Luka Samanic joins Zenit!

Zenit Basketball Сlub and Luka Samanic have agreed to terms of cooperation. The 25-year-old center, who is also capable of playing as a power forward, has signed a contract valid through the end of the 2025/26 season. Samanic will become the first Croatian player in the team from St. Petersburg.

Luka was born on January 9, 2000, in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. His father, Marko Samanic, was also a professional basketball player, and Luka himself started playing basketball at the age of 11.

At the youth level, Luka played for Zagreb, and at 16, he signed an amateur contract with Barcelona, initially joining their junior team. In the 2017/18 season — his first at the professional level — Samanic played for Barcelona B, which competed in in the second-tier Spanish league. The following season (2018/19), he joined Slovenia’s Olimpija Ljubljana, with which he won silver medals in both the Supercup and the national championship.

Samanic was a regular member of Croatia’s youth and junior national teams. In 2017, he led Croatia to gold at the FIBA Europe U18 Championship Division B, recording 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in the final against Great Britain. He was also named the tournament MVP.

Samanic was the 19th pick of the 2019 NBA draft, after being selected by the San Antonio Spurs, marking the beginning of his overseas career. From 2019 to 2021, he appeared in 36 NBA games and 39 G League games for the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s affiliate. Later, Luka also played for the Westchester Knicks and Maine Celtics, the G League teams of the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, respectively. In the spring of 2023, Samanic signed with the Utah Jazz, appearing in 50 NBA games for the Salt Lake City club.

In 2024, Luka returned to Europe. In December, he played several games for Cibona from Zagreb, then signed with Baskonia, a EuroLeague club from Spain.

During the 2024/25 season, Samanic played 21 games in the Spanish League, averaging 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds. In the EuroLeague, he appeared in 15 games, averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists.

On October 22, 2025, the center left Baskonia after playing just two Spanish League games (averaging 19.0 points and 4.0 rebounds) and five EuroLeague games (7.0 points and 2.6 rebounds) in the current season.

The Blue-White-Sky Blues are happy to welcome Luka to St. Petersburg and wish him great success as part of Zenit!