By: Slam

NEWS: Former Utah Jazz shooting guard and University of Rice great Morris Almond has decided to come overseas.  Almond is averaging over 26.8 points in the NBA’s D-League and has a season high of 53 points.  With the NBA playoffs starting, and now chance to make the last spot on an NBA squad, Almond has turned to Europe.  The deal gives Madrid yet another NBA crossover to help prepare for an ACB League playoff run.

Impact: Lou Bullock, Rimantas Kaukenas, Sergi Vidal, and Travis Hansen better look out.  One of these players is more than likely on their way out with the addition of Almond.  Bullock has been such a staple on this team for a number of years, Hansen has been the team’s best role player the 2nd half of the season, and Vidal isn’t really a large enough contributer to be compared to Almond.  This leaves Kaukenas on the chopping block.  This is his first year with Madrid, and while he has been really productive at times it hasn’t been consistent.  This leaves Kaukenas as a possible departure soon or this summer (don’t feel to bad for Ramantas, his services will be desired by many teams).

Mo Almond could be a valuable addition to this team.  While Real has a ton of good scorers, they really missed someone who can really create everything for himself all season.  Jaric was supposed to be that guy, but he just couldn’t find his shooting touch to often.  Almond has been a prolific soccer at a number of different levels, and when his jumper is flowing he will be one of the hardest guys to shutdown in Spain.