Sasha Pavlović
Саша Павловић

Pavlović with the Celtics
No. 3 – Portland Trail Blazers
Small forward / Shooting guard
Personal information
Born	(1983-11-15) November 15, 1983 (age 29) Bar, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2003 / Round: 1 / Pick: 19th overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Pro career	2000–present
League	NBA
Career history
2000–2003	Budućnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
2003–2004	Utah Jazz
2004–2009	Cleveland Cavaliers
2009–2010	Minnesota Timberwolves
2011	Dallas Mavericks
2011	New Orleans Hornets
2011–2012	Boston Celtics
2012–present	Portland Trail Blazers
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Aleksandar "Sasha" Pavlović (Serbian: Александар Саша Павловић, born November 15, 1983) is a Serbian^[1] professional basketball player who currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

European career [edit]

Budućnost Podgorica [edit]

In his first season for Budućnost, Pavlović played in 14 games in the YUBA League and averaged 1.4 points per game. In his second season, Pavlović played in three games in the YUBA League and averaged 6.7 points. Also, Pavlović played two games in the Euroleague.

In his last season in Podgorica, Pavlović played in 20 games in the YUBA League and averaged 10.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Pavlović averaged 9.6 points on 54% shooting for Budućnost Podgorica in the Euroleague, including a season high 21 points against Tau Ceramica.

NBA career [edit]

Utah Jazz (2003-04) [edit]

Pavlović was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 19th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. His American agent Marc Cornstein issued a clarification in response to a misleading Eurobasket.com biography mixing Aleksandar Pavlović with an Aleksander Pavlović who played college basketball at La Salle University and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.^[2]

In 79 games played (14 starts), Pavlović averaged 4.8 points and 2.0 rebounds. He scored a season high 18 points on December 3, 2003 against the Houston Rockets and grabbed nine rebounds on two occasions.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2004-09) [edit]

Pavlović was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the expansion draft on June 22, 2004,^[3] and was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a first round draft pick the next day.^[4][5] In 65 games played (nine starts), Pavlović averaged 4.8 points and 1.1 rebounds. He scored a season high 17 points on two occasions and scored in double digits on nine occasions.^[6]

In 53 games of the 2005-06 season, he started 19 times and averaged 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds. He scored a season high 21 points on February 21, 2006 against the Orlando Magic.^[7] Pavlović played three minutes over three playoff games and recorded only one rebound.

In 67 games played (28 starts) in 2006-07, Pavlović averaged a career high 9.0 points, along with 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. He scored 20 points or more on seven occasions, including a new career-high 25 points on March 13, 2007 against the Sacramento Kings.^[8] Approximately two weeks later, Pavlović had a career high six three point field goals made (of 7 attempts) against the New York Knicks.^[9] After occasional starts in the beginning of 2007, Pavlović was installed as the Cavaliers' starting shooting guard on March 1, 2007 and started the remaining 24 regular season games. As a starter, Pavlović averaged 12.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Pavlović started all 20 of Cavaliers' 2007 playoff games. He had playoff highs of 17 points in a game 2 victory over the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals^[10] and nine rebounds in a Game 5 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.^[11]

In the 2007 offseason Pavlović was a restricted free agent. On November 2, 2007 after nearly a month holdout he signed a three year, $13.7 million extension with the Cavaliers.^[12] Pavlović injured his left foot on January 23, 2008 in a game against the Washington Wizards.^[13][14] He returned against the New Jersey Nets on March 12.^[15] He started but was held scoreless in 9 minutes of action.^[16] On March 14. Pavlović had a season-high 24 points on against the Washington Wizards.^[17] He and scored double digit points in 15 total games.^[18]

During the 2007-08 season, Pavlović played in 51 games (45 starts) and averaged 7.4 points, a career high 2.5 rebounds and a career high 1.6 assists. In eight playoff games, Pavlović averaged 3.5 points and 1.3 rebounds.

In the following 2008-09 season, the Cavaliers were beaten by the Orlando Magic, in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, 4 games to 2. Pavlović became trade bait as talks with the Phoenix Suns were rekindled from earlier in the season and on June 25, 2009, Pavlović, Ben Wallace, and the 46th overall pick were traded to Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal.^[19]

On September 14, 2009, he was bought out by the Suns.^[20]

Minnesota Timberwolves [edit]

On September 16, Pavlović signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[21] In 71 games, he averaged 3.7 points per game.

Dallas Mavericks [edit]

Following the finish of his contract with the Timberwolves, Pavlović became a free agent. He did not manage to find a club at the beginning of the season, but, following Caron Butler's season-ending knee injury, Pavlović signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks on January 10, 2011.^[22] Pavlovic started his first game for the Mavs on the last day of his contract, scoring 11 points in the Mavericks 109-100 win over the Lakers. He was later signed to a second 10-day contract, but was released after the contract expired.^[23]

New Orleans Hornets [edit]

After not signing with the Dallas Mavericks for the remainder of the season, he signed a ten-day contract with the New Orleans Hornets. He did not re-sign with the team after his contract ended.

Boston Celtics (2011-2012) [edit]

On March 3, 2011, Pavlović signed with the Boston Celtics.^[24] In his first appearance with Boston on March 6, 2011 in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. He played 12 minutes going 1-2 for three and 1-3 overall, scoring 3 points and having 2 steals. His contract expired following the 2011 playoffs and he returned to Montenegro to work out for the summer.^[25] Upon the end of the 2011 NBA lockout, Pavlović resigned with the Celtics. The 2011-12 NBA season opened on Christmas Day 2011 and Pavlović started for an injured Paul Pierce. He played 15 minutes without attempting a shot or scoring a point.^[26] In 45 games (7 as starter), he averaged 2.7 points in 11.7 minutes per game. In the second to last game of the season, a 78-66 win over the Heat, Pavlović scored 16 points off the bench.^[27]

Portland Trail Blazers (2012-present) [edit]

On July 20, 2012, Pavlović was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three team deal.^[28]

International career [edit]

Pavlović was a member of the Serbia and Montenegro under-20 national team and played at the 2002 European Under-20 Championships. He was a member of the Serbia and Montenegro 2004 Olympic Team, playing in four games, averaging 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds.

Personal [edit]

In an interview, Pavlović said, "People always ask me if I’m Serbian or Montenegran [sic]. It’s the same thing. They change the name every year, but it's the same thing. I’m Serbian."^[1]

NBA career statistics [edit]

Regular season [edit]

Playoffs [edit]

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saša Pavlović

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com
• ESPN.com Profile - Aleksandar Pavlovic