Alen Smailagić

Alen Smailagić (Ален Смаилагић; born 18 August 2000) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.

Smailagić was the youngest player in history to play in the NBA G League.

Early career
Smailagić was born in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia).

Smailagić started to play basketball with his hometown club Beko. In 2012, he joined their youth system. In the 2017–18 season, Smailagić played for Beko in the Junior Serbian League and averaged 21.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game over 19 games. He was named the Junior Serbian League MVP.

Beko (2017–2018)
Smailagić made his senior debut for Beko of the semi-professional 3rd-tier Serbian Regional League in the 2017–18 season. Over ten league games, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

Santa Cruz Warriors (2018–2019)
On 20 October 2018, Smailagić was selected as the 4th pick on the 2018 NBA G League draft by the South Bay Lakers, but he was traded right away to the Golden State Warriors-affiliated Santa Cruz Warriors, which makes him the youngest player in the history of the NBA G League. Smailagić made his debut for the Warriors on 3 November 2018, scoring 3 points in 7 minutes he spent on the court. Over 47 league games, he averaged 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Golden State Warriors (2019–2021)
Smailagić was drafted as the 39th pick of the 2019 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. He is the third international player drafted into the NBA from the NBA G League, joining Greek forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Nigerian center Chukwudiebere Maduabum, and the seventh overall to play in the NBA’s official minor league before being drafted by an NBA team. Smailagić was then traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for the draft rights to two future second-round picks along with cash considerations. Smailagić officially signed a multi-year contract with the Warriors on 11 July 2019. Smailagić made his regular-season debut on 27 December 2019, recording 4 points and a rebound in a 105–96 win over the Phoenix Suns.

On 4 August 2021, the Warriors waived Smailagić. He appeared in 29 games (one start) over two seasons with Golden State, averaging 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.7 minutes per game.

Partizan (2021–2024)
On August 6, 2021, Smailagić officially signed a three-year deal with his hometown club Partizan, under head coach Željko Obradović. During the 2022–23 season, Smailagić for the first time played in EuroLeague where Partizan was eliminated from the Real Madrid in tight playoffs series. Over the season, Smailagić averaged 5.4 points and 2 rebounds per game. Partizan ended the 2022–23 season by lifting the ABA League championship trophy, after 3–2 score against Crvena zvezda in the Finals series.

Over 2023–24 season, Smailagić averaged 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 31 EuroLeague games. The season was deemed to be unsucessful for Partizan as they finished the season without lifting any trophy.

Žalgiris (2024–present)
On 28 June 2024, Smailagić signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague.

National team career
Smailagić was a member of the Serbian under-16 national team that competed at the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Radom, Poland. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 5.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

EuroLeague

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23
 * style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"|Partizan
 * 30 || 13 || 10.7 || .555 || .465 || .629 || 2.0 || .4 || .5 || .4 || 5.4 || 5.0
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24
 * 31 || 11 || 15.9 || .598 || .462 || .737 || 2.2 || .6 || .6 || .4 || 5.5 || 6.3
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
 * 61 || 24 || 13.3 || .577 || .464 || .684 || 2.1 || .5 || .6 || .4 || 5.5 || 5.7
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
 * 61 || 24 || 13.3 || .577 || .464 || .684 || 2.1 || .5 || .6 || .4 || 5.5 || 5.7

Personal life
Smailagić's father comes from Dubovo, while his mother comes from Lipica, with both places being located in Tutin, in southwestern Serbia.