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Priority objective of Valencia Basket and more since the arrival of Joan Peñarroya to the Taronja bench, Jasiel Rivero (2.06 m.) Was announced yesterday as the new signing of the Taronja club, hours after being released from San Pablo Burgos after depositing the clause termination of 150,000 euros to break his contract and be able to sign for another club.
Valencia Basket is thus reinforced with one of the most sought-after interiors on the market despite the interest of other Euroleague clubs such as Bayern Munich and Fenerbahce.
The Peñarroya factor has been one of the great assets that Valencia Basket has exploited in the negotiation, since with the Terrassa coach he gave his best performance in recent years in Burgos, being key in the achievement of the two Basketball Champions trophies League and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The Burgos club itself yesterday his separation from the entity highlighting “his great work on the track and his attitude in and out of the dressing room during the time he remained at the club.”
With his arrival and except for market surprises, the Taronja club would close its squad for next season after the arrivals of Dimitrijevic, López-Arostegui and Víctor Claver.
Upward trajectory
After a complex start in Burgos due to his non-EU status, Jasiel Rivero began his stage in Spain playing mainly in the Champions League, entering the Endesa League regularly from more or less half of the season. His hole in the rotation was consolidated over the weeks.
In his second and final season, this past 2020-21, his performance and explosion were clear from the start, playing 35 games in the Endesa League with averages of 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in a historic year for the team. , where it managed to qualify for the first time in its history for the Copa del Rey and PlayOff for the title.
His great performance earned him the nomination in the second best quintet of the Endesa League 21-22 along with Cory Higgins and Nikola Mirotic (Barça), Rokas Giedraitis (Baskonia) and Melo Trimble (Urbas Fuenlabrada).
His numbers even grew in the brilliant Champions League won for the second time, where he averaged 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in the 13 games he was on the floor. His great work earned him also to be chosen in the second best quintet of the Champions League together with the forward of Zaragoza, Dylan Ennis.
Kalinic, to the Red Star
The day of the 35th anniversary of Valencia Basket not only had a signing as a gift but it also came with a farewell, that of Nikola Kalinic. The minimal options that had to continue in the club disappeared yesterday definitively, since the Serbian forward has signed for the Red Star of Belgrade for the next two seasons.
He already played 76 games wearing the club’s colors, in which he was recognized as MVP of the month of February in the Euroleague, being the first Taronja player to get this award.
After being left out of the Top-8 on the last day of the Regular League, Kalinic had already expressed to the club his desire to leave Valencia Basket for a club with Euroleague, hence the sports managers of the taronja club planned the next season without counting with him and reinforce the position with Víctor Claver and Xabier López-Arostegui, although the Basque could have many minutes of guard.
Despite Barça’s interest, the Serbian chose to return to his country.
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