LSU's former center won't play for The Heat this season.Quote:
Miami's second-rounder won't play in the NBA next season.
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LSU's former center won't play for The Heat this season.Quote:
Miami's second-rounder won't play in the NBA next season.
Hopefully he will make his way to the NBA.Quote:
Miami Heat second-round pick Justin Hamilton has signed to play the upcoming season in Croatia, where he holds a passport, for Cibonia Zagreb of the Adriatic League, his agent Wednesday told the Sun Sentinel. Under NBA rules, the Heat will retain the rights to the center out of LSU, who will not count against the team's salary cap or luxury tax for 2012-13. It is similar to the approach the Heat took in gaining additional overseas seasoning for previous second-round draft picks Jarvis Varnado and Robert Dozier. "We all kind of made a decision together that him going overseas for a year and playing in games with pressure, at a high level, continuing to work on his body, would be good for everybody," agent Justin Zanik said. Zanik said Hamilton's contract with Cibonia Zagreb is for one season.
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Hamilton, who averaged 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his junior year at LSU, entered the draft a year early, despite being ranked just the 65th-best prospect of the class by DraftExpress and 76th by ESPN.com's Chad Ford. The 22-year-old was part of the draft-night trade that allowed the Sixers to acquire the Heat's first-round pick and select Arnett Moultrie. In exchange, Miami received the 45th overall pick, used to draft Hamilton, and the Sixers' lottery-protected 2013 first-rounder.
The Heat will hold Hamilton's rights if and when he returns to the NBA, but it appears the team didn't have a ton of interest in signing the 6'11" center, despite a lack of quality bigs. Heat president Pat Riley said earlier this month that he didn't feel like the club needed to add another center, so unless the Heat have another target in mind, it appears they're sticking to that stance.