Say it ain’t so, Andray Blatche. According to his agency, Blatche has signed a one-year with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Official: @drayblatche has signed a 1 year deal with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers.
— You First Sports USA (@YFsportsUSA) September 20, 2014
Blatche, still just 28 years-old, enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-2014. The supremely skilled but defensively-challenged big man averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench for the Nets, scoring at least 20 points on 10 separate occasions. Blatche also played for the Philippines in the FIBA World Cup as a naturalized citizen, scoring 21.1 points and grabbing a tournament-best 13.8 rebounds per game.
Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Blatche’s deal with the Flying Tigers is for $2.5 million. More important is the knowledge that he can return to the NBA for the stretch run of the 2014-2015 season.
Free agent center Andray Blatche's deal in China will pay him nearly $2.5M net, source tells Yahoo. He can rejoin the NBA in March.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 20, 2014
Concerns over conditioning likely contributed to Blatche failing to catch on with a NBA team this offseason. If he plays well in China, however, we certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the league come next spring.
What do you think?
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