LAS VEGAS — Sydney Kings sharpshooter Dejan Vasiljevic is relishing the experience of playing at Las Vegas Summer League for the first time, and although he's found minutes hard to come by on the Phoenix Suns, he's making the most of his opportunities.
"It's an unreal experience," Vasiljevic told The Sporting News. "I think it's only like 480 or 500 guys that get the opportunity to come into this environment and showcase what we can do, and I'm just enjoying the experience.
"[It's my] first time and just doing what I can do best."
In the Suns' 105-78 win over the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night, Vasiljevic checked into the game for the first time in the fourth quarter and wasted no time making his presence felt, knocking down two 3-pointers in the space of 15 seconds, going into heat check mode.
"That's what I've been doing all week, the team knows I can shoot the ball," Vasiljevic said. "So I just came in confident and just got to stay ready and boom, you just make two threes like that."
MORE: Giddey and Holmgren are a match made in heaven
🇦🇺 The Aussies made their presence felt for the @Suns in their 105-87 win over the Mavericks at #NBA2K23SummerLeague
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) July 13, 2022
📊 Jo Lual-Acuil: 12 PTS | 6 REB
📊 @3jvasiljevic: 6 PTS | 2 REB | 1 STL pic.twitter.com/kGM6sJgsaA
The Suns' Summer League squad has a distinctly Aussie flavor, with fellow NBL stars Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and Duop Reath suiting up in Vegas alongside DJ.
"It's cool just to have other Aussies around. I didn't know Duop and JLA that well, so it's been good to kind of get to know them a little bit and kind of enjoy Vegas together, and they've been playing unreal," Vasiljevic added.
"So just to be all three of us, representing Australia in the Summer League is unreal."
#NBLxNBA royalty in the building!@TCraig_23 jumped from the NBL to the NBA after showing out at @NBASummerLeague, and @Liam_Santa caught up with the one-time Taipan and Bullet to talk about the current crop of NBL guys chasing their dreams. pic.twitter.com/4Mr7YyJREI
— The NBL (@NBL) July 13, 2022
Two months on from helping lead the Sydney Kings to an NBL title, Vasiljevic says the championship experience has provided the perfect runway for him to show what he can do in front of NBA scouts, coaches and executives in Las Vegas, coming into Summer League with "a lot of confidence."
"That's why I was brought in, we won a championship and I can do a bit of this, bit of that, and I think it fits well with the Phoenix Suns, so we'll see where it goes. But if not, I'll be back with the Kings to try and go back to back."
Vasiljevic and the Suns are back in action on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings from 10:00 a.m. AEST on NBA League Pass.
