The contract does not have an opt-out clause if the NBA lockout ends and the league goes back to work, he said. Diebler was a second-round selection by the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA draft in June.
"I'm there for the year," Diebler said.
"With the lockout, it put a twist on things. I'm definitely a guy who would benefit from a full (training) camp instead of a shortened one."
Diebler said he and his agent and the Blazers discussed him playing overseas during the week between the draft and the start of the lockout. "Portland's been great. They want what's best for me."
Diebler's agent, Lance Young, said Diebler's contract is for more than $100,000 and includes "up-front money."
"Doing stuff to protect him was our main objective," Young said, "making sure when he gets there, he gets a little chunk of change once he passes his physical." While not revealing Diebler's salary, Young said it is worth "well over the $100,000 mark.
"That was kind of our objective. Most guys in their first year in Europe make $100,000 to $120,000. We wanted to make sure we could get more than that."
Diebler said he and his wife, Caitlin, leave later this month for Athens, where Panionios is based. He is scheduled to report to training camp August 28. His former Ohio State teammate, Zisis Sarikopoulos, was a reserve for Panionios last season, but Diebler is not certain whether he will re-sign with the team.
"I wanted to play in a really good league," Diebler said. "I was not so worried about how big my contract is. I was more worried about, for a year, going to play in a really good league with good teams and play really good competition and get better.
"I also wanted to go somewhere nice and has things to do. I wanted to have a nice situation for my wife. There’s a lot of nice places around the world, but I didn’t want to go somewhere where I'd have to worry about her when I’m on the road."
Young said another objective was to find Diebler a team that will feature him.
"There were a lot of teams interested," he said. "We were trying to find right fit for him where he was playing at a high level and for a team that was looking at him as a focal point and not as a role player.
"He's been a role player at Ohio State, and he accepted that role. Now I think he wants to take a little more of an assertive role as a two-guard and prove to the Blazers that he’s going to be ready when he goes to their camp next year to be a long-time NBA player."
source : buckeyeextra.com
Click here to return to the homepage.
0 comments:
Post a Comment