Dubai GM Dejan Kamenjasevic welcomed the idea of Nikola Jokic joining the EuroLeague in the future and denied that the club ever pursued Russell Westbrook.
Dubai Basketball general manager Dejan Kamenjasevic has weighed in on Panathinaikos Athens owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos’ ambitious attempt to bring Nikola Jokic to Greece.
Position
C
Age
31
Height
208 cm
Weight
111 kg
Birth place
Sombor, Serbia
In a lengthy interview with Mozzart Sport, Kamenjasevic discussed the growing financial power of European clubs, Dubai’s own spending reputation, and the possibility of even bigger names eventually making the move from the NBA to Europe.
Kamenjasevic welcomes potential Jokic move
While discussing Panathinaikos’ aggressive approach on the market, Kamenjasevic said he would have no issue with the Greek powerhouse making an even bigger splash in the future.
“What Panathinaikos have done is legitimate to me. God willing, let them sign Jokic next year. God willing. That would be good for the EuroLeague,” Kamenjasevic said.
“That is how I look at it. I don’t look at it like, ‘What are they doing now? What is this?’ Great. Great if they do it.”
The Dubai executive used Panathinaikos as an example while pushing back against the narrative surrounding his own club’s spending.
“But don’t constantly mention Dubai in a negative context because of money, when money is absolutely not the most important thing,” he added.
Kamenjasevic acknowledged that Dubai have increased their budget but maintained that the club is not among the biggest spenders in the competition.
“Imagine if Dubai said we made Jokic an offer” 
Dejan Kamenjasevic
Credit Dubai Basketball
Kamenjasevic had already brought up Jokic earlier in the interview while discussing the different reactions to transfer rumors involving Dubai.
He questioned how the basketball public would respond if his club publicly claimed to have approached the Serbian superstar.
“When a club owner comes out and publicly says that he made Jokic an offer, that’s fine. We all applaud and say, ‘What a great guy, what a great person,'” Kamenjasevic said.
“Imagine if Dubai had done that. Imagine if I came out and said, ‘We made Jokic an offer.’ How would you look at us? What would happen?”
When the interviewer suggested that people would probably assume Dubai had offered Jokic $200 million, Kamenjasevic agreed.
“Exactly. That’s it,” he responded.
“Westbrook was “never” an option for Dubai
The conversation came while Kamenjasevic was addressing reports that had linked former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook with both Dubai and Hapoel.
Kamenjasevic firmly denied that Dubai had ever pursued him.
“First of all, I don’t like it because it’s a lie. Let me say that immediately. Who can bring Westbrook to Dubai or Hapoel?” he said.
He then made clear there had been no contact with the player or his representatives.
“They linked us with Westbrook. Okay, great. Westbrook, whom I neither know nor know his agent, we never contacted him,” Kamenjasevic said.
According to Kamenjasevic, Dubai’s name can sometimes be used in transfer speculation because of the perception surrounding the club’s financial power.
“Of course, they can also create their own schemes that way because of Dubai, because Dubai is a name which, when you mention it, might improve your contract somewhere else,” he explained.
“We cannot influence that. I really cannot influence that.”
Kamenjasevic nevertheless left the door open for Dubai to pursue an even bigger name at some point in the future.
“You know who we bring in or who we want to bring in, and you know what vision we have. I didn’t say that in the future we won’t bring in an even bigger name,” he concluded.
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