Basketball is an increasingly global game, and more worldwide flavor is on the way for the 2012-2013 NBA season. One or more foreigners will soon be playing at an arena near you, and these international men of mystery shall remain enigmas no longer. With a wide range of youngsters and seasoned veterans heading to the NBA for their rookie seasons, this year’s international rookie crop should provide some interesting additions to the league. They come in all sizes and shapes, some are young
BARCELONA — Between the NBA and the Euroleague lies an ocean. Over here, we may have some of the best NBA trade deadline assets that you might hear about by Thursday afternoon. More and more, teams are pushing their shopping carts across the Atlantic in hopes of stumbling upon a Gary Neal or Gustavo Ayon. Other teams did their legwork early, drafting and stowing Europeans whom they hoped would mature into NBA caliber players. Some of them have. Here are
BARCELONA — Joel Freeland could be a Portland Trailblazer next year after all. Reports surfaced last week that the 25-year-old British power forward and Trail Blazers draftee (30th overall in 2006) had signed an extension with Unicaja Malaga of Spain, lending serious doubt to his NBA future. After a 75-65 loss to Banca Civica Sevilla in the Copa del Rey, Joel Freeland said those reports were untrue. “We’ve always been talking since day one but there’s no agreement at this point,” said Freeland. When