2010 Summer Signings, Part 1
June 10th, 2010
Summer is here, and players are a-moving. The NBA free agency period has not yet begun – and should be pretty epic once it does – but this hasn’t stopped players moving the world over. Here are some of the transactions that may interest you. – Teams in Australia’s NBL tend to sort out their rosters nice and early, and so even though we’re several months away from the 2010-11 season tipping off, many rosters are all but complete already. Despite him winning the NBL MVP trophy last season, the Townsville Crocodiles have released Corey “Homicide” Williams, and have not named a replacement import, although they have brought in former St. Mary’s big man Ben Allen (who is also currently trying out for the Australian national team.) The Melbourne Tigers have brought home from America another big Aussie centre (Luke Nevill), and have signed Eric Devendorf to score from them after his hugely successful offseason in New Zealand (at least, basketball-wise; Devendorf managed to get arrested for breach of the peace in there). And the Sydney Kings are returning to the NBL after a season out due to financial difficulties, bringing with them Taj McCullough, who had previously been in Latvia with VEF Riga. – Arvydas Macijauskas, the star Lithuania shooting guard whose NBA career was a short-lived failure, has retired aged only 30. Macijauskas was an All-EuroLeague first teamer in 2004-05 while playing for Tau Ceramica, which led to a big money three-year contract with the New Orleans Hornets; however, he was barely used, and when he was used, it was only as a third string point. Since that time, Macijauskas has spent the last two seasons on the shelf, rehabilitating an assortment of injuries including left Achilles and calf injuries, as well as a spinal hernia. Macijauskas has […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 40
April 7th, 2010
– Erazem Lorbek Domen’s brother is with Barcelona, whose basketball team are almost as much of a juggernaut as their football team. But let’s not talk about their football team. Lorbek is averaging 10.1 points and 4.0 rebounds in the ACB, alongside 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds for the inevitable EuroLeague champions. He could play in the NBA, but he won’t. – Derrick Low Former Washington State guard Derrick Low moved to Lithuania this year to play for a salary less than that of your average telephone engineer. He did this because the team he is playing for – Siauliai – were a EuroCup team, so it was a good opportunity to get some exposure. Low has had to play full-time point guard for much of the year, as opposed to all the off-ball time he has had in his career thus far, and he’s doing a decent job of masquerading as such. Low averaged 18.5 points and 3.8 assists in Siauliai’s EuroCup campaign, averages a further 14.7 points and 4.4 assists in the Baltic league, and averages 12.8 points and 5.3 assists in the Lithuanian league. The Lithuanian assists tie for third in the league. He’s also had all that hair cut off. Probably best. – John Lucas III John Lucas’s son John Lucas went to China this year. He started out with a fight, but then quickly started owning. His team, Shanghai, are currently 1-1 against Smush Parker’s Guangdong in the CBA Semi Finals. Lucas had 56 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists in the series so far. – Tyronn Lue Tyronn Lue did not play this season, after splitting last year between the Bucks and the Magic. He then retired somewhat unexpectedly aged only 32 to become an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 32
February 11th, 2009
– Erazem Lorbek’s weird route to the NBA continues with CSKA Moscow. Lorbek is averaging 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds in only 17 minutes per game in the Russian league, alongside 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 21 mpg in the EuroLeague. Lorbek is shooting 46/65 combined from the free throw line, for an average of 71%, which shows that he’s working on his flaws. He’s also a combined 7-14 from three point range, which is a welcome bonus. – John Lucas III began the season with the Thunder, and actually made the team out of training camp. However, he was waived after about a week so that the team could bring in Steven Hill, unhappy as they were with their other nine big men. Lucas hasn’t signed anywhere since, and didn’t get into any games with the Thunder either, thus taking his points total for the year to 0. However, the Rockets are still paying him, and he hasn’t been there for donkey’s years. So life isn’t too bad. – Kevin Lyde could only be in one place right now, and that place is Estonia. For the seminal starlets known as BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn, Lyde averaged 10.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 38% FT in the EuroChallenge, as well as averaging 12.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 1.4 bpg in the Baltic League. Bet the parties must be wild. (I’m not kidding, either. Tallinn is THE new place for stag weekends, and all manner of holiday debauchery. Naturally, I’ve never been.) – George Lynch is currently working for Southern Methodist University in some capacity, as an advisor or something. However, right now, he could feasibly be starting for the Hornets. – Speaking of former Hornets, they could perhaps use Arvydas Macijauskas back there right now. […]
