One year ago, the Hornets bought power forward Gustavo Ayon out of his Fuenlabrada (ACB) contract and brought him to New Orleans several days before their unlocked season tipped off. Ayon started 24 games as a 26-year-old rookie and was shipped to Orlando in a sign-and-trade for Ryan Anderson this summer. That’s fairly incredible value for someone New Orleans plucked from a small Spanish club only 12 games into its ACB season. So will Ayon’s leap become the archetype for signing post-draft
With Bo McCalebb underperforming in Turkey, I’m ready to admit it: CSKA Moscow’s Sonny Weems is the best American player in Europe right now. [Read more…]
For every Blazer fan who asked Who? when his team traded Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas to the Knicks for Kostas Papanikolaou and Georgios Printezis, it’s officially time to be OK with that. [Read more…]
A source within an NBA front office told Sheridan Hoops he considers Real Madrid’s Nikola Mirotic to be the best NBA prospect still playing in Europe. I wholeheartedly agree, and that’s why the Bulls would be crazy to part with the Montengrin power forward in a trade for Pau Gasol, or almost anyone else. [Read more…]
Last week, a red light gave BC Khimki new life. This week, Nikola Mirotic, Rudy Fernandez and Real Madrid put on a light show of their own, roughing the Russians up with a Euroleague season-high 104 points on 60 percent shooting. [Read more…]
It’s a long, hard fall from the top of the heap, and sticking the landing is nearly impossible when your ankle’s being held together by trainers tape. Bo McCalebb was noticeably slowed by a wobbly ankle against Cantu, who dominated former number one in these very rankings, Fenerbahe Ulker, by a score of 82-58. That was good enough to give Cantu the big bump and yank the rug out from under the Turks. For now, at least. [Read more…]
The man only had one lockout-shortened season on the Lakers bench and we’re merely five games into 2012-13, so why is everyone freaking out? Not only did he install a new offense during camp; he had to do it with an offseason’s worth of fresh bodies. So after a loss in their fifth game, a single question divided most of the Basketball God Fearing world: should CSKA Moscow fire Ettore Messina? Not the former Laker coach you were expecting? I’m sure this
The Euroleague is unquestionably the highest level of basketball outside the NBA. While NBA teams are always looking for the next European draft steal, there are many top-level Americans playing overseas who could potentially make an impact in the NBA in the near future — while there are others who have come to realize that their best chance for playing time, and their best option for making big money, will only come overseas. Whether it’s from the vastly different style of play,