Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade has confirmed that Stefan Lazarevic has penned a new three-year deal with the club, keeping him under contract until the end of the 2025-26 season. Lazarevic (1.98 meters, 26 years old) is a graduate of Zvezda's academy, but he has only spent the last two seasons in the first-team squad. During the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, Lazarevic made 30 appearances, starting 18 times, and averaged 2.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and a 2.5 PIR in 17:54 minutes on the floor.
Stefan Lazarevic extends stay at Zvezda to 2026
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A patient journey to Zvezda's first team
Lazarevic first became known among Zvezda fans after winning the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in 2014, as the club's under-18 side defeated Real Madrid's juniors 55-42 in Italy. That day, a 17-year-old Lazarevic had 2 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. After making his professional debut with Zvezda's first team in March 2014 during an ABA League fixture, the summer of 2014 saw him move on loan to FMP, where he remained for three seasons.
Upon his return to Zvezda in 2017, Lazarevic went on to make his EuroLeague debut in the 2017-18 campaign, playing limited minutes across four appearances at the start of the season. The following campaign saw Lazarevic return to FMP on another loan deal, as he continued his development there between 2018 and 2021.
Then, since the summer of 2021, Lazarevic has been a regular member of Zvezda's first-team roster, appearing in 51 EuroLeague games over the last two seasons. In the 2021-22 campaign, he averaged 2.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and a 2.3 PIR in 12:26 minutes through 21 games, of which five were as a starter. Last season, he set personal highs for games played (30), games started (21), total minutes (537:10), total points (82), total rebounds (83), total assists (16) and accumulated PIR (76).