News broke as Lithuanian power forward Azuolas Tubelis, who went undrafted from Arizona earlier this year, inked a two-way deal with the Sixers. However, he was waived by Philadelphia during the first week of the regular season and is now returning to his homeland.
Rytas Vilnius, a Lithuanian team, revealed in a press announcement that they have secured Tubelis to a three-year contract and will loan him to Neptunas Klaipeda for the 2023/24 season (credit to Eurohoops). Before coming to the United States and joining the Wildcats, Tubelis was with Rytas Vilnius from 2018-20, making this new agreement a reunion between the two sides.
In other news from the global basketball scene:
- Shaquille Harrison is seemingly bound for Italy in the 2023/24 season, with Fabrizio Lorenzi of La Repubblica reporting that the experienced NBA guard has reached a deal to join Olimpia Milano (acknowledgment to Sportando). Olimpia Milano had been scouting guards with NBA experience recently. Harrison, who has played 180 NBA games, was in camp with the Grizzlies this fall but was released before the season started.
- Following Bruno Caboclo‘s signing with KK Partizan on Tuesday, his agency – Hazan Sports Management – clarified to Sportando that the forward had only agreed to a “preliminary” contract and not an official one with Reyer Venezia, so FIBA permitted his release from that agreement. However, Reyer Venezia is displeased with this explanation — the Italian team released a scathing statement, referring to FIBA’s ruling as “unfair” and accusing Caboclo’s representatives and KK Partizan of engaging in “illicit conduct.” Reyer intends to challenge the decision through the FIBA Appeals
- Former NBA guard Isaiah Whitehead, who participated in 89 matches for Brooklyn from 2016-18, shared with Adam Zagoria of NJ.com about his frightening departure from Israel last month, which began when he woke up one morning to the sound of “missiles (and) bombs.” Whitehead had been competing for Ironi Ness Ziona but desires to obtain his release from that agreement in order to join a new team in Europe. “I’m still under agreement in Israel so I gotta figure everything out and see what the departure clause would be,” he informed Zagoria.
Image Source: Azuolas Tubelis @ Instagram
