Free agent wing Svi Mykhailiuk, whose guaranteed minimum-salary contract was waived by Toronto a couple of weeks ago, is prioritizing an NBA return over European opportunities, according to Christos Tsaltas of Greek outlet SDNA (translation via Google Translate).
The No. 47 overall pick of the 2018 draft, Mykhailiuk has bounced around a bit during his four-year NBA tenure, having played for the Lakers, Pistons, Thunder and Raptors. He had a down season in 2021/22 and didn’t receive much playing time for the Raptors, which is why they waived him, but he’s got good size at 6’7″ and 205 pounds, is only 25 years old, and is a career 35.3% three-point shooter — a decent mark.
Mykhailiuk just finished suiting up for Ukraine’s national team at EuroBasket, averaging 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals on .400/.341/.842 shooting in six games (29.2 minutes). Ukraine was eliminated by Poland in the round of 16, with Mykhailiuk saying afterward that he hoped the team gave the war-torn nation a welcome distraction despite the loss.
According to Tsaltas, Mykhailiuk’s top priority as a free agent is finding another NBA team, noting that he’s spent several years stateside, having played four years of college at Kansas prior to his NBA career. If he’s unable to find a roster spot, Tsaltas writes that Mykhailiuk hasn’t ruled out a G League stint with the goal of returning to the NBA. Mykhailiuk scored 40 points on .478/.438/1.000 shooting in his lone G League game last season with the Raptors 905.
Mykhailiuk is drawing interest from European clubs, but is focused on the NBA and isn’t expected to consider a return to Europe until he exhausts all NBA possibilities, Tsaltas adds. In 220 career games (40 starts, 17.0 minutes), Mykhailiuk holds averages of 6.6 points and 1.8 rebounds on .398/.353/.785 shooting.
