The European player has to be under contract? If an American Prospect signed a contract internationally [instead of going to college] If he was drafted could he be stashed in Europe for a year to be 'seasoned'? Rocket River
I could be wrong but what I recall is this: If you draft any player their rights belong to your team If the player does not play basketball in any professional league in the world for an entire year - they become eligible to be drafted again. So if in theory Andrew Wiggins doesnt want to play for the Cavs - he just needs to sit out from all professional basketball for a year and he can be drafted by a different team next season in the NBA draft - I believe this also includes NCAA as well. This was something Kobe and his agent threatened to do when Kobe was to be drafted so that he could end up with the Lakers. If a player does play in a different league (like the euro leagues) I believe a team holds the players rights for up to 5 years before the expire. This is what happened with Luis Scola - the Spurs held his rights but didnt feel like bringing him over because of the players they had on their team at the time so instead of losing him for nothing (and draft eligible again) they traded his rights to the rockets. So a guy can be over seas for a while before he actually plays in the NBA - there is a reason why most 'eurostashes' are 2nd round picks - so the team doesnt have to allocate any money to them until they are ready - they can just have them develop overseas and then sign them when ready. It also allows them to structure better contracts if needed for a buyout (such as with the Luis Scola contract) -- using a first round pick for a guy overseas - they can still be stashed but the team is limited in how much they can offer in the contract by NBA rules which can effect the player if they have to be bought out.
Curious . . .Can we draft someone and then tell them . .. YOU'RE GOING TO EUROPE! Can a NBA collude with an Euroteam . . make them a defacto D-League? Rocket River
Yes, you can tell them that. Can't make them though. Have to offer them a contract or they have to agree to go. If a contract isn't offered, they become free agents. A team can try, but the players will not let them.
The player needs to sign 'ze papers' saying they will play overseas and do not intend to come to America that particular season. So, yes, collusion could happen, draft player (eg Maarty Leunen), have player sign with overseas club, sign 'ze papers' with Rockets, player plays overseas, and Rockets retain rights for when player wants to play in the USA. Maarty Leunen was a 2nd round pick, will return and play summer league for us. I BELIEVE that by playing summer league for us this year, it means he will need to be offered a contract, or he becomes a FA. Had he been a 1st round pick, his 'nominal contract value' would NOW be counting against our cap (since he has come to play summer league - either renounce his rights, or sign him).
If the player is under contract in Europe then they do not count against the cap but you maintain their rights (Llull). Even if the player isn't currently under contract but intends to play in a non - NBA league then they can sign an waiver stating that and they don't count against the cap. If a prospect skips college and signs to play in a non - NBA league they cannot be signed until they go through an NBA draft. This was the case with Brandon Jennings. After HS he wasn't eligible for the draft so he played overseas and then declared for the next draft once he was eligible. You can draft a player and if he agrees to play in Europe then you hold his rights. We did this with D - Mo I believe.
