Zoran Paunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Пауновић, born 19 July 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for CS Vâlcea 1924 in the National Romanian Basketball League (LNBM).

Zoran Paunović
Sloga
PositionShooting guard
LeagueABA League
Basketball League of Serbia
Personal information
Born (2000-07-19) 19 July 2000 (age 24)
Niš, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
Listed height1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
Listed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2018–present
Career history
2018–2019Crvena zvezda mts
2018–2019FMP
2019–2020Dynamic Belgrade
2020–2021Metalac
2021–2022Podgorica
2022–presentSloga
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship
Gold medal – first place 2018 Latvia U18 Team

Early career

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Paunović started to play basketball in his hometown Niš, for the OKK Konstantin youth selections. In Summer 2014, he joined the Crvena zvezda youth. He won the second place at the 2017–18 Junior ABA League season with the Zvezda. Over six season games, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.[1] In August 2017, he participated at the Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp 16 in Netanya, Israel.[2][3]

Professional career

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In January 2018, Paunović was added to the Crvena zvezda ABA League roster for the rest of the 2017–18 season.[4] He missed to play a single game during that season. On 25 July 2018, Paunović signed a four-year professional contract with Crvena zvezda.[5][6] Prior to the 2018–19 season he was loaned out to FMP. On 28 August 2019, Crveza zvezda parted ways with him.[7]

On 11 September 2019, Paunović signed for Dynamic Belgrade.[8][9] In May 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic ban, he joined a training camp of Partizan.[10]

On 22 June 2021, Paunović signed for Podgorica.[11][12]

National team career

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Paunović was a member of the Serbian under-16 team that competed at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Poland. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.[13] Paunović was a member of the Serbian under-18 team that won the gold medal at the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Latvia. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 16.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.[14] Paunović was a member of the Serbian under-19 team that finished 7th at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Zoran Paunovic Game Statistics 2017-18". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  2. ^ "First Basketball without Borders Europe camp in Israel draws many elite players from the continent". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Basketball Without Borders - Unofficial list - 07/20/2017". eurohopes.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Alen Omić inks contract with Crvena zvezda!". aba-liga.com. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Paunović potpisao prvi profesionalni ugovor sa Zvezdom". Novosti. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Zvezda locks up ANGT Belgrade MVP Paunovic for four years". eurocupbasketball.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Zvezda: Sporazumni raskid sa Paunovićem". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. ^ "KK Dynamic VIP PAY sa zadovoljstvom predstavlja". kls.rs. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Dynamic VIP PAY sign Zoran Paunović and Bojan Tomašević". druga.aba-liga.com. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Zvezdini izdanci trenirali sa Partizanom". mozzartsport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Podgorica dovela i Zorana Paunovića". vijesti.me. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  12. ^ "KK Podgorica: Paunović novo pojačanje". gradski.me. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Serbia 10 - Zoran Paunovic". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Zoran Paunovic Point Guard". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Average Statistics of Serbia at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
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