Player Profile: Haris Bratanović

The season has most likely already ended for one of the biggest Belgian prospects around as Haris Bratanovic has terminated his contract with Barcelona, making him a Free-Agent.

Bratanovic had been unhappy with the limited playing time he was receiving this season and felt like staying with the club would slow down his development as a player.

Whether Bratanovic will be able to find a new team to finish the current season still remains to be seen since at this stage of the competitions most teams have already spent their budget for the season. Or he should find a spot as a medical-joker somewhere. Bratanovic himself wants to return to Belgium and find himself on a roster of a EuroMillions Basketball team next season. So to all EMBL teams: if you want one of the biggest Belgian prospects on your roster next season, it might be wise to already offer him a contract right now, because I have no doubt that Bratanovic will be a highly sought-after player on the market for next season.

The 2m08 tall Center started his basketball career at the age of 7 at Gent-Oost Eagles. In 2015 he then joined Melle before signing with BBC Falco Gent where he stayed from 2016 on to 2018. While at Falco Bratanovic was ‘discovered’ by the federation and got his first call-up for the U16 National Team and in the summer of 2017 competed in the European Championship with them where he averaged a solid double-double (13.3 ppg & 10.5 rpg) over the course of the tournament. The following summer he moved on to the U18 National Team and even got his first minutes with the Belgian Lions in a game against Russia. After that summer we then saw Bratanovic leave Falco Gent to sign with the second team of FC Barcelona who was then playing in the Spanish Second Division. In his first season there he averaged 2.5 ppg & 3.8 rpg in 12.6 mpg and was a dominant factor for their U18 team that competed in the Next Gen Euroleague tournament (17 ppg & 10 rpg).

This season Barcelona had dropped to the Spanish third Division and Bratanovic’s minutes dropped along with it to 8.3 mpg in which he averaged 2.9 ppg & 2.4 rpg. Clearly nothing compared to the type of numbers Bratanovic was putting down for the U20 NT when they competed at the EC this summer. While leading Belgium to the bronze medal in Division B Bratanovic averaged 13.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg & 1.6 apg in 21.0 mpg.

At TIB we certainly wish him all the best and hopefully he’ll get the chance to get back into action for some team even before the current season ends.

2019-’20 Season Highs (FC Barcelona):
Record: 6-10
Full Stat-line: 2.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.3 spg & 0.1 bpg in 8.3 mpg
Points: 12 pts (vs. Albacete, 28/09/2019)
Rebounds: 8 rebs (@ Villarrobledo, 4/01/2020)
Assists: 1 ast (6 times)
Steals: 2 stls (vs. Girona, 6/10/2019)
Blocks: 1 blk (vs. La Roda, 14/12/2019)

2019 European Championship Highs (Belgium U20):
Record: 5-2
2 Double-Doubles
Full Stat-line: 13.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.4 spg & 0.7 bpg in 21.0 mpg
Points: 20 pts (@ Netherlands, 19/07/2019)
Rebounds: 14 rebs (vs. Luxemburg, 13/07/2019)
Assists: 3 asts (2 times)
Steals: 1 stl (3 times)
Blocks: 2 blks (vs. Luxemburg, 13/07/2019)