By: Nick Gibson / @euro_adventures
Paul Silas just got him a killer in the paint, and Fuenlabrada got a chunk of change to ease the pain of a sponsor-less season.
Bismack Biyombo, the Congolese fly swatter selected 7th by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 draft, was one of the last first rounders that hadn’t signed since the lockout was lifted. That’s all thanks to Fuenlabrada, who insisted on a buyout after Biyombo left the club last season to play in the Nike’s Hoop Summit exhibiton in Portland.
Now, in exchange for $1.5 million, a Yahoo! report by Steve Reed of the Associated Press says Biyombo can suit up in a different shade of orange.
Here’s what coach Salvo Maldonado had to say pre-Summit: “If Bismack Biyombo gets on that flight to play that exhibition game in the USA, he can forget about playing in the first team of Fuenlabrada.
“He has to think of the consequences his actions can have and know that upon his return nothing will be the same.”
Well, the consequences have been two-fold:
1. Putting up the competition’s first ever triple double: 12 points, 11 boards, 10 blocks. Yeah.
2. Parlaying that triple doubleage into a lottery spot.
Yeah. Not exactly the doomsday scenario Maldonado had envisioned.
Now Maldonado’s gone, but the seed he planted is about to give his successor Porfi Fisac some much-needed flexibility.
Biyombo’s buyout has been set at $1.5 million. That’s a lot of dough. That doughiness would be enough for the cash-strapped Fuenlabrada to add a top notch point guard to an eighth place team with one of the ACB’s best shooters—Kirk Penney—and one of it’s finest frontcourt duos—Gustavo Ayon and Leo Mainoldi.
Or use it to replace Ayon when/if he jets for New Orleans, Indiana or Denver.
And if Ayon went to play basketball in Mexico’s Hat, Fuenlabrada might be in line for another payday. But racks enough to buy an ACB playoff berth and dull the pain of losing two outstanding bigs?
Well…