J.J. Frazier became the newest import player for Givova Scafati after signing a two-year contract with the Italian team June 28. Frazier has prior experience playing in Italy's Serie A2 division, and has excelled in the league. The University of Georgia grad spent part of the 2017-2018 season playing for Blu Basket Treviglio, where he averaged 24.1 points and 4.4 assists per game, and played in four games of the 2018-2019 campaign with Zeus Energy Group Rieti, putting up 18.3 points per game.
He joins a Scafati team that went a middling 14-14 last season, not good enough for a playoff spot in the competitive Serie A2 league. Frazier also has experience playing in France as well as the NBA G League, spending part of the 2017-2018 season with the Memphis Hustle. He is heading into his third year of professional basketball.
After a successful season in Germany, Hassan Martin will be plying his trade in Montenegro next season. Martin signed with Buducnost Voli June 27, joining the team after playing for Medi Bayreuth during the 2018-2019 season. The 23-year-old forward averaged 15.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game for Bayreuth, which included competing in the Basketball Champions League, as the team went 14-20 and missed out on a spot in the Basketball Bundesliga playoffs.
The Rhode Island product could be the last piece of the puzzle for Buducnost, who game within one game of winning the Adriatic League title last season, losing to Crvena Zvezda in the final game of a five-game series. Martin spent his rookie season in Japan before playing in Germany during his second year of pro hoops.
Josh Mayo is reportedly close to signing with Italy's Openjobmetis Varese according to several sources. Mayo would join the team from Germany, last three seasons with Telekom Baskets Bonn in the Basketball Bundesliga. He averaged 13.9 points and 3.3 assists per game across all competitions for Telekom Baskets Bonn during the 2018-2019 season, which included competing in the Basketball Champions League, as the team went 18-16 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the BBL playoffs.
Were Mayo to join Varese he would also be playing in the Basketball Champions League again, as well as competing the Italian league, where Varese went 16-14 last year and narrowly missed out on a playoff berth.
Devonte Upson is returning to Poland after signing with Asseco Arka Gdynia in the country's top division. Upso joins the team after splitting last season between Poland and Argentina, starting the season with TBV Start Lublin in Poland and playing the entire regular season before moving to Comunicaciones to close out his 2018/19 campaign. In 42 games total, the fifth-year pro averaged 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as Lublin finished with a 13-17 record, missing out on the EBL playoffs, while he helped lead Comunicaciones to the quarterfinals of Argentina's La Liga playoffs.
He will join an Asseco Arka side that will look to make the next step toward a league championship next season after finishing the regular season in first place but losing in the semifinals of the EBL playoffs. Upson has also played in Switzerland, Finland and Estonia during his career.
In corresponding moves, Crailsheim Merlins signedAaron Jones for next season while parting ways with Sherman Gay after two seasons. Heading into his fifth season of pro hoops, Jones joins the team from Greece, where he averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game playing in the competitive Greek A1 League for Rethymno Cretan Kings. He last played in Germany during his rookie season, suiting up for RheinStars Koeln in Germany's second division during the 2015-2016 season.
The team also announced that they are parting ways with Sherman Gay. Gay, a 36-year-old forward out of Loyola Marymount, played for Crailsheim the past two seasons. After more of a starring role during his first year, Gay came off the bench more during the 2018-2019 season as Crailsheim finished in sixteenth place with a 9-25 record.
Joe Lawson is remaining in Germany after signing with Basketball Lowen Braunschweig in the Basketball Bundesliga, Ballers Abroad has learned. Lawson has spent his entire career in Germany (except three games in Argentina during the 2017-2018 season), playing most of his time in the second division Pro A league before being signed in the top-flight BBL during the 2018-2019 season.
Last year, the forward suited up for Crailsheim Merlins in the BBL, averaging 10.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as Crailsheim finished near the bottom of the BBL standings with a 9-25 record. He joins a Braunschweig team that will look to build off its performance last season, when the team finished 17-17 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the BBL playoffs.
After having great success in Europe, Thad McFadden is headed to China. McFadden signed with Wuhan Dangdai of the National Basketball League in China after spending the 2018-2019 season playing for two different teams in Spain's top division.
The 32-year-old shooting guard averaged 10.4 points for the season, starting the year with Iberostar Tenerife before finishing the season with Divina Seguro Joventut, helping Joventut to a seventh-place finish in the Liga Endesa standings and a berth in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs. He joins a Wuhan team that is currently in the middle of their season but have much to improve on, as they sit in eighth place in the league standings with a 4-8 record. |