Detroit Pistons forward Austin Daye signs for a Russian team – NBA Update
NBA and the Lockout are two words that have now become synonymous to each other.
With the work stoppage on the cusp of entering its third month, there has not been a scintilla of progress as far as the negotiations on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement or CBA are concerned. The exodus of the NBA player
to foreign leagues has been one of the most prominent consequences of the lockout and with each passing day, this process is picking up pace.
The latest player to join the bandwagon is the Detroit Pistons’ Austin Daye. The young forward has signed a two month contract with Russian club Khimki. The deal with Russian team is until December and Austin has catered for an
escape clause in his contract so that he can join the Pistons if in case the NBPA and the NBA owners reach an accord by then. This leaves an injury to Daye as the only way, his NBA team Detroit Piston can suffer from his Russian job.
Austin himself broke the news of the contract on twitter recently. He will leave for Russia this weekend and will be making his European debut in a game against PGE Turrow of Poland. His inclusion in the team has strongly boosted
Khimki’s chances of qualifying for EuroLeague regular season, which starts in the first week of October.
In a way, this move is beneficial for both Austin and the Pistons. He will get some good practice playing in the European circuit and as he is still very young, this venture might be a learning curve for him.
Austin however did not have a very good last season with the Pistons. He ended the season with an average of 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds. Those stats do not hold much significance, but when the sour locker room environment and
the coach player interaction gets accounted for, Daye’s performances do hold weight.
However, John Kuester is now history and the things are looking brighter with a new owner ship in place. This last week has been very fruitful for Austin as he averaged 28.6 in his first five games of the Impact Sports Competitive
training series that is taking place in Las Vegas.
Daye’s record at college level is also brilliant. He was the star forward of Gonzaga Bulldogs, and before he was a standout at Woodbridge High School with an average of 30.9 points per game. Following his father footsteps, who
was also an NBAer and played for five seasons, the 6 ft 11 forward Austin also moved to NBA after being drafted as the15th overall in the 2009 draft.
All in all, Austin is a talented player, who needs to polish off his skill set to succeed at the highest level. The Russian stint might just help him in doing that.
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