Guangdong Southern Tigers trying to acquire Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey – NBA Update
It has been learnt that one of the most influential clubs in the Chinese Basket ball League, Guangdong Southern Tigers are making efforts to sign Detroit Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey.
The only obstacle for Tigers at the moment is the same one that all the Chinese teams face when trying to acquire NBA players. Courtesy of some strict rules introduced by Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) earlier this year,
Rodney cannot have an escape clause in his contract and would be stuck in China until March, if he indeed signs the deal.
This would mean that if the ongoing NBA labour dispute ends and the next season starts, Stuckey will have to miss out.
Guangdong though, do present a good opportunity to spend the off season to Stuckey. The Chinese giants have won seven CBA titles till date and are a team loaded with the best Basket ball players in China. With the NBA players available
due to lockout, they are now trying to strengthen themselves even more.
Tigers recently signed Washington Wizards star Yi Jianlian, a player who started his basket ball career with them. Jianlian is still under contract with the Wizards, but due to the fact that Chinese NBA players do not fall under
the umbrella of the CBA clauses, he has the leverage to return back to NBA once the lockout ends and the season commences.
The 25 year old Rodney is an emerging super star. After declaring himself for the NBA draft in 2007, he was selected by Detroit Pistons. Although his Rookie year was nothing more than ordinary, he still managed to impress everyone
in his ensuing years.
In his second season, his performance enhanced significantly. He scored his career high 40 points in a win against Chicago Bulls, followed by 38 points blitz against Sacramento Kings. Last season, he was pretty impressive too and
finished with an average of 15.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in a team that was plagues by reported altercations between the senior player and ex-coach John Kuester.
A young player on the rise, Rodney would be anxiously waiting for the lockout to end so that he can get back to the NBA court and turn a few more necks. However, a solution to the lockout seems nowhere in sight and the young guard
has an opportunity knocking.
There is no word out yet from Rodney about his interest to play for Guangdong, but the fact that there will be no opt out clause and that he is a player trying to prove himself in NBA, things don’t look too promising and Guangdong’s
might have to give up their dream of acquiring him.
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