Rodions Kurucs (born 5 February 1998) is a Latvian 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 (appro ...

player for UCAM Murcia of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. At tall, he plays the

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

position.

Professional career

Early career

In March 2014, Kurucs signed a multi-year contract with the Latvian club VEF Rīga, after having played for the club's youth academy, VEF Rīga Skola, in Latvia's second men's division (LBL2). He made his debut on VEF's first team, during the 2014–15 campaign, logging his first minutes in Latvia's top-tier level league, the LBL, in the Eastern European regional

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

, and in Europe's second-tier level league, the EuroCup. He played at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in 2015.

FC Barcelona

In July 2015, Kurucs agreed to a four-year deal with the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

powerhouse

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. He then spent the 2015–16 season playing in the junior club of FC Barcelona. In 2016, after turning 18 years of age, Kurucs joined the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

of FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona B, of the LEB Oro, which is the second-tier level in the Spanish league system. Kurucs made his debut in the European-wide top-tier level

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, on 24 March 2017, in a 67–54 home win against Crvena zvezda Belgrade. In his first EuroLeague game, he logged three minutes of playing time, and scored two points. On 13 July 2018, Kurucs parted ways with FC Barcelona, but the Catalan club reserved the player's rights in case he returned to play in Europe.

NBA draft rights

Kurucs entered his name into the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, being one of a record-high 182 underclassmen to do so that year. Despite being consistently considered a first round draft pick throughout most mock drafts, Kurucs ultimately withdrew his name from the draft, on 12 June 2017; the deadline date that international players had decide to whether or not to withdraw their names from the draft. Kurucs entered his name for the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including internationa ...

on 21 April 2018 as one of 236 underclassed prospects willing to enter the draft.

Brooklyn Nets (2018–2021)

On 21 June 2018, Kurucs was selected by the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

in the second round (40th overall). On 16 July 2018, Kurucs signed a multi-year contract with the Nets. Kurucs made his NBA debut on 17 October and scored three points in 103–100 season-opening loss to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. On 21 December, Kurucs scored a career-high 24 points in the Nets' 114–106 loss to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. On 23 December, Kurucs recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 111–103 win over the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

. On 26 December, he had 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a 134–132 double overtime win over the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

. On 7 January 2019, he repeated his career high 24 points in a 116–95 loss to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. On 29 January, Kurucs was named a participant of the 2019 Rising Stars Challenge as a member of the World Team.

Houston Rockets (2021)

On 14 January 2021, Kurucs was traded to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

in a multi-player, three-team deal with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

that sent

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is regarded by some as one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA hist ...

to Brooklyn Nets.

Milwaukee Bucks (2021)

On 19 March 2021, Kurucs was traded to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

along with P. J. Tucker for D. J. Augustin, D. J. Wilson, and the right to swap draft picks in the 2021 NBA draft. On 12 May, he was waived by the Bucks after making five appearances.

Partizan (2021–2022)

On 7 July 2021, Kurucs signed with

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, lit=Basketball Club Partizan), commonly known as Partizan Belgrade, or as Partizan Mozzart Bet for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball Sports cl ...

of the

Basketball League of Serbia The Basketball League of Serbia (), commonly abbreviated as KLS, is a Serbian basketball league system, top-tier men's professional basketball Sports league, league in Serbia. Founded in 2006. It is currently not run by the Basketball Federation o ...

and the

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

. In May 2022, after not appearing in any games since early March, Kurucs parted ways with Partizan as the club allowed him to continue training individually in Latvia due to not featuring in coach

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

's plans. Kurucs joined the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

for the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

Real Betis (2022)

On 23 August 2022, he signed with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

of the

SIG Strasbourg (2022–2023)

On 19 December 2022, he signed with SIG Strasbourg of the French

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

UCAM Murcia (2023–present)

On 19 July 2023, he signed with UCAM Murcia of the Spanish

National team career

Kurucs played for the Latvian national under-16 team at the 2014 Baltic Sea Cup, and at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. He played a crucial role in helping Latvia win the silver medal at the tournament, as he averaged 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocked shots per game, en route to earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team, and being selected to the Eurobasket.com's website All-European Championship Under-16 First Team.

Career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 63 , , 46 , , 20.5 , , .450 , , .315 , , .783 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , .4 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 9 , , 14.6 , , .446 , , .367 , , .632 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3, , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 3.2 , , .333 , , .500 , , , , .6 , , .4 , , .0 , , .0 , , .6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .238 , , .133 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 5 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .625 , , .750 , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 131 , , 55 , , 16.1 , , .444 , , .329 , , .739 , , 3.1 , , .9 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 3 , , 17.0 , , .400 , , .250 , , .778 , , 5.0 , , .8 , , .5 , , .0 , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...