Credit: Jonathan Bachman/GettyImages
Credit Jonathan Bachman/GettyImages

FC Barcelona officially announced the signing of Czech point guard Tomas Satoransky on a 4-year deal. The 30-year-old became the second team's newcomer after his countryman Jan Vesely.

Free throws this season

81%
14,1
Points made: 14,1
Accuracy: 80,9%
Place in standings: 3
Record max: 42
Record min: 4
Most made FTs: Nikola Mirotic

On this occasion, BasketNews evaluates by giving a grade from A (being the best) to F (the worst) Satoransky's transfer to the Spanish powerhouse and discusses whether it's a good and calculated signing for Barcelona.

What does Satoransky bring to the table?

With Satoransky's arrival, it's becoming clear that Nick Calathes' days in Barcelona are most likely numbered, meaning that the Czech will take the main point guard's role.

While Calathes has some elite-level strengths, including his playmaking abilities and defense, at times, Barca's offense was really sluggish. For most of the time, it had to do with Calathes' inability to shoot from deep, allowing teams to take risks and crowd the paint more.

During his 6-year NBA career, Satoransky's 3-point average (on 1.7 3PA per game) is 35.4%. Fair to say, it's not so great. However, it is still a slight upgrade over Calathes. 

How do these numbers look in FIBA court?

EuroLeague

  • 2014-15 season: 39.1% (18/46)
  • 2015-16 season: 36.6% (26/71)

EuroBasket

  • 2013: 30% (3/10)
  • 2015: 37.1% (13/35)
  • 2017: 38.5% (5/13)

World Cup

  • 2019: 45.2% (14/31)

Olympic Games and Qualifying tournament:

  • 2021: 30.3% (10/33)

Overall: 37.2% (89/239)

Looking at the overall number, Satoransky's accuracy from deep in FIBA courts is pretty good. 

Of course, the sample size is rather smaller, knowing that he played for only 2 full seasons at the highest European basketball level, while international competitions are short, with not many games being played.

Even though Satoransky's shooting might raise some questions, it is safe to assume that he will get much more respect from defenders than Calathes. And, who knows, maybe that extra spacing on the floor will be enough to make things smoother for Barca.

Speaking of Satoransky's playmaking, the downgrade, compared to Calathes, will be marginal, if any. After all, we are talking about an NBA-caliber player who also proved his worth on the national team.

Since EuroBasket 2015, Satoransky always averaged at least 6 assists per game, and it's not a coincidence that his best years in the NBA were with the Chicago Bulls in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Why's that? Because in Chicago, Satoransky was playing as a point guard. Throughout the first three seasons with the Wizards, Washington was trying to compliment Satoransky next to John Wall, playing the Czech in the shooting guard or even small forward's position.

During his first season with Chicago in 2019-20, Satoransky was the starting point guard for the Bulls and had his best year in the NBA, averaging 9.9 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game.

The following year, Coby White took Satoransky's place in the starting lineup, but Czech's production remained solid: 7.7 points and 4.7 assists per game, averaging 22.5 minutes in 58 contests.

Of course, last season was one to forget for Satoransky as he played for three different teams (New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards) and couldn't make a significant impact in any of them.

However, the biggest takeaway from this is that Satoransky proved his worth as a point guard, and there's no doubt that Sarunas Jasikevicius will use his new signing in this exact position.

Czech connection

It's no secret that point guard and center positions in Europe are considered key ones. Luckily for Barca, they will have one of the greatest Czech duo in Satoransky and Vesely.

Both of them will compete in the upcoming EuroBasket, so the chemistry between Satoransky and Vesely should be the least of a worry for Barca.

They played together in four international tournaments, with Tokyo Olympics being the latest one. As you would expect, both of them were true team leaders, putting up big numbers for the Czech Republic.

Satoransky also openly said that he would be delighted to play with Vesely on the same team.

"I'm still undecided where I'm going," Satoransky said at the end of May. "I saw that Barcelona are also interested in Jan Vesely. Of course, it would make me happy if we could play there together."

A question for Barcelona's board

The choice, Satoransky's player profile, pairing him with Vesely, and the rest of the factors as of today look really well. 

However, one question for Barcelona stands still. In October, Satoransky will mark his 31st birthday, so why a 4-year deal?

By European standards, it's a very lengthy contract that you won't see every summer. What's wrong with such duration?

Well, we mentioned the age already. Injuries happen, head coach changes happen, and veteran players' performances usually drop. These arguments might sound hypothetical, but one thing is sure – it also limits Barcelona's flexibility roster-wise.

As of today, Barcelona have at least 5 players with valid contracts for 3+ years. This number increases to 9 if we include players with contracts for 2+ years.

Obviously, just like for the past two seasons, Barcelona were and are EuroLeague title contenders. However, at the moment, it's hard to call this roster a championship-caliber team, so making much needed tweaks in the future could be a problem for Barca.

Given Satoransky's age, there are no guarantees that Barcelona won't have another Calathes situation when the player will need to be compensated for leaving the team before his deal expires.

Conclusion and transfer's grade

Barcelona definitely made one of the biggest signings of the summer so far, and there is no doubt that Satoransky will make a positive impact on the team.

Without a proper eye test, it's difficult to tell how big of an impact it will be, but given Satoransky's performances with the Czech national team, it's reasonable to expect good things.

The only question remains whether such a long contract won't bite at the end, but so far, we can call it a solid pick-up for Barcelona.

Overall grade: B

FC Barcelona

Position Player Status
PG Nick Calathes Signed until 2023
PG Rokas Jokubaitis Signed until 2023 +2
PG/SG Nicolas Laprovittola Signed until 2023
PG/SG Tomas Satoransky (story) Signed until 2026
SG Cory Higgins Signed until 2024
SG Kyle Kuric Signed until 2023
SF Alex Abrines Signed until 2026
PF Nikola Mirotic Signed until 2025
PF Sergi Martinez Signed until 2024
C Jan Vesely (story) Signed until 2025
C Sertac Sanli Signed until 2023
C Pierre Oriola Signed until 2024
C James Nnaji Long-term contract
Coach Sarunas Jasikevicius
Expired contract Dante Exum, Nigel Hayes-Davis (will not return), Rolands Smits (will not return), Brandon Davies (will not return)
Rumored to leave Nick Calathes (story), Cory Higgins
Interested Nikola Kalinic (story), Oscar Da Silva (story), Dante Exum
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