Hustle star Juancho Hernangomez finds a new home; Vasilije Micic staying overseas

First Boston snaked the Sixers organization for Bo Cruz, and now it’s the Raptors. Juancho Hernangomez, who starred as Cruz in Adam Sandler’s hit Netflix movie Hustle this summer, will be continuing his real-life NBA career north of the border.

The 2016 first-round pick didn’t stick during short stints with Boston and San Antonio last season, but appeared to find the right fit towards the end of the year in Utah. Hernangomez shot 50.7 percent from the field, including 43.8 percent from three, with the Jazz, starting nine of the 17 regular season games in which he appeared.

Standing at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot wingspan, Hernangomez should fit in perfectly with Toronto’s army of long-limbed, versatile wings. Still just 26 years of age and having shot around league-average from three for his career (35.1 percent), I was surprised there wasn’t a bit more interest in Hernangomez this offseason. He would appear to be a decent stretch four option off the bench for most teams. We’ll see how he looks under the tutelage of Nick Nurse’s staff. Just don’t have him guard Kermit Wilts on an island.

From someone who was a fictional draft target for the Sixers on screen, to someone who was actually drafted by Philadelphia IRL, we move to Vasilije Micic.

Sixers fans have been tracking Micic for a long time, even after Daryl Morey traded him to Oklahoma City in 2020 as part of the Danny Green-Al Horford deal. Since then, Micic has won back-to-back EuroLeague Final Four MVPs, with his Turkish club Anadolu Efes winning consecutive titles. There was a lot of interest this offseason in his coming to the NBA, and Micic appeared open to the idea, but reportedly wanted to play significant minutes for a contender on a substantially more lucrative contract than he makes overseas. However, nothing transpired in terms of the right fit somewhere with a team willing to offer a desirable return package to the Thunder.

Instead, Micic will stay in Europe where his friends and family are, playing a star role and winning a lot of games. It’s not hard to see why he might be just fine staying put. Maybe Chet Holmgren will help escalate Oklahoma City’s interminable rebuild and we’ll see Micic on this side of the pond some year in the not-too-distant future.