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Sunday NBA Fix: Free Agent Bigs Head Overseas For Cash

By Phil Watson

Apr 27, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche (0) reacts against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter in game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 27, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche (0) reacts against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter in game four of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Welcome to Sunday NBA Fix for Sept. 21, where backup bigs have turned into the NBA’s No. 1 export product.

Saturday brought news that two of the NBA’s stable of free agent big men have spurned the NBA for offers abroad.

Former Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche is headed to China, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski:

And Eurobasket.com reported that former Atlanta Hawks big Gustavo Ayon took the money and ran to Real Madrid, even after a flirtation with the San Antonio Spurs following a solid showing for Team Mexico at the recently completed FIBA World Cup.

So why are Blatche and Ayon now in the category of former NBA players? It’s not because there weren’t NBA teams interested.

The Miami Heat inquired about Blatche and he also worked out for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ayon, meanwhile, drew some interest from San Antonio after the Atlanta Hawks declined to make a qualifying offer, making Ayon an unrestricted free agent after he missed a large chunk of last season with a shoulder injury.

No, Blatche and Ayon are taking their talents to other continents because it made sense to do so—and more dollars, too.

Blatche reportedly got $2.5 million to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he will team with another former NBA player, Jordan Crawford.

(As an aside, that Xinjiang team might be fun—exasperating, but fun—to watch with Blatche and Crawford doing all the Blatche and Crawford things they love to do as it relates to shot selection.)

Ayon will get £5.2 million (nearly $6.7 million) for three years with Real Madrid, the Spanish powerhouse that finished runner-up to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague playoffs last season.

He also had a $1.5 million offer with the Shandong Flaming Bulls in China.

The cold, hard reality is that neither player was going to get that sort of money to play in the NBA. Many teams are finding themselves bumping their heads on the salary cap (if they haven’t already started staring into the attic having blown through the cap) and that leaves them much less likely to spend more than the minimum for big men who aren’t going to play more than 18 or 20 minutes a game.

It’s the economic reality of a salary-capped NBA and the reason why the league is exporting backup big men who could still be solid contributors in North America.

Here’s a division-by-division look at what’s making news around the association: