Brooklyn Nets guard Sergey Karasev wants to be traded from the Brooklyn Nets, according to an interview with SovSport confirmed by NetsDaily.
Karasev’s father Vasily told Russian sports site SovSport that Karasev, who has been relegated to the end of the bench, would like to be traded if he’s not going to play. According to NetsDaily, a league source confirmed that Karasev is seeking a new team:
“It’s totally confusing,” said Vasily Karasev, once one of Russia’s best players and now coach of Triumph in the Russian basketball league. “Sergey is totally healthy. But the coach seems to be thinking something different: he said that he does not see Sergey as part of the team. Based on what I’ve seen personally – the team is in total disarray. If I went there myself – even that would be better. The team has no game.”
The senior Karasev said as a result, his son is talking about trades.
“Sergey is starting to discuss trade scenarios. He’s a young guy (22), he has to play. He feels that he’s fully rehabbed, that his health is good. So to sit on the bench for a whole year is just not acceptable,” said Vasily Karasev, according to a translation.
Karasev has played just six minutes in three games after starting in 16 games last season. The 22-year-old forward’s season ended abruptly with an MCL tear in March, but he returned to training camp fully healthy. He averaged 4.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in nearly 17 minutes per game last season, shooting just over 40 percent from the field and just under 30 percent from three-point range.
The Nets declined to exercise Karasev’s fourth-year option, worth approximately $2.4 million, which will make Karasev a free agent at the end of the season. The Nets won’t be allowed to offer Karasev anything above that $2.4 million, meaning that he’s likely in his final days with the Nets organization. He’s currently behind Joe Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Wayne Ellington, Markel Brown, and Bojan Bogdanovic in the team’s wing rotation, having played the fewest minutes of any active player on the team.
Karasev often tweets out his love of Nets fans and the organization, but the lack of playing time is a concern for his development. Billed as an outside shooter with a creative touch, Karasev was drafted 19th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, when ESPN scout Fran Fraschilla said Karasev could have top five-to-seven talent. But he has struggled to hit three-pointers at the NBA level.
NetsDaily — Sergey Karasev wants to be traded, father says
