No NBA team seems to want Andray Blatche.
Although he reportedly met with officials of the Miami Heat earlier in September 2014, Blatche will not be returning to the NBA anytime soon. In an article by Bleacher Report, he had a contract with the Nets for the 2014-2015 season worth over $1.4 million but he used his player option and turned down the deal. Many expected Blatche to be scooped up by other teams as soon as he entered the free agent market but no deals were done after several weeks. He also met with the Toronto Raptors at Las Vegas Summer League but no deal was offered. There were also talks that the New Orleans Pelicans were interested.
It was unlikely that Blatche would return to the New Jersey Nets. According to the report, Bill King, general manager of the Nets, the team was headed towards a different direction. He shared that the team had its reasons to move on. There were also rumors that Blatche had some issues with team officials, which resulted to his diminished playing time. Nets coach, Jason Kidd, reduced his minutes from 22.2 per night in the regular season to 14.3 in the playoffs.
Blatche had a strong showing at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, grabbing the attention of several foreign teams. It was supposedly a way to get him back to the league. However, the 6'11" center was snubbed by NBA teams so he opted to sign with a Chinese team instead. Blatche signed a deal for one year with the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball League. The contract was worth $2.5 million, based on a report by Yahoo Sports.
The 28-year-old will be playing alongside former NBA player Jordan Crawford. The two will attempt to help the Flying Tigers win their first CBA championship title. In the previous season, the Flying Tigers lost to the Beijing Ducks in the finals with a 2-4 standing.
Blatche averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds, shooting 47.6 from the field, with the New Jersey Nets in the 2013-2014 NBA season. He improved much during the FIBA tournament, averaging 21.2 points and 13.8 rebounds a game. According to Synergy Sports, Blatche is in the lower 50th percentile in every category as an individual defender, except off-screen coverage. He is good offensively but has difficulty in pick-and-roll coverage. The Flying Tigers are expected to improve much in the coming season with the help of Blatche and Crawford.
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