Goga Bitadze Net Worth And Salary As Indiana Pacers Center

Goga Bitadze’s net worth has risen to millions of dollars as a result of his three-year contract with the Indiana Pacers.

Nevertheless, as November 1 is the deadline for clubs to decide on rookie-scale contract club options for upcoming seasons, the Pacers have yet to determine whether to pick up or drop Bitadze’s $4.8 million option for the 2022–23 season.

Measured at 7 ft 0 in and 250 lbs, Bitadze is a center who was picked 18th overall by the Pacers in the 2019 NBA draft. In the VTB United League, Bitadze, a Sagarejo native, began his professional basketball career with VITA Tbilisi.

He joined the Serbian club Mega Basket in 2015, and the following year, he went on loan to Smederevo in the 1953 Serbian League. When Bitadze returned to Mega in 2017–18, he was voted the Junior ABA League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and emerged as an integral part of the senior squad.

Similarly, he was designated a EuroLeague Rising Star for the 2018–19 season before being loaned to Budunost in Montenegro after 2018. 

Bitadze, a basketball player for Georgia, was selected for the national team at EuroBasket 2017 and made his FIBA World Cup qualifying debut the same year.

Goga Bitadze Net Worth: How Much Does The NBA Player Earn?

According to Spotrac, Goga Bitadze’s net worth and lifetime earnings are estimated to be above $4 million, which are mostly acquired from his career as a footballer. 

Similarly, the website reported that Bitadze agreed to a four-year, $13,638,019 contract with the Indiana Pacers, which included a $13,638,019 guarantee and an average salary of $3,409,505.

On April 20, 2019, the Indiana Pacers revealed that they had signed center Goga Bitadze to a contract; however, the agreement’s specifics were not made public.

Likewise, on June 19, at the draft’s media availability, Bitadze was featured in a popular image that reporters overlooked while they swarmed Zion Williamson, the eventual first overall choice, in the backdrop.

Several NBA stars, including Dwyane Wade and Draymond Green, advised him to use the photograph as inspiration.

The Indiana Pacers selected Bitadze as the 18th overall choice in the 2019 NBA Draft, and the Pacers confirmed his signing on July 15, 2019.

Basically, on October 28, 2019, Bitadze marked his NBA debut, scoring two points and grabbing a rebound in a 99–110 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Goga Bitadze Salary As Indiana Pacers Center

Following the signing of his deal with the Indiana Pacers, Goga Bitadze received a yearly salary of almost $4 million.

According to Forbes, the Pacers’ salary-cap predicament may be the most important factor in the decision to pick up Bitadze’s club option.

Barring several cost-cutting moves, Indiana will probably be over the salary limit the next summer before signing a single player.

Without cap space, the Pacers are unlikely to sign a player for $4.8 million (Bitadze’s contract) next summer unless they use their mid-level exception (MLE), a salary cap option available to over-the-cap clubs.

Whatever the Pacers do with Bitadze‘s option, they will have that exception open to them, thus keeping the Georgian big man has little impact on the Pacers’ spending ability next summer. They can employ the MLE with or without Bitadze on the team.

On October 8, 2016, Bitadze made his NBA debut against Borac Acak and finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds. And during the 2016–17 ANGT, he took on a captain’s position for the Mega Basket junior squad.

Additional Salary Cap Rule

Another complicated salary cap regulation specifies that even if the Pacers choose not to exercise Bitadze’s fourth-year club option, they are only permitted to sign him to a contract with a maximum value of $4.8 million for the upcoming season.

Just Indiana would have that salary cap in this case as they turned down Bitadze’s option, making him an unrestricted free agent who could sign with other clubs for a higher price, per Forbes. 

Declining Bitadze’s contract would severely limit the Pacers’ ability to re-sign him if he progresses during his third season, which is a year when numerous young players have eventually taken off. Because of this, it’s a tremendous risk.

NBA Star Goga Bitadze Inked With Mega Basket In 2015

Bitadze reached an agreement with Mega Basket on December 2, 2015, which is in the ABA League and the Basketball League of Serbia (KLS).

He was enticed to the team because it had given rise to several NBA stars, including Nikola Joki and Ivica Zubac, and because he believed the Serbian league was “properly administered.”

Moreover, Bitadze was on loan to KLS-affiliated Smederevo 1953 of Serbia for the 2016–17 campaign, and throughout his 19 games, he had an overall average of 10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks.

In addition, he took on a leadership position for the Mega Basket junior squad in the 2016–17 ANGT and made the All-Tournament Team after averaging 17.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game.

Additionally, at the 2016–17 ANGT, he took on a leadership position for the Mega Basket junior squad.

Bitadze Rise To Stardom With The Senior Team

The 23-year-old rejoined Mega at the start of the 2017–18 campaign and primarily played for the senior squad.

Bitadze scored 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game through 22 games in the ABA League, while he averaged 15.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game through 12 games in the KLS.

He continues to play for Mega to begin the 2018–19 campaign. On August 11, 2018, Bitadze was injured during an exhibition game against NCAA Division I team Kentucky and could not recover.

Goga Bitadze Career As A National Team Player

At the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Tournament Division B, Bitadze competed for the Georgian national under-17 squad, scoring 14.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per match on the way to a fifth-place title.

Again for the Georgian under-18 squad in the 2016 FIBA Europe Under-18 Cup Division B, Bitadze averaged 11.4 points, 10.2 blocks, and 4.1 rebounds a game.

He had the finest performance of the tournament on August 6, 2016, when he defeated Bulgaria 103-101 with 23 points, 9 blocks, and 13 rebounds.

Moreover, in 2017, Bitadze made a comeback to the national squad, scoring 10.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per match in Division B of the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

In his senior year, Bitadze was nominated to Georgia’s senior national squad for EuroBasket 2017; however, a calf ligament injury caused him to miss the entire tournament.

Nonetheless, through seeing his senior colleagues, notably Zaza Pachulia and Giorgi Shermadini, he “gained knowledge on and off the court.”

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