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There is some information during the day that the New York Knicks could hire CSKA Moscow defender Mike James. That information was transmitted by the New York Post, and now new information has appeared on the Old Continent as well.
Eurohoops found out that the Brooklyn Nets are also interested in James. The second best scorer of the Euroleague (19.3 points per match) in the current season had various outbursts, he was warned several times, but also punished for disciplinary violations, and in the end he had a conflict with coach Dimitrios Itoudis during the game, after which he finished his episode in the Russian capital.
Shortly after the statement of the Greek expert that James "finished with the club", the American traveled to his homeland in an attempt to find a new engagement in the NBA. The Knicks appeared as an option, who decided not to extend John Henson's contract, while Alec Burks is currently out due to a violation of health protocols.
According to Eurohoops, the Nets also got involved in the story.
Empty place
Brooklyn has an empty place in the roster after the decision of LaMarcus Aldridge to retire from active basketball due to heart problems. Clearly, James as a defender would not be a direct replacement for the center, but he could increase competition.
The general manager of the team, Sean Marks, pointed out that the team will assess the situation and make a decision whether the roster needs a refresh, and he did not write off the possibility of the arrival of a new defender.
"We are in a dilemma at the moment. You cannot replace LaMarcus, because you will not find another such player waiting for us. I think we will first wait for James (Harden) and Kevin (Durant) to return, so we will take a better look at the situation and assess whether we need more players in rotation." "It's not written in stone that we have to go in one direction, whether we sign a tall player or a defender.
In the next week we will decide what we need and make a decision," Marks said. James has experience from the NBA League. The winner of the Alphonso Ford award (the best scorer in the Euroleague) from 2019, in the 2017/18 season, made 38 appearances in the best basketball competition on the planet, defended the colors of Phoenix and New Orleans and averaged 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.
Before the conflict with Itoudis, he was one of the candidates for the most useful player in the Euroleague, so it seems that he could be of use to a team like Brooklyn, which will definitely try to get the championship ring this summer.