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 70
May 29th, 2010
– Nikola Vujcic Nikola Vujcic is into his second season with Olympiacos. His minutes were way down this year, averaging only 13.9 minutes per game in the EuroLeague and 12.0 in the Greek league. But this didn’t stop him producing; Vujcic averaged 7.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the EuroLeague, and 6.8/2.3/1.3 in the Greek A1. Those are more like a small forward’s numbers than those of a 6’11 post player, but that’s Nikola Vujcic for you. Vujcic’s minutes took such a hit partly because he’s into his 30’s now, but also because of how deep Olympiacos are up front. With Giannis Bourousis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis getting the bulk of the starts up front, Linas Kleiza getting a dollop of power forward minutes, and with Greek internationals Andreas Glyniadakis and Loukas Mavrokefalidis also in the big man mix, Vujcic had to share time with the rest of the talent (not helped by the fact he’s Croatian; Greek teams can only have a maximum amount of six non-Greeks per game, hence the roles for Glyniadakis, Mavrokefalidis and the baffling Pangiotis Vasilopoulos). Olympiacos’s front court depth is in fact so deep that even Bourousis is moaning about his minutes. And he’s the best of the bunch. – Lorrenzo Wade San Diego State product Wade’s first professional season has seen him rack up the air miles. He started the season with Kavala/Panorama in Greece, but was released due to poor performance after only three games. Wade had averaged 10.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in those three games, but apparently it wasn’t enough. He then went to the Philippines to play for the San Miguel Beerman, although I’m not sure if he ever did, because almost immediately after that news came out, Wade was also announced as signing in […]
