Luca Vildoza in the NBA: the intimacy of his return and what can be his role in the champion

“We deserve beautiful miracles, and they will happen...”

It was mid-February, in the preview of the two matches that Argentina had to play in Buenos Aires for the World Cup Qualifiers, and Luca Vildoza, a fan of Indio Solari and Los Redondos, repeated — smiling — that phrase from the song “Amok, Amok” in a fun back and forth with José Montesano, a Tyc Sports journalist. It was the return of the marplatense to official action, in this case with our National Team (5 points in 21 minutes against Panama and 6 in 26 against Venezuela), after undergoing an operation on his right foot, on October 5, 2021, to put an end to the pains that had suffered him to abuse in recent months. “I have been dragging this injury since before the Tokyo Games and I really went through difficult months. It was a constant, intense pain. I made this decision thinking about my future,” said the point guard. Days before the intervention, he had been disaffected from the Knicks squad after having been able to play a single game in the Las Vegas Summer League. It was immediately after the Olympic event, in which Vildoza did not play well, partly because of the pains in the foot. That's where he put an end to the ordeal. But he promised to return, after a first failed experience in New York. “This exit from the NBA is just a see you later for me. I'll do my best to come back, starting tomorrow. It is my dream and I will pursue it while I can,” he warned.

Words that marked his goal. After what happened with Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks (he earned $3.5 million but didn't even make his debut), many thought and even believed that the best thing for him was to return to Europe, especially to Spain, where he is highly respected and valued — he was MVP of the Endesa League and champion with Baskonia -, but Luca didn't want to return. First, according to what Infobae could find out, because he had to pay an important clause to play for another team other than Baskonia and second because Vitoria preferred not to return.

Luka was clear that, in order to return to the elite of world basketball, he had to go little by little and then he focused on that, designing a plan that began at home in Mar del Plata. There, at the beginning of the year, he started working alone and then going to Quilmes, the club of his beginnings. Then, in February, he moved to Buenos Aires and continued his personalized training at La Bombonerita, under the watchful eye of Nestor Che García, who had already decided to add him to the team that would face the double knockout date. He then returned to Mardel, where he continued his set-up in Quilmes until he played both matches with the national team. In Obras, Vildoza showed himself with the usual talent, but also lacking rhythm and physical condition, especially in the defeat against tough Venezuela.

“In the windows we were surprised by the speed of execution... When I accelerated it was as if I played in another speed. Logically, he was out of the rhythm of the match, but he trained well. After that, it's true, he was inaccurate in both matches and that led him to get frustrated, but best of all, he didn't have pain in his feet,” analyzed a member of the national team's coaching staff. To continue improving and looking to polish details and find the famous rhythm, after those two matches he joined the training sessions of the U18 National Team. “His level grew and the boys, except for the first day, treated him as one more, defending him strong. In those days we saw a tremendous version of Luca,” said Herman Mandole, national coordinator of training teams and head coach of the U18 who would later be the South American runner-up in Venezuela.

Vildoza also held individual sessions with Mariano Sánchez, individual coach who is part of the U18 national coaching staff but also has a great history of specific work that empowered players, including NBA players and, especially, Luis Scola in the preview of his grand 2019 World Cup. “We worked many situations that covered 70% of the court to work on physical conditioning and, at the same time, real match situations, thinking that surely in the future I should face athletic and large players, doing an arrhythmic job and looking for an improvement in what ways to go to the hoop and how to attack them,” he said. Sanchez, son of the renowned Egg who gave more details about this search.

“Luca is an elastic, fast player with a lot of change of pace, who is going well up, but we are looking to enhance another resource, that of the amagos and breaks in the floor to be able to find more opportunities for definition when it comes to meeting bigger players on their way to the hoop. We simulated different game actions, emphasizing body language on the ground, seeking greater elasticity towards the sides, more pronounced breaks and greater foot work to find the small corridors to the hoop,” said Sánchez, who finally gave a vision of how he sees him thinking about the new chance. “From the physical point of view it is very good. He took care of himself and trained a lot, I saw him great takeoff to the hoop and with reaction to accelerate and go up. Maintains mischief to cut systems and make easy annotations. I feel that he absorbed the work and that he has the pack to elevate the game as required by the NBA. There they will tell you what you need to keep improving,” he said.

While it was getting ready, between February and March, Vildoza unleaved the daisy. Ruled out Europa, he received offers from teams in the National League, an option that might seem utopian but that Luca took seriously, knowing he needed to play. With almost eight months of inactivity, I knew I couldn't afford to continue standing still. Somewhere he had to play and, although the priority was his return to the NBA, if nothing came, ending the season playing for a team in Argentina was a firm choice in his mind. Just then Milwaukee appeared, a team that has been following him for years through its international recruiters.

In this case, with a plus: the marplatense has the same agency (Octagon) as Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek who is the superstar of the team and the NBA. That paved a way for the chance, none other than the champion. This is how a contract was closed for the remainder of the season in exchange for $51,347 —prorated salary, according to the remaining matches, according to the Spotrac site- and the next one, for $2,190,797, although in the case of 22/23 it is not guaranteed - they can cut it without paying you anything, although they do not exchange it until 7/5/22-. In addition, it is necessary to add a qualifying offer for 23/24 of 2,190,797, which would allow the player to not be a free agent without restrictions - the team maintains the right of refusal. All this is what Luca signed on Wednesday, already in the most important city in the state of Wisconsin, where the point guard is waiting for his debut, probably these days — it could be this Sunday in Cleveland, in the last game of the regular phase.

The situation, then, is very similar to that of the Knicks, which did not end well for Luca. First because it arrives in the final part of the season, days after the start of the playoffs, when the teams are already armed and rolled, it is very unlikely that they will make a place for it in the rotation. Thibodeau, coach from NY, didn't even register him for the postseason and at the Bucks it looks like it will be different. That was announced by the journalist who gave the scoop, the prestigious Adrian Wojnarowski. But from the Vildoza environment they assured “that promise does not exist”.

Even so, the chances of playing are few. Because the Bucks already have three bases (Hrue Holiday, starter and figure, veteran George Hill comes out as a substitute and the third is Jevon Carter, who performed well in Hill's absence due to injury) and three guards (Wesley Matthews, starter, Pat Connaughton and Grayson Allen, as reserves). Coach Mike Budenholzer, key in Manu's formation as a player when he was Gregg Popovich's assistant at the Spurs, shortened the rotation to nine players in these last matches of the regular phase, thinking about the postseason and it seems very difficult to make a place for a player who comes with little pace of competition, such as Vildoza. Hope is the precedent of last year, when Milwaukee signed a player from Europe (of course, with much more shooting, being a figure of Macabbi Tel Aviv) at the end of the regular phase and Budenholzer made him a place. This is Elijah Bryant, a guard from the same agency (Octagon) who made his debut in just the last game of the regular phase and then, during the playoffs, had some income (although limited: he never played more than 9 minutes). That antecedent, very curious in the NBA, arouses excitement, despite the difference in pace between that Bryant and the current Vildoza.

The international recruiters of the Bucks, Infobae learned, have been putting together reports on Vildoza for years, since before the 2019 World Cup, and Milwaukee feels that this was the time to test Luca. “They consider it a talent and they want to have a very long team with options that complement Giannis. Today the team revolves around him, he is well armed but perhaps they think that Vildoza has to give him, based on the greater magic and creativity of the shipowners he has, knowing the shot he has as well. They think about just that, about having one more creator on the court and someone who can shoot when it's open. It is also true that, because of the contract, the Bucks do not lose anything. Neither of us would say. Luca, on the one hand, has one more chance, even if it's not that important. And Milwaukee can get a close look at a talent that catches its attention,” says a source who knows the franchise.

It would seem, then, that Luca's biggest chance will be in next preseason, as happened in NY. That time, after going to Tokyo, he didn't get well and could only play a friendly. “Yes, the Bucks goes to a kind of test, with few certainties. But in his favor he has that in Milwaukee and the NBA, Luca is very well regarded, more than in Europe and I would even tell you more that they valued Facundo (Campazzo) before playing in Denver. They see their game very NBA,” they assured Infobae from the player's inner circle.

Finally, it also analyzes the complexity that this competition has when it comes to analyzing movements. “The NBA is rare and there are things that are not understood from a more Latino perspective. Look what happened to Campazzo, who went from having big games to not playing. Or the thing about Deck, who was taken out of Real by paying a major termination clause and then had almost no chance of playing, losing it with his return to Spain. And if you look at who that team (Oklahoma City) is betting on, you see that they are boys inferior to Tortuga today, but that maybe in years they will be stars. There are many teams that follow that path, the one that the Bucks traveled with Giannis, for example. The Greek came eight years ago as a kid, with 18, a whole project, and two years ago he is the most decisive player in the NBA. That case broke the market and today it is called the NBA Process,” commented a scout who knows how several of the franchises think and act today.

For now, today it is celebrated that another Argentine will have a new chance. Opportunities that don't abound. Now it will be up to Vildoza to take advantage and earn a place among those who play every night to make this new commitment to return to the elite worthwhile.

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