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Philadelphia 76ers forward Marreese Speights has signed with Panionios Athens in Greece, according to a report.
Philadelphia 76ers forward Marreese Speights has signed with Panionios Athens in Greece, according to a Sportando report.
Speights will take the roster spot of Oklahoma City Thunder reserve Byron Mullens, who left the Greek team to return to the United States.
The 6'10, 250-pound Speights never received a major role in the Sixers rotation last season, averaging 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds while backing up the revived Elton Brand. Despite his failure to earn the favor of coach Doug Collins, Speights does have a considerable amount of potential, including a skilled, albeit raw, offensive repertoire.
Speights will join fellow 76ers Darius Songaila, Craig Brackins, Nikola Vucevic and LaVoy Allen overseas as the NBA lockout drags on. Another NBA labor meeting is expected to take place today, the final day the league can resolve the lockout before losing the first two weeks of the regular season, according to David Stern. The biggest issue the two sides need to settle remains the share of Basketball Related Income, but other issues like the luxury tax system are also unsettled.
Xavier Silas, who had previously been given a verbal commitment to be invited to Sixers training camp (if and when that happens) has decided instead to sign overseas with BCM Gravelines in France, according to Scott Schroeder.
The Sixers had previously asked Silas to pass up on any overseas offers and instead wait to attend their training camp when league activities resume.
Silas averaged 22.3 points and 4.6 rebounds as a Senior with the Northern Illinois Huskies last year, while being named first team All-MAC.
Whether it was the length of the lockout or an overwhelming offer, or a combination of both, that caused Silas to reconsider is currently unknown.
It has yet to be reported whether Silas has an out should the lockout end. Even if he does, without a guaranteed contract (or even an offer), he would likely stay overseas for the duration of the contract.
While we previously reported that Thaddeus Young was exploring his options in China, in an interview with Slam Online the 76ers restricted free agent says he’s leaning towards staying stateside.
"As of right now—let’s clear this up—I’m not going to China," Young told Slam. "There are definitely a lot of opportunities over there for me, and we’ve been in talks with a lot of different Chinese teams. It’s still not out of the whole picture. But we’re leaning towards staying over here."
Going to China would pose significant risks for Young, as China will only sign NBA players not currently under contract, and will not offer an out clause that will allow him to return to the NBA while he’s under contract, similar to what many European clubs are doing. With Young looking at a sizable payday if the lockout gets resolved, the injury risk and guarantee that he won’t play in the NBA during 2011-2012 would be a gamble.
Young is currently down in Houston with John Lucas, working primarily on developing his mid-range game.
With Lavoy Allen, Nikola Vucevic, and Craig Brackins already signing overseas (with Strasbourg IG, KK Buducnost Podgorica, and Maccabi Ashdod, rspectively), Thaddeus Young appears to be the latest Sixers exploring his overseas options, according to HoopsHype.
From the HoopsHype Report (from Jim Tanner, agent with Williams & Connolly):
"I have discussed this with Thad and he is intrigued by the possibility of playing in China if the lockout continues and has asked me to further explore these opportunities. At this point, our conversations with the teams have been preliminary but we are continuing to talk and to do our due diligence on each option."
Young averaged averaged 12.7 points to go along with 5.3 rebounds in 26 minutes per game, and finished 3rd in 6th man of the year voting.
The Philadelphia 76ers make Nikola Vucevic the 16th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. However, this year he will be playing for a team called KK Buducnost Podgorica in his native Montenegro. With the NBA lockout preventing rookies from signing or training with their new teams, Vucevic was faced with the possibility of not playing basketball competitively at all this year. So he became the second rookie of the 2011 class to sign overseas.
For Vucevic, who hails form Europe in the first place, it will likely be an easier transition. If the NBA does ever get it’s act to together and agree to a new CBA, Vucevic does have an out clause in his contract that will allow him to leave when the NBA resumes.
If/when that does happen, Vucevic will already be in playing shape and have gained some experience playing competitively overseas. It may not be top level experience that gets him ready to face NBA competition, but if he actually does play it’s probably better than just spending the offseaon in a gym stateside.
The Sporting News is reporting that Sixers first round pick, center Nikola Vucevic is close to signing a contract to play for a team in Montenegro, the country where he was born. The deal will reportedly include an out clause that would allow him to leave if and when the NBA season starts. If this deal happens, Vucevic would be the first incoming rookie to sign a deal to play overseas.
So is this is a good thing or not? If you’re the Sixers you probably would rather not see the guy you just invested the 16th pick in risking injury by playing overseas. For Vucevic however, it is a chance to play competitive basketball and make some money while the NBA deals with it’s labor situation. Plus, since he’ll be playing competitively, he’ll be in shape and ready to hit the ground running whenever NBA training camps do eventually begin.
VIDEO: David Stern Brings Chainsaw to NBA Negotiations, Shows Off 42-inch Vertical
by Jordan Sams
*This is not a real depiction of the NBA Lockout*
I've read hundreds of articles, blog posts and tweets trying to explain the Lockout, and even written a few myself. But it wasn't until I stumbled across this video by Taiwan's Next Media Animation that I fully understood what was going on. It all makes sense now. Here's what I learned from the 90 second video:
Make the jump to watch the video.
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Oct 15 7:49p