Guerschon Yabusele signs in China
Zhang Duo: Guerschon Yabusele has officially signed with Nanjing Monkey Kings in China. pic.twitter.com/hiNj1bYGys
Storyline: Guerschon Yabusele Free Agency
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Guerschon Yabusele to China
French forward Guerschon Yabusele has agreed to terms with Chinese side Nanjing Tongxi Basketball, a source told Sportando. Yabusele has been waived early last month by the Boston Celtics and will return to China, where he played in 2016-17 for the Shanghai Sharks.
Mark Murphy: Celtics keeping options open re: Tacko Fall and his training camp contract. With Yabu gone, extra roster spot gives flexibility that can be used in variety of ways.
The Celtics have until Wednesday to make decisions on three players’ futures. Two are dead-lock certainties. One is not. While the club will clearly be exercising their 2019-20 options on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the call on Guerschon Yabusele is more complicated. Tatum will get his third-year slot of $7,830,000 next season and Brown will get his fourth-year number, $6,534,829. The Celtics aren’t letting either get out of their sight.
And even though Yabusele’s third-year guarantee would be for a relatively modest $3,117,240, the real dollars are much greater. The club would be committing more than double that because of the luxury tax implications. And at present, Yabusele isn’t part of the main rotation and doesn’t figure to get there without injuries or roster moves that open playing time. It’s possible the Celts could decline the option and sign Yabusele to a more team-friendly deal next summer. But if the C’s pass now, the Dancing Bear will be an unrestricted free agent — and if he shows something this season, he could be wanted elsewhere. What’s more, if there is demand, Boston would be able to start a new deal at an amount no higher than what it declined. If the option is picked up, the process will play out again at this time next season, when a call will have to be made on $4,781,846 for 2020-21.
But he’s not concerning himself with that just now. “I would love to be back here with the team,” Yabusele said. “The Celtics are a great organization, so if I have a chance to be back here, I would love to do that.”
September 18, 2019 | 8:25 pm EDT Update
NBA grants disabled player exception to Lakers
Shams Charania: The Lakers have been granted a disabled player exception worth $1.75M from the NBA for the expected season-ending ACL injury to DeMarcus Cousins, league sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium. It expires on March 10, 2020.
Gerald Bourguet: Suns announce training camp will be Oct. 1-4 at NAU in Flagstaff
Antigravity treadmills, light therapy lasers and 3D movement analysis services are just a few of the high-tech rehabilitation gizmos for injured athletes inside Henry Ford Health System’s new and soon-to-open William Clay Ford Center for Athletic Medicine. The three-story, $37-million sports medicine center at 690 Amsterdam in Midtown Detroit is expected to open by Oct. 15.
On Wednesday, some members of the Pistons organization joined Henry Ford for the sports medicine center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Detroit Lions team owner Martha Ford, 94, the widow of William Clay Ford, was in attendance. (The Lions also use Henry Ford for their team’s doctors.). “Our move to Detroit would not have happened without our partnership with Henry Ford,” said Arn Tellem, vice chairman of the Pistons. “Our organizations have worked side by side to create one of the best developments in medicine and sports, not in the region, in the world. This is a true game-changer for our team, franchise and the community.”
September 18, 2019 | 7:05 pm EDT Update
Rick Bonnell: Nothing new if @Charlotte Hornets 2nd-round pick Jalen McDaniels will be signed for training camp, per agent @Nima Namakian. Hornets are at maximum 20 camp slots for now, but that is far from set in stone. GM Mitch Kupchak told me he’d like to have McDaniels in team’s development system.
Bitadze arrived in Indiana just days after Summer League ended. With high-profile players like No. 1 pick Zion Williamson and No. 3 pick R.J. Barrett making brief appearances in Vegas before getting shut down, Bitadze said he was aware of the optics surrounding his absence. “It looked like I didn’t want to play or something,” he said.
Pacers coach Nate McMillan echoed Bitadze’s disappointment in missing Summer League, adding the rookie would’ve played if he was able to. “We tried to do everything we could to try to speed up that visa,” McMillan said. “As soon as we drafted him, we talked about it that night. To try to get it, put a rush on it and get it so he could get back and play. I would’ve loved to see him play in Vegas. It didn’t work out, but it was good to see him in some runs in the month of August and September.”
