– Robert Traylor As you have probably already heard about, Robert Traylor owes a lot of money to the IRS. And he has a repayment plan to adhere to to give it back. But this has proven difficult. Traylor was the Turkish league All-Star Game MVP in 2008/09, averaging 14.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 2.1 apg and 1.6 bpg per game for Kepez BLD Antalya. Yet this summer’s move to the better standard (and better paid) Serie A did not work out. This is because Traylor joined Napoli, and, as regular readers will know by now, Napoli had the worst season in the history of sports. The bankrupt team weren’t exactly the ideal match for the indebted Traylor. Traylor left Napoli after seven games without being paid, and tried to get a playing gig in China. But this was vetoed by the league due to his tax problems. Those problems culminated in February; behind on his pre-determined repayment schedule due to his inability to find elite paying gigs, Traylor was sentenced to a 60-day jail term last season, which was suspended for this season so that he could go and play for Napoli. That sentence is suspended until June 1st; in the mean time, Traylor is playing in Puerto Rico. He has averaged 9.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Vaqueros de Bayamon, and was named to the All-Star team last month. He is allowed to keep playing for Bayamon until their season ends, whenever that may be. But once it does end, Traylor must report to jail. – Uros Tripkovic Tripkovic left Partizan Belgrade for the first time in his life this summer, joining DKV Joventut Badalona as he set his sights on the better pay offered up by the ACB. It turns out that he […]
– Michael Bramos: Bramos is a Greek wing who recently finished his senior season at the University of Miami, Ohio. (It was news to me that there were two Miami’s. Seems unnecessary.) On offence, he’s largely an outside shooter since he does not much dribble in traffic, but he’s not a great shooter, shooting 40% from the field and 36% from the three-point line in his senior season. He’s pretty athletic and very strong for an off-guard (standing 6’5 and 221lbs, which is pretty heavy for a man that height), and he also has a hell of a wingspan that gets about the place on defense. These reasons and more are why Europe is his inevitable destiny; that and the door-opening Greek passport, obviously. – Will Bynum: Last year was a strange one for Will Bynum. Michael Curry played him and played him and played him and played him for three months, and he struggled. Then, in March, Bynum somehow broke out. He became able to get to the rim at will, and drained 21-footers like he’d never been able to do prior. Eventually, he became a key contributor for the Pistons, had a 32-point 7-assist game versus Charlotte, and averaged nearly 12 points per game for Detroit in the playoffs. And now Pistons fans are grateful that Bynum’s going to be on their roster and earning the minimum salary next year. – Austin Daye: Detroit bailed out Daye’s decision to declare too early by picking him 15th overall this year, a pick with which I am not overly fond. They clearly see more in this athletic jump shooting specialist than I do. (This is a position that, in the long run, I am willing to modify. I admit that I didn’t see a lot of Daye in […]
– Lucas Tischer was recently waived by his Israeli team, Altshuler Saham Galil Gilboa, presumably for poor performance. Tischer averaged a stonking 3.6 points, 2.3 fouls and 2.1 rebounds in the Israeli league – Anthony Tolliver bounced back and forth between the NBA and the D-League this season, first going to camp with the Spurs, then making the team, firing up a load of threes, missing them, being assigned to the Austin Toros, being recalled, being waived, being acquired by the Iowa Energy, getting a 10-day contract from the Hornets, not playing a game for them, and then returning to the Energy. However, he’s since given up, and left the Energy to sign with Galatasaray. Tolliver put up 12 points and 8 rebounds on his Galatasaray debut, averaged 12.4 points and 8.5 rebounds with the Energy, averaged 17.8 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Toros, and 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Spurs. – Marko Tomas is still with Real Madrid, where he’s been on and off now for about four years. Tomas averages 7.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in the EuroLeague, alongside 5.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in the Spanish league. – Jazz draft pick Ante Tomic is with KK Zagreb, where he’s been now for six years. Tomic averages 14.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in the EuroChallenge, alongside 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the Adriatic League. Perhaps worryingly, though, this 7’1 player has 26 total blocks in 30 combined games. It’s not a Sundov, but it’s not great either. – Ali Traore is averaging 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in the EuroCup, and 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in the powerhouse French league, for ASVEL Villeurbanne. And my decision to add him to this website was probably a […]
