Washington Wizards forward Trevor Brooker is heading to Israel this fall: NBA Update
On July 1st, the league locked out its players due to differences with the Players Association on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement and still no progress has been made in the resolution of this dispute.
This lockout has forced many professional players to play overseas and Washington Wizards, where he will be paying in Israeli Basketball League. He has signed a one-year conditional contract with Bnei HaShron basketball club.
The official singing of his contract took place on Thursday and the contract includes the clause of returning to National Basketball Association (NBA) whenever the lockout ends. Under the FIBA ruling, the NBA contracted players can only play in overseas league during the lockout, if they include the escape clause in their contract.
Trevor Brooker expressed his excitement to play in Israel. In a telephonic interview, he said “I’m real excited; I get to play against some competition again. I think it will be a neat experience, so I’m definitely excited.”
Trevor’s agent Andy Miller has played a key role in getting this contract with an Israeli Basketball League and especially in convincing the Israeli league to give Trevor the freedom of returning to the NBA whenever the lockout is lifted. Miller has been affiliated with Trevor for over two years now and also shed light on the deal.
“We thought this was a way to kill two birds with one stone, We felt that it was important for him, having had the last fifth of the season taken away from him and subsequently the first month or so of the summer taken away from him as well, because he was in a cast, it’s important for us to get him playing, to get him more opportunities and more visibility. He hasn’t had that. I think the transition will be very seamless for him. He’s a very mature kid.”
Trevor, who is relatively a less experienced player, knows he has to prove his game in Israel. Last year, he averaged 5.3 points and 3.90 rebounds per game and played total 65 games for the Washington Wizards. He made his NBA debut in 2010 when the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted him 23rd overall in the first round of NBA draft.
Broker has been very active for the last one month or so, during which he travelled to Serbia and Turkey and expressed his desire to play for an overseas team, a couple of times. Although, he was not offered a deal from any other team in Europe, but the opportunity of playing with an Israeli club will certainly keep him busy during the NBA lockout.
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