When Carlik Jones extended his contract with Partizan near the end of last season, it seemed the Black and Whites had taken care of one of their biggest concerns for the year ahead. Their best player was staying in Belgrade, giving the club someone to build the new roster around.
A few months later, Jones went on social media with a question that changed the way Partizan’s summer looked:
“What are we doing? Am I the only one who thinks this isn’t normal?”
The post came only a few hours after the club parted ways with Bruno Fernando. Jones did not name anyone, he did not say whether he was more bothered by another departure being added to an already long list or by the fact that Partizan had yet to announce a single new player. He didn’t have to…
The Warning Came From the Player Who Matters Most
The important part was not only what he said, but who said it. Partizan supporters were already watching the club’s offseason with a pinch of suspicion. That was hardly surprising after a strange and unsuccessful year that ended with a semifinal exit in the Serbian league and Željko Obradović’s departure. Now the player who is supposed to be at the centre of the new team has publicly shown doubts of his own, and that changes the weight of the story.
Dwayne Washington, Nick Calathes, Dylan Osetkowski, Sterling Brown, Isaac Bonga, Aleksa Radanov, Shake Milton and Bruno Fernando have all left the club. Partizan received a $150,000 buyout for Fernando, a modest amount compared with the value of his contract and the expectations that followed his arrival. The club is also working on a separation from Jabari Parker, while Aleksej Pokuševski’s return to Belgrade looks increasingly unlikely.
For the moment, that leaves Partizan with six senior players under contract. Alongside Jones, there are Tonye Jekiri, Joffrey Lauvergne, Mitar Bošnjaković, Mario Nakić and Arijan Lakić. Captain Vanja Marinković is expected to stay, but he is still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and there is no clear timetable for his return.
By mid-July, the roster looks thin. That does not mean Partizan will necessarily end up with a poor team. An offseason is not judged by the order in which signings are announced, and a few completed deals can change the picture quickly. Partizan is expected to unveil Derek Willis, Kyle Allman, Nikola Tanasković and Kevarrius Hayes soon. Those additions will fill some of the gaps, and they will not be the last pieces of the roster. There is also speculation about the arrival of Alen Smailagić and Alessandro Pajola.
What Jones Sees Now
Jones, however, was not reacting to what might happen in a few weeks. He was reacting to what he sees now, and what he sees clearly has not convinced him. That is the real point. It does not matter whether Partizan eventually has 12 or 15 players in the rotation, what matters is how much the team’s best player knows about the roster being put together around him.
His reaction suggests that he did not expect the rebuild to go this far. Maybe the plan was not explained to him clearly enough. Maybe what is happening now does not match what he was told when he agreed to stay. Neither possibility reflects particularly well on Partizan.
Over the past two seasons, Jones has earned his place as the most important player in black and white. His contract extension was supposed to be the first major step towards building next season’s team. Now the front office has to give him a roster that can actually compete.
It is hard to believe Jones stayed in Belgrade because he wanted to go through another long period of learning new teammates, dividing responsibilities and trying to find an identity. It is even harder to believe he was satisfied with becoming the first option on a team whose ceiling would be simply taking part in the Euroleague.
The number of departures is not a surprise in itself. Last season’s team had obvious flaws and did not produce results that justified the money invested in it. After Obradović left, it was also clear that Joan Peñarroya would want a different roster, one that better suited his own ideas. Keeping players merely to create an appearance of continuity would not have served much purpose.
Another Reset, With Less Room for Patience
Still, Partizan has ended up close to another full reset. The club changed virtually the entire roster two years ago. That team won the ABA League and the Serbian championship, but fell short of expectations in the Euroleague. A large part of that group has now gone, leaving Partizan to define roles, establish a hierarchy and turn another collection of new players into a functioning team.
This time it will be even harder for Partizan to ask for patience. Obradović is no longer there to buy time with his name and authority when results do not arrive immediately. The way his era ended has also left plenty of distrust behind, and the promise of an even larger budget has only raised expectations. Partizan president Ostoja Mijailović said the club would spend more on players than it did last season, when the budget reached a record level of between €15 million and €16 million. That should leave enough room to build a serious Euroleague team.
A Market That Has Moved Away From Partizan
The market, of course, is no longer what it was. Dubai and Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Thessaloniki rivals PAOK and Aris, as well as several other clubs, have pushed prices higher, and offers that might once have been enough to secure a signature are now often just the start of the conversation. The talks with Zach LeDay are a good example. Partizan was prepared to offer him €5.2 million over two years, but Hapoel entered with an even larger bid and complicated his potential return to Belgrade. Now the job is in the fog.
That does not mean Partizan is doing a poor job. Partizan cannot control what another club is willing to pay, and it cannot convince every player to choose Humska street. Nor should every name mentioned in the media be treated as a player who slipped away on the verge of signing. Still, LeDay is not the only target that did not produce the expected outcome. Armoni Brooks came close to joining before changing his mind and signing with ASVEL. Eugene Omoruyi, Oshae Brissett and Patty Mills were also linked with Partizan, but none of those talks led where the club wanted them to go.
Some of those negotiations may never have been as advanced as they appeared from the outside. That is normal during the offseason. But when several such cases are placed alongside the number of departures and the public reaction of the team’s best player, the overall impression becomes harder to dismiss.
The Front Office Now Owes an Answer
Perhaps the impression is wrong. A good deal of work might already have been completed away from public view, with several announcements ready to follow. There is still enough time for the roster to take shape. Jones’ reaction, however, means this can no longer be dismissed as nothing more than supporter impatience and media speculation. He has been in professional basketball long enough to understand that rosters change, teammates leave and clubs sometimes make decisions players do not like. If he still felt the need to say publicly that what was happening was not normal, then something had clearly bothered him enough to speak.
In doing so, he shifted the pressure onto the front office. Bringing in big names will not be enough on its own, and last season already showed that reputation and contract value do not automatically produce a good basketball team. Partizan needs players whose games fit together, whose roles make sense and who can carry out Peñarroya’s ideas.
At the same time, the club cannot allow Jones’ message or the mood around the team to force rushed decisions. A string of quick signings made mainly to calm the public would be the worst possible response. But there is not unlimited time, either. Much of the competition has already established the core of its roster. Partizan still has to show who will share responsibility with Jones and what the new hierarchy will look like.
Does Partizan have a problem? The front office will have to provide the answer.
