Oscar Torres heading to Turk Telekom

Snaidero Udine has released Oscar Torres (1.95-SG/SF). During this season Torres has played 21 games in italian Serie A, with 12.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg and a season high of 23 points scored against La Fortezza Virtus Bologna. 

The former Napoli and Fortitudo Bologna player is going to join Turk Telekom Ankara (Turkey TBL), who currently has a record of 19-7 in turkish league and is lead by veteran Serkan Erdogan (190-PG/SG).

source : eurobasket.com

Dickau wants to go home..

According to abendzeitung.de, Dan Dickau(1.83-PG) wants to terminate his contract with Bamberg and return home. What seemed to be a great transfer for Bamberg is becoming now and major pain. The NBA veteran is constantly criticised about his lack of defensive efforts. Although he has been scoring consistently he has also been comitting to almost 4 turnovers per game. 

Dan Dickau has averaged 17.6 points 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in the 5 games he played in the Bundesliga for Bamberg. 

Real Madrid to release Pepe Sanchez

According to sport.es Real Madrid is going to release argentinian point-guard Pepe Sanchez(1.93-PG). Rumors are that Sanchez and coach Plaza did not have the best working relationship and so Real and Sanchez have agreed to terminate their contract. Sanchez was brought in this summer to replace Kerem Tunceri.

The argentinian veteran with the italian passport has averaged 0.7 points 1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 15 games of the ACB league. 

Lonny Baxter to be released?

Lonny Baxter(2.03-PF/C) is possibly going to be released according to greek site sport24.gr. The american forward/center has been with Panionios for more than a year now, but due to a back injury there is a possibility he will have to have an operation. There isn't a name for a replacement lined-up at the moment.

Lonny Baxter has averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 22 games of the greek A1 league.

Milicic wants to play for Olympiacos?

The controversial serbian center, Darko Milicic(2.13-C) made a comment once again that he would like to play in Europe and more specifically for the team of Olympiacos according to sport24.gr. The article says that Milicic made these comments while talking on tv station RTS of Serbia. He said that he would like to play in Europe and more specifically for Olympiacos because it reminds him of Red Star Belgrade and because the team has excellent organisation on all levels.

Milicic is currently playing for Memphis in the NBA where he is averaging 5.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 58 games.

Marcin Gortat is considering playing in Europe

Gortat(2.11-C), a native of Poland, made just $700,000 this season. He is a restricted NBA free agent and the Magic can match any offer, but Gortat can sign with a foreign team if he chooses to return overseas. The Magic would retain his NBA rights.

"Europe is intriguing to us," said Guy Zucker, Gortat's agent. "Marcin would get a huge contract." Zucker said Thursday that teams overseas are interested in signing Gortat, but that Gortat's dream is to stay in the NBA, preferably with the Magic. He believes Orlando's "top priority" is to first deal with Turkoglu.

"Here's the biggest X factor: How deep are the Magic willing to dig into the luxury tax to pay Marcin?" Zucker said. 

source : orlandosentinel.com

Rumors about Messina and the Nets

There’s significant belief inside and outside the organization that Lawrence Frank will be fired, but some reliable sources think Frank’s fate is still unresolved. If a change is made, GM Kiki Vandeweghe is expected to have the autonomy to make his mark on the organization. Several sources suggest that he will push for Messina, who has won two Euroleague titles with CSKA Moscow.

Messina has surfaced in several recent searches, and it seems just a matter of time until he gets an NBA job. Messina replaced D’Antoni as the coach of Benetton Treviso.

“Kiki will try to do something unorthodox,” one peer insisted.

source : sports.yahoo.com

Big Sofo returned to practice

It seems that Big Sofo is back from the "dungeon". The greek center returned to the practice sessions of Olympiacos and he has actually lost more weight. Sofoklis Schortsanitis(2.06-C) was expelled from the team's practice session since the beginning of March and now he is back and he apologised to his coach and teammates for his lousy attitude back then.

Schortsanitis is now back after his contract's supension and all this time he was away he was working on his physical condition and his skills in order to make a comeback. If he is in good condition he might even make an appearance in the Euroleague Final-Four against Panathinaikos. So far he has averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13 games in the Euroleague.

Rumors about Varda and Panionios

According to greek media Ratko Varda(2.16-C) was offered to Panionios. The greek team is currently having problems with their front line having lost Levon Kendall(2.09-PF/C) and Lonny Baxter(2.03-PF/C) to injuries. The medical team of Panionios cannot say how soon will they be available and so Panionios are on the lookout for possible replacements.

The case of Varda seems unlikely though as he does have a spot in the rotation of Khimki and Panionios is unlikely to pay a buy-out in order to acquire Varda. He has been averaging 7.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 5 games in the russian Superleague.

Solomon from Kings to Fenerbahce

The Sacramento Kings today requested waivers on guard Will Solomon, according to Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie.

Solomon, who is currently in his second NBA season, averaged 5.0 points (.406 FGs, .448 3FGs, .500 FTs) and 1.5 rebounds per game through 14 outings off the bench for the Kings.

source : nba.com

Willie Solomon will not have a problem finding a new job in Europe although there have been reports that the reason he is out of action is recurrent shoulder injuries. There were also rumors circulating in turkish media that Fenerbahce is planning to re-sign their leader from previous seasons.

EDIT : The Turkish champions Fenerbahce Ülker reached an agreement with Willie Solomon in order to make him come back to his former team. The details are to be announced in the upcoming days on our official website

http://www.fenerbahce.org/eng/detay.asp?ContentID=2225

Malaga inked teen star Miguel Servera

Unicaja managed to land one of the best young talents in Spanish basketball in inking point guard Miquel Servera to a multi-year deal. Servera (193, 16) already draws comparisons with DKV Joventut superstar Ricky Rubio and former Euroleague MVP Theo Papaloukas. 

He made his debut with his current team, Mallorca Basquet, in the Spanish second division. Servera has averaged 4.8 points and 1.2 assists in 4 games with Mallorca. Servera has also been a member of the under-16 national team, averaging 8.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals in the European Championship last summer. Servera was chosen to play for the International team at the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic in April 2008.

source : euroleague.net

Stelmahers left ASK Riga for Veroli

Veroli of Lega Due, announced the signing of veteran latvian point guard, Roberts Stelmahers(1.90-PG) who was playing for ASK Riga until now. Stelmahers is a very experienced player that has played for many big european teams but he left ASK Riga before the end of the season. This comes as a surprise to general manager of ASK Riga, Maris Jucmanis, who said that it is sad that Stelmahers left as he had been paid his full salary although the season is not yet over.

He has averaged 5.3 points 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists in 6 games of the latvian league for ASK Riga.