelica a primary ball handler role on several occasions, which helped to develop Bjelica as a play-maker.

Bjelica was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the 35th pick of the 2010 NBA draft.

His draft rights were then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In August 2010, Bjelica signed a five-year contract with Spanish club Saski Baskonia.

In his first season with the club, he didn't get much playing time, averaging only 9 minutes played per game.

In his second season with Baskonia, he averaged 4.8 points per game, on 56% shooting from the field, and 47% shooting from 3 point range, three in 13 minutes played per game.

His third and last season with the club was the most successful, as he played in 26 games, with the averages of 9.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1 steal per game, on 46% shooting from the field.

On 22 July 2013, Bjelica signed a three-year deal with the Turkish team Fenerbahçe Ülker, which was led by one of Europe's great coaches, Željko Obradović.

He cited Obradović as the main reason why he didn't go to the NBA instead.

In the 2013–14 season, he immediately became one of the key Fenerbahçe Ülker players, averaging career highs of 10.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game over 24 EuroLeague games.

The following season, Bjelica's game saw its most improvement and consistency.

Bjelica was an All-Euroleague First Team selection as well as the Euroleague MVP in 2015.

Bjelica started his NBA career as a 27-year-old rookie when he signed in 2015 and played for the Minnesota Timberwolves for three seasons before signing with the Sacramento Kings in the 2018 offseason.

In 2021, he was traded to the Miami Heat before signing with the Golden State Warriors during the offseason.

With the Warriors, he won an NBA championship in 2022.

Bjelica began playing basketball at Aca Janjić basketball school, before joining the youth system of KK Partizan.

On 30 March 2015, he was named the EuroLeague MVP of the Month for March, his first such monthly award in his career.

Over 4 games played in March, he averaged 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block per game.

In May 2015, he was chosen to the All-EuroLeague First Team, for his performances over the season.

Eventually, Bjelica was named the EuroLeague MVP of the season.

Fenerbahçe also advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four for the first time in the team's history.

On 15 May 2015, however, they lost in the semifinal game to Real Madrid, by a score of 87–96.

On 1 July 2015, Bjelica opted out of his contract with Fenerbahçe in order to play in the NBA.

On 14 July 2015, Bjelica signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He made his debut for the Timberwolves in their season opener on 28 October 2015, recording eight points and five rebounds in a 112–111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

On 7 November 2015, he had a season-best game with 17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block against the Chicago Bulls.

On 7 April 2016, he scored a season-high 18 points against the Sacramento Kings.

Four days later, he recorded 11 points and a season-high 14 rebounds against the Houston Rockets.

On 13 November 2016, Bjelica made his first career start and scored a career-high 24 points in a 125–99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

On 16 March 2017, he was ruled out for the rest of the 2016–17 season with a left foot injury.