Report: Joel Freeland Agrees To Contract Extension With Unicaja Malaga
A little more than a week ago, the agent for for international Portland Trail Blazers big man Joel Freeland was quoted by Spanish publication La Opinion De Malaga saying that Spanish club Unicaja Malaga was close to inking a contract extension with his client.
On Tuesday, La Opinion De Malaga reports that the agreement is "practically closed." A Sportando.net translation provides the following details...
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Joel Freeland has agreed with Unicaja Malaga to extend the contract with the Spanish team, according to La Opinion de Malaga. The new contract of the British big man with Unicaja Malaga will have a €2.7M buyout clause. The deal should be official after Copa del Rey who will be played till Sunday in Barcelona.
His agent, Falo Calvo, said that Joel Freeland doesn't want to play in any other team different from Malaga, not even an NBA team once he will sign the new agreement.
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Freeland, 25, has been a standout for Unicaja Malaga this season, winning ACB player of the month honors before suffering an ankle injury.
Ed: Many thanks to Meru for posting this. Headline and text updated.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
3 months ago
meru
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Congrats, you won the race to report this by.. two minutes!
Regarding Freeland, if they want him, there’s still a buyout option it looks like. But the Blazers will have to really want him.
blazers can only pay up to like 500,000 on the buyout no matter how much they want him
i keep dancing on my own.
Correct, that's what I mean by "they have to really want him"
They’d have to give him a big enough contract (and offer a big enough role) to make it worth him paying his own buyout and leaving a good role.
Ack, I forgot, they CAN'T give him a big contract, can they?
He’s pick 30 so he’s glued to the rookie scale.
Well, the Blazers are out of luck unless he really wants to come over.
nope
they can offer him part of the MLE since he was drafted like 5 years ago.
i keep dancing on my own.
Which, apparently, he doesn't.
His agent, Falo Calvo, said that Joel Freeland doesn’t want to play in any other team different from Malaga, not even an NBA team once he will sign the new agreement.
You know what? It’s allright. I’d rather never sniff the guy then have him come over, have a promising 1st year, and then get all emo and homesick.
30th pick? A lot of 30th picks don’t pan out, and technically this is the least expensive version of “not panning out” you could hope for. Aside from the dashed hopes and dreams of people who have been watching Freeland’s development, this is not a big loss.
It makes you wonder though… how would Freeland feel about coming to the NBA if we waived him and he was able to solicit as a FA? Oh well brit-Joel, you’ll NEVER FIND OUT! BWAHAHAHAHAH….
Sorry, those were my dashed hopes and dreams talking.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Feb 14, 2012 1:45 PM PST up reply actions
He was only a 30th pick
because of his inexperience…from a talent, size perspective he would have gone a lot higher!…man that draft was weak.
by ripcitymilehigh on Feb 14, 2012 3:30 PM PST up reply actions
that's a bit of revisionist history
it was more than inexperience that slotted him at 30 – he was an extremely raw prospect. he had size, but the talent and skills were not much developed at all, and if I recall he hadn’t been playing ball very long. he was a project pick all the way.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
What's the story with Freeland?
Seems like he was a pretty high pick. What ever happened with Joel? And, why does Portland always take these guys and stash them for much, much later? Is that wise?
Nothing weird in his story, really
He was picked late in the first round due to his potential, but he was very green. He’s improved a lot, but doesn’t seem in a rush to leave Europe, he seems happy there.
Frankly, I don't care if he ever comes to PDX..
If he really wanted to be in the NBA, he’d be here by now. His unwillingness to come here makes me question his desire to play agains the best. Nothing against him, but I’d rather have a guy who can’t wait to play against elite competition. I’m not exactly sure of his age, but I’d guess that if he comes over after this contract, he’ll be in his late 20’s (provided the blazers don’t execute a buyout). PDX doesn’t have time to wait for the guy. We don’t even know if he can play anyway.
He just turned 25
He started playing basketball late, so he probably still keeps developing with more and more responsibility as the go-to guy on his team. He might still be a Scola-type player when he comes over. But it’s sad that he didn’t take this opportunity with Camby and Oden about to go out of the picture and quite a lot of minutes available on the Blazers.
He's 25 and has an opportunity to go to team without a center or a backup PF next year.
For years we heard the excuse that he didn’t want to come over unless he was sure there was playing time available. If he doesn’t come over now, then I think we are probably better off without him. He lacks the competitive desire to play in the NBA, for one reason or another.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man." - Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981)
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Feb 14, 2012 12:23 PM PST up reply actions
for European players, there are many good arguments for playing in Europe
less games make for a more relaxed pace and less wear and tear. Salaries are usually post-tax, and there are a lot of other benefits paid by top notch teams as well. They are closer to home. The travel isn’t as posh, but for guys who haven’t played in the NBA, there is no jarring difference – they are already used to the travel. and distances aren’t as far anyway.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
This is a FAIL..
The team needs depth up front and the front office has really failed to provide it. This guy is great depth player with upside to be a starter…if they dropped the ball next year is gonna be brutal.
by ripcitymilehigh on Feb 14, 2012 11:55 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Someone once refered to as "KP" said it...
…We want players that want to be here.
If Freeland as his agent suggests, has no interest to play for any other team but Malaga? Then more power to him.
Malaga Later Freeland.
Really, to me, this means he either REALLY doesn’t prioritize coming to the N.B.A. as a priority in his life, inwhich case I don’t want him.
Or it means, he’s simply making sure The Blazers are forced to give him an extra large payday if they do pursue him.
In either case? It sours me on Freeland. He can stay Europe for all I care.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
Blazer Front Office Epic Fail....end of story.
LaMarcus All-Stardridge - 2012 All-Star Reserve!!!!
THE LAMONSTER ERA IS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A highly valuable 30th pick was wasted on that guy.
Sack the front office!
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they're not.
by conspirator5 on Feb 14, 2012 1:46 PM PST up reply actions
I think we've done that like twice since Freeland was picked...
The smarter you are, the more likely you are to be tripping balls at any given moment.
/keep Batum/ /trade for Bogut/
The dream of Freeland is dead in Portland...
The smarter you are, the more likely you are to be tripping balls at any given moment.
/keep Batum/ /trade for Bogut/
by gtbassett on Feb 14, 2012 12:47 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
Ah, portland. Where a front office can make a Fran Vasquez blunder,
and have the fanbase blame the player instead of the front office.
by howlingfantods on Feb 14, 2012 12:55 PM PST reply actions
what exactly is the blunder Portland has made in this situation?
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
drafting a player who has no interest in playing in your league? it's exactly what the Magic
did with Vasquez.
by howlingfantods on Feb 14, 2012 2:24 PM PST up reply actions
it was a #30 pick
taking a gamble on an upside overseas guy is a decent pick at that spot. Taking Claver at #22 is a much worse offense.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
by douglast on Feb 14, 2012 2:54 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
yeah obviously it's better to waste a #30 pick on a Vazquez pick than a #11 pick
like the Magic did. But it’s still the same basic idea—the management did little to confirm that the player had any strong interest in playing in the NBA and still wasted the resource (a much lesser one with the #30 than the #11) on drafting that player.
as you point out, not a huge mistake since the #30 pick is worth relatively little (in some respects less than the #31 and #32 picks). But even if it’s a lesser mistake, it’s still a mistake, and I’m simply pointing out how hilarious it is that the fanbase is so in the bag for management here that they blame the player instead of the actual people involved in the mistake.
by howlingfantods on Feb 15, 2012 8:53 AM PST up reply actions
well, i guess i disagree with the premise a bit
you are drafting this guy with the plans to leave him to develop in Europe for at least 3 years. Determining his desire to play in the NBA at that point (when he’s 18) is kind of pointless. no matter what his answer, it very likely can and would change over the course of time.
it’s not a mistake to take a gamble on an overseas project with the #30 pick. just because it doesn’t pan out, doesn’t mean it was wrong. the alternative was to draft a guy who would have taken up a roster and salary slot of 4 seasons, not played, and given you nothing. seems to me the Blazers at least saved a couple million in salary, and had that roster slot available for other uses.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
or you can package the pick in a trade to get a player or move up in the draft for a better prospect, or trade it for a couple of second rounders who would be non-guaranteed fliers.
i keep dancing on my own.
both of which take willing trade partners
we don’t know if there were any at the time.
meh, not really worht spending much more time debating. sure, there were other options. Was it some sort of front office blunder to pick Joel? hardly.
"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave
I mean, if we want to go full revisionist, Paul Millsap was still available.
"There is nothing shrewd about running a red light and later finding out it kept you from being hit by an asteroid." - philofthenorth
by KeepItCopacetic on Feb 16, 2012 10:22 AM PST up reply actions
I figured.
For what its worth, those who wanted us to give him the MLE would be making next season look a lot like this one.
For what its worth, there is a young up & coming PF prospect in this draft who will be just as good if not better then Freeland. He works significantly harder then Freeland on defense & would give us an opportunity to make things right with the country of Croatia after Petrovic. Leon Radosevic. He has been my favorite young big man prospect the past few years but hasn’t been playing as well for the Italian Milano Euroleague club, compared to the last two years for Zagreb. If you look at his agent Jeff Schwartz, he has a lot of high profile athletes like Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Kevin Love, Paul Pierce, Lamar Odom, Kemba Walker, Emeka Okefor & Tyson Chandler. Aside from that there are a select few European prospects like Radosevic & fellow Croatian Tomislav Zubcic, who himself is also bursting with potential.
"We gotta get this $#!^ together guys!" - Phil
That "for what its worth," got copied into my paragraph, darn it ! :\
"We gotta get this $#!^ together guys!" - Phil
Radosevic is going to be a beast man
Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Vladimir Stepania, Ha(ha you suck) Seung Jin, Travis Diener and Erick Barkley
by blazethenugs on Feb 15, 2012 1:51 AM PST up reply actions
If he doesn't want to come over then why bother with him anymore?
Let him stay where he is comfortable even if it makes him a coward! I am certain we had interest in bringing him over in the summer as long as we didn’t have to shell out for his buy-out. Now he signs an extension and his agent says he has not interest in leaving Malaga, well its time we moved on to players that actually want to play in the NBA.
He has wasted our time and we have wasted a draft pick on him, I am pissed!
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