Another Eurobasket champion for Barça. The Barça club has signed guard Darío Brizuela, from Unicaja, after paying the entity from Malaga its termination clause of 1.2 million euros. The Barcelona team thus adds to its ranks a new gold medalist with the Spanish team in the last European Championship, after incorporating Willy Hernangómez, for whom Madrid did not exercise the right of first refusal, and paying Joventut one million for forward Joel Parra.
Brizuela, 28 years old and 1.88m tall, reinforces the Barça outside game after the departure of Kyle Kuric and before the possible departure of Corey Higgins, another player with a high salary (like Mirotic ) that Barcelona fans can try to save themselves. The group that Roger Grimau will train next season adds a good shooter, a mobile pawn who, with Sergio Scariolo’s team, perfectly fulfilled the role of agitator in the past Eurobasket at those moments in which the Spanish attack was thicker . Brizuela averaged 7.9 points, 1.6 assists and a 33% success rate on three-pointers (11 of 33) in the European championship, records similar to those of his last year in the ACB with Unicaja: 9.2 points , 2.2 assists and 30% in the foreign throw (curiously his lowest percentage in this facet in the domestic competition since the 2016-17 academic year). In both scenarios, with an average of 15 minutes on the court.
[𝐔́𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐀]
Dario Brizuela, new blaugrana incorporation 💙❤
— Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) July 13, 2023
The basketball player born in San Sebastián and forged at Estudiantes until he signed for Unicaja in 2019, has completed the best months of his career. To gold with Spain, his first title with the absolute (in 2014 he hung a silver in a European sub-20), he joined the Copa del Rey won with Malaga, also his debut in the club record, in addition to being a finalist in the Champions League and a semifinalist in the Endesa League under the command of coach Ibon Navarro. In the Cup, he hammered Barcelona with 27 points in the quarterfinals, a duel that he was about to not play because he almost lost the tournament due to the illness of his son Bruno, then one month old and hospitalized. The Basque had already scored 33 points against Barça in the same cup round in 2021, although on that occasion it was not enough to reach the semifinals.
👏 𝔾ℝ𝔸ℂ𝕀𝔸𝕊, 𝔻𝔸ℝÍ𝕆👏
*100 013*From the Club we wish you all the best on a professional and personal level
🤗 Málaga will always be your home
💚💜 #YoSoyDelUnicaja #GraciasDarío @basquemamba pic.twitter.com/uoJQkKvX9r
— UnicajaCB (@unicajaCB) July 13, 2023
At Unicaja, Brizuela’s departure surprised because in April he renewed his contract until 2026, confirmed as one of the most important pieces of the cupbearer champion. Now, however, he lands in a Barcelona that redoubles its commitment to national talent along with Willy and Joel Parra. Brizuela has been summoned to play the next World Cup with Spain (from August 25 to September 10), within a call by Scariolo that keeps 10 Eurobasket champions as the common thread (among the 16 there will be four discards). Like Parra, and like Alberto Díaz and Jaime Fernández, with whom he coincided at Unicaja, Brizuela is part of that generational change that skipped all the forecasts with the gold in Berlin and that ahead of him faces the World Cup this summer and the Games Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Before that, it will be his turn to debut in the Euroleague, another step forward in his career.
Barça covers the profile that he tried to tie with the signing of Kevin Punter, an American shooting guard who finally decided renew his contract with Partizan led by Zeljko Obradovic. Brizuela also offers impudence in attack and a good dose of character. In the Palau, the focus on him will be greater.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
