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According to the Sportando blog, Zaza Pachulia reached an agreement with Turkish team Galatasaray Istanbul, where he will be playing until the end of the NBA lockout. Pachulia spent the last eight seasons in the NBA averaging 6.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg in 579 games. He’s played with the Atlanta Hawks since the 2005-06 season.
Spirou Charleroi tried to sign him as well, but Pachulia preferred to pen a deal in Istanbul, the city where he grew up.
The deal will be official soon.
— Reported by Sportando
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Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will not play for the Sydney Kings or any other Australian team due to insurance issues, Bogut’s agent, David Bauman, confirmed Thursday.
Bogut had hoped to play for the Sydney team in the Australian national league (NBL). Two other teams – Adelaide and Gold Coast – also had expressed interest in signing Bogut.
Bauman said Bogut needed coverage for the $39.5 million and three years remaining on the 7-foot center’s contract with the Bucks.
“If Andrew goes back with a broken leg or a broken ankle, the Bucks might say, ‘Cancel the contract,’ ” Bauman said in a phone interview Thursday. “This is something players get, but the Bucks still might be in a position, given a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement), to terminate the deal.
“There was no way to resolve that type of issue. It was too much of a risk.”
— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
One week after suffering a heart attack, Sabonis was released from a Lithuania hospital, according to several international news reports.
The towering 7-foot-3 Sabonis apparently left in good spirits after his health scare.
“The doctors told me, ‘You can’t smoke, you can’t drink, you can’t play basketball.’ So of the things I like, only sex is left,” Sabonis told reporters Tuesday outside the hospital where he was treated in Kaunas, his hometown.
— Reported by Joe Freeman of The Oregonian
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Andrew Bogut has committed to joining the Sydney Kings on the provision he is able to secure an insurance policy for his whopping $39 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bogut had been linked to short-term deals with several NBL clubs while the NBA lockout over a pay dispute continues, but today the Australian Boomers star confirmed that Sydney was his club of choice.
He will not be available for the season opener between the Kings and old rivals Melbourne tomorrow night because the insurance situation is yet to be resolved.
— Reported by the The West Australian
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As N.B.A. players and owners struggled to prevent a labor dispute from disrupting the regular season, one star player did something novel: he played in a basketball game that mattered.
Deron Williams, the Nets’ point guard, was here Tuesday night with his teammates on Besiktas Milangaz, a professional team from Istanbul playing a game in the Eurocup, a second-tier intercontinental competition.
Perhaps Williams wished he had been back at the negotiating table. In a 74-63 loss to host Dexia Mons-Hainaut, he finished with 7 points, 7 assists and 6 turnovers. He shot 3 of 13 from the floor. The loss eliminated Besiktas from the tournament.
“Didn’t give my team much of a chance,” he said…
Asked if he was still adjusting to the European game, Williams said: “I mean, I’ve played in a lot of European basketball. I’ve played in the Olympics. But this is definitely different. The way the reffing has been going has been different for me, but I’ve got to adjust.”
— Reported by Jake Appleman, contributing to the New York Times
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Claudio Sabatini, owner of Virtus Bologna, confirmed at Radiofuturoshow Station that he had another conference call with Kobe’s agent and that it is real the hypotesis ‘one game’ for Bryant. ‘Last night we had another conference call with Bryant’s agent. Now we just have to wait the contract. We accepted his financial request and we submitted him two different proposals, for one game or for 40 days. Now the decision is up to him. We thought about the one game option to speed up the negotiations. He could land on Sunday, play the game against Benetton Treviso next Wednesday and maybe stay longer with us.
— Reported by Sportando
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An Internet report out of Italy on Tuesday indicated Spurs All-Star guard Manu Ginobili, who played several seasons in Bologna, Italy, had agreed to sign with Italian League power Virtus Bologna if Lakers star Kobe Bryant turned down a lucrative deal Virtus has offered him.
Ginobili’s agent, Herb Rudoy, on Tuesday emphatically refuted that report, writing in a text message, “Not true!” when asked if Ginobili had made any such agreement.
Bryant, who attended Tuesday’s negotiating session in New York between the NBA’s owners and players, was non-committal about his offer from Virtus Bologna.
— Reported by Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express News blog
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Jazz rookie center Enes Kanter has returned to the United States and resumed workouts with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago. Grover worked out Kanter last spring during predraft sessions. Utah then selected the Turkey native with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Kanter plans to remain in Chicago for the immediate future, keeping an eye on the progress of the NBA lockout. Contract offers from Chinese professional teams are off the table.
“The China thing, what happened is … Enes’ priority is the NBA, as an NBA player,” said Max Ergul, Kanter’s agent. “Once [China] came up with that rule change — we thought they could’ve bent it around — it’s just not happening. They’re very stern; they don’t want a player coming and leaving. I’m not going to put my signature on something that might force him to stay there for a whole season.”
— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune
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Former Toronto Raptors Forward Jamario Moon is taking full advantage of the NBA Lockout.
Moon a four-year NBA veteran with stints with the Raptors, Cavs, Heat and Clippers has agreed to join the Quebec Kebs of the National Basketball League of Canada.
“Just his presence will benefit our team,” said Kebs coach Robert Spon. “I think that a player like Jamario join the Kebs is good not only for ourselves but for our league.”
Moon considered a high flyer and a solid defender has averaged 6.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds in 278 career games.
— Reported by BasketballBuzz.ca
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Tony Parker will play with a French team during the NBA lockout, earning a mere $1,995 per month despite his star power on and off the basketball court.
ASVEL, which is based in Villeurbanne, near Lyon in southeast France, announced on Wednesday that Parker will play for them.
Parker told the sports daily L’Equipe that the decision is “logical.” He is vice president of the club and wants to help it advance.
— Reported by the AP
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