Despite previously declaring that he would play for the Charlotte Bobcats this season, 2011 lottery pick Bismack Biyombo's rookie season in the NBA is in jeopardy dude to a contract dispute with his former team in Spain.
Biyombo, a fast-rising prospect made the 7th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by Charlotte, has been embroiled in a contract dispute with his former club, Fuenlabrada of the Spanish ACB League, who claim that the player is still under contract for another two seasons and has a buyout of roughly $1.4 million.
The Congolese forward-center and his agent, Joel Bell, have both been adamant that his former team was in breach of contract and that Biyombo would play for the Bobcats in 2011-12.
However, Biyombo's rookie year appears in jeopardy after a Spanish court ruled in favor of Fuenlabrada, effectively dismissing the 6-foot-9 player's request to "unilaterally break his contract, according to a report by Sportando. A trial scheduled for Monday involving the two parties has also been canceled.
Besides the buyout, the ACB club is also hitting the Bobcats rookie with a fine for missing four games and 64 practices when he came to the United States for pre-draft workouts.
Adding to the rookie's problems, FIBA, the governing body of global basketball, denied Biyombo's request for a transfer, meaning as of right now Fuenlabrada holds all of the cards in terms of his basketball future. FIBA previously ruled in Fuenlabrada's favor back in August as well.
Losing Biyombo would be a big blow for Charlotte as the team prepares for the upcoming season. Despite being raw, the athletic and physically gifted talent was expected to be a major contributor in the Bobcats' front court rotation that was one of the league's worst in 2010-11.
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© 2011 Neal J. Leitereg -- All Rights Reserved
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