International Basketball Blog – Page 54 – NBA Blog

Serge Ibaka nationalized by Spain, ready to play European championship

The AP reports:

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka has been granted Spanish nationality on Friday, clearing the way for him to help Spain defend its European championship this summer.

“Spain is a country that has given me a lot,” Ibaka said after Spain’s Council of Ministers approved his petition for nationality. “It will be an honor to give Spain back all that it has given me on the court.”

The 21-year-old was born in the Republic of Congo but played for Spanish clubs for three years before moving to the NBA in 2009. According to Spanish media reports, he maintains a residence in Barcelona.

Ibaka must swear loyalty to the Spanish crown and constitution to complete the nationalization process before he can team with Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and brother Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies in a formidable front court for Spain.

InsideHoops.com editor says: This likely isn’t lockout-related. He was probably doing this anyway.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Agent says Bismack Biyombo will play for Bobcats next season

The AP reports:

The agent for Bobcats rookie Bismack Biyombo insists the seventh pick in the draft will play for Charlotte next season despite a buyout dispute with his Spanish team.

“At the time the lockout is over and the season starts, the player will be playing with the Bobcats,” Igor Crespo told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “Everything else is not relevant.”

A spokesman for Madrid-based Fuenlabrada said last month the team is fine in letting the 18-year-old Biyombo out of the last two years of his contract, but expects to receive a $1.4 million buyout.

The two sides held a mediation session earlier this month. Crespo declined to reveal the results, saying only he believed the buyout figure was made public to “put pressure on us.”

But he stressed the issue wouldn’t prevent the Congo native from reporting to Charlotte’s training camp on time.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Jaycee Carroll signs in Spain

Euroleague.net reports:

Real Madrid added more fire power to its roster by inking last season’s Eurocup top scorer Jaycee Carroll to a three-year deal, the club announced Thursday. Carroll (1.88 meters, 28 years old) arrives from Gran Canaria, where he averaged 19 points on 42.3% three-pointers, 87.8% free throws, 2.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 12 Eurocup games last season. He helped Gran Canaria to finished fifth in the Spanish League regular season and reach the Eurocup Last 16. Carroll was chosen to the All-Spanish League first team last season and led the competition in scoring in his two years at Gran Canaria.

Jordan Farmar considering playing overseas, maybe Israel, during NBA lockout

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:

Nets star Deron Williams may be the biggest name among locked out NBA players who has decided to play overseas, but he isn’t the only one who is considering the idea. His Nets teammate, Jordan Farmar, is also looking into the possibility of playing in another country during the NBA lockout, he told The Star-Ledger today.

Farmar, who is the backup point guard to Williams on the Nets, may end up playing in Israel. The Southern California native is Jewish, and his stepfather is Israeli, which would make him an attractive commodity for teams in the Israeli league.

“Yeah, I’d definitely consider that,” Farmar said in a text message when asked if he would be interested in playing in Israel.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Israel is one of the more popular places for players just outside the NBA to sign. I know bunches who have loved it there. Overall play there isn’t as good as in parts of Europe, but it’s in the mix.

Sasha Vujacic may sign in Turkey

Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports:

Sasha Vujacic may take any decision about re-signing him out of the Nets’ hands.

According to the Turkish website and newspaper, Milliyet — which also ran a bunch of Lindsay Lohan pictures yesterday — Vujacic is close to signing a deal with Anadolu Efes that would keep him overseas for a full season…

Vujacic made $5.475 million last season in the final year of his deal.

His chances of returning to the Nets were not considered good, so Vujacic could be looking to head back to Europe.

InsideHoops.com editor says: If Vujacic can get a contract over there that compares with what lower-tier bench players in the NBA make, he should grab it, before such deals are no longer available. And then perhaps return to the NBA in a year or two.

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Josh Childress dismisses idea of returning to Europe

William Boor of ArizonaSports.com reports:

Although several NBA players have discussed playing in Europe, Josh Childress is still opposed.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Childress told ESPN’s Ric Bucher. “And I don’t know why guys would. I understand that guys really want to play. But you sometimes have to look at what you have and treat this as a business. The only way I could see it making sense is if you’re a player from a particular country going back. But for an American player with a good-sized guaranteed deal here, I can’t see why you’d do it.”

Childress has four years and $27 million remaining on his deal in Phoenix and does not believe getting some fun in during the lockout is worth playing in Europe and risking injury.

NBA players union memo supports players going overseas

The Chicago Tribune reports:

When it comes to playing overseas during the NBA lockout, Billy Hunter has a simple message for the league’s players: Enjoy your trip, we’ll call you when it’s time to come home.

In a memo sent to players on Tuesday night and obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, the union leader said the NBA Players’ Association supports all players “who are taking steps to continue to earn a living, stay in peak competitive shape, and play the game that we love while the unfortunate league-imposed lockout is in place.”

“This lockout is intended to economically pressure our players to agree to an unfavorable collective bargaining agreement,” Hunter wrote. “It is important for the owners to understand that there may be significant consequences to their decision to put their own players in these difficult economic circumstances.

“If the owners will not give our players a forum in which to play basketball here in the United States, they risk losing the greatest players in the world to the international basketball federations that are more than willing to employ them.”

Lakers rookie Ater Majok plays streetball in EBC at Rucker Park in NYC

Los Angeles Lakers rookie forward Ater Majok was in New York City Monday to play for the D.C. Power streetball team in the Entertainers Basketball Classic at Rucker Park. InsideHoops.com was at the park and watched the whole game.

Majok blocked plenty of shots, mostly as a help defender, but didn’t really stand out in other aspects, missing plenty of shots to finish with seven points and committing a fair amount of turnovers. He was solid as a rebounder as well, though simply by watching it was tough to say he really stood out on the glass.

But, this was not one of the better games, even by streetball standards, so of course it makes little sense to put much stock into Ater’s skills and future potential in the NBA based on one game in the park.

There weren’t many game highlights involving Majok worth showing, but here are two InsideHoops.com video clips.

Majok is No.12 in orange, with the mini-mohawk. Here he is blocking a shot, then rushing out to to defend a jumpshot (which misses) from the right baseline:

—–

Here, in the game’s final seconds, Majok gets to toss down an open dunk:

—–

Read NBA fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Lawrence Roberts signs with basketball team in Lithuania

Euroleague.net reports:

Lietuvos Rytas improved its frontcourt for the upcoming Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds by inking power forward Lawrence Roberts to a two-year deal, the club announced Tuesday. Roberts (2.06 meters, 28 years old) arrives from Anadolu Efes, where he averaged 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 16 Euroleague games last season. Before that, Roberts was a major contributor as Partizan Belgrade made an historic run to the 2010 Final Four. He was the Euroleague’s second leading rebounder in the 2009-10 season with 7.4 boards per game to go with his 9 points on average. He also led the 2009-10 Top 16 in rebounding at 7.8 boards per night and won the Serbian Cup, Serbian League and Adriatic League titles with Partizan.

High-paying basketball jobs exist in China

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports:

Most European jobs will fill up in the next few weeks. Agent Lance Young of Octagon, whose clients include Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, said some of his players will take a wait-and-see approach.

“If a lockout keeps going, a guy like Stephen might go over for a little while,” Young said.

[Agent Bernie] Lee and Young agree on a burgeoning basketball market that will be attractive in a long lockout: China.

“The biggest money is China, hands down,” Young said. “You can make almost double in China what you can in Europe. The Chinese league isn’t as good of a league, but if it’s all about money you might as well go over there and make as much money as you can.”

The Chinese season doesn’t start until December, and teams recruit in September and October, Lee said. Players by then will know if NBA games are lost.

“I can see a number of NBA guys getting attractive offers from Chinese teams that will have those walk-away outs,” Lee said.

InsideHoops.com editor says: High-paying basketball jobs exist in Europe, but once those fill up, it does sound like China is the spot. But playing in Europe, generally, is the slightly easier culture experience for many players.

Have an opinion? Share it with other basketball fans in this forum topic.