Former Kansas University basketball center Sasha Kaun — who has made over $1 million a season playing for Russian Superleague Club CSKA Moscow the past three years — is in no hurry to switch to the NBA.
“I think every player that plays the game wants to be in the NBA and over here,” the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Kaun said Thursday in an interview in Allen Fieldhouse. “But the biggest thing and the most scary part is if you don’t play. There you know you are one of the better players and always play.
“As long as I’m having fun and getting good pay out of it ... European basketball is growing a lot. A lot of good players come there and play. Whatever I’ve done so far ... I’ve been pretty blessed. Continuing on would be fine for me.”
Kaun — he has one year left on his deal in his homeland of Russia — remains the property of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, who acquired his draft rights from Seattle in the 2008 NBA Draft.
There’s a buyout in Kaun’s contract that would enable Cleveland to sign him when the current lockout is lifted and a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.