Phoenix Suns’ Goran Dragic World Cup Adventure

Apr 14, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic (1) dribbles against the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

As we all should know, USA and several NBA players are playing in the FIBA World Cup as we speak. They have dominated, as expected, cruising through their schedule as the favorites to win the World Cup.

Unfortunately, there are no Phoenix Sun players on the USA squad. Although, there is a very recognizable name playing for a different country…

Suns’ guard, Goran Dragic, is currently playing for the Slovenian team along with his brother, Zoran Dragic. Both Goran and Zoran play a big role for Slovenia as they try to carry Slovenia during the tournament.

According to the ESPN power rankings for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Slovenia is ranked #7 while USA is ranked #1.

This is good experience for Goran as it can only help the veteran guard improve on his basketball game which can be put to good use for the Suns in the upcoming NBA season.

As for Goran’s younger brother, Zoran, he also has contributed greatly to the Slovenian squad and could, one day, see himself playing at the NBA level. In 2011, Zoran went undrafted in the NBA Draft but, recently, Zoran has received interest from NBA teams.

Tweet regarding Zoran Dragic from ESPN’s Marc Stein:

Reportedly, one of those teams are the Indiana Pacers, who, coincidently, was interested in trading for the older brother, Goran Dragic, earlier in the offseason.

While Zoran is looking to tag on with an NBA team soon, brother Goran is prepared to have another great year with the Suns after having a career season last year with an average of 20 points per game while shooting 40% from the 3-point line.

Here is the upcoming schedule for the Slovenian national team:

Tuesday, September 2nd, Korea vs. Slovenia

Wednesday, September 3rd, Slovenia vs. Angola

Thursday, September 4th, Lithuania vs. Slovenia

Just for another sidenote, Zoran Dragic actually led the Slovenian team in scoring instead of his brother during their exhibition game against team USA a few weeks back.

Here is to hoping both Dragics find success in the FIBA World Cup but, most importantly, find success in the NBA in the upcoming season.

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