Lately we've heard about the interest the Blazers have in signing former draft picks Joel Freeland and Victor Claver, the Rockets maneuvers concerning Donatas Motiejunas, and other news about international players signing in the NBA. Teams commonly draft international players with no intention of signing them immediately, "stashing" their rights away until they're ready to play in the NBA. Teams can retain draft rights to players for as much time as they want as long as they're playing professionally outside the NBA, so it's useful for teams that want to build assets for the future and avoid carrying a rookie (and his salary) on the bench.
We've put together a list of teams that hold the rights to international players who have been drafted since 2005.
That was the year the Magic spent a lottery pick on Fran Vazquez. The team still hasn't signed him, of course, and while Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reported a couple of months ago that the Magic might finally bring Vazquez aboard this summer, chances are slim anyone drafted before him will be coming to the NBA. So, we'll limit our list to 2005 and beyond. This list also doesn't include international players who played college basketball in the U.S.
76ers
Edin Bavcic: Drafted 56th by the Raptors in 2006; traded to the Sixers on June 28th, 2006.
Bulls
Vladimir Veremeenko: Drafted 48th by the Wizards in 2006; traded to the Bulls on July 8th, 2010.
Nikola Mirotic: Drafted 23rd by the Rockets in 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24th, 2011; traded to the Bulls on June 24th, 2011.
Cavaliers
Ejike Ugboaja: Drafted 55th by the Cavaliers in 2006.
Milan Macvan: Drafted 54th by the Cavaliers in 2011.
Grizzlies
Ricky Sanchez: Drafted 35th by the Trail Blazers in 2005; traded to the Nuggets on June 28th, 2005; traded to the Sixers on September 10th, 2007; traded to the Grizzlies on March 15th, 2012.
Hawks
Cenk Akyol: Drafted 59th by the Hawks in 2005.
Sergiy Gladyr: Drafted 49th by the Hawks in 2009.
Jazz
Ante Tomic: Drafted 44th by the Jazz in 2008.
Tadija Dragicevic: Drafted 53rd by the Jazz in 2008.
Knicks
Giorgos Printezis: Drafted 58th by the Spurs in 2007; traded to the Raptors on June 28th, 2007; traded to the Mavericks on January 4th, 2011; traded to the Knicks on December 10th, 2011.
Lakers
Ater Majok: Drafted 58th by the Lakers in 2011.
Magic
Fran Vazquez: Drafted 11th by the Magic in 2005.
Milovan Rakovic: Drafted 60th by the Mavericks in 2007; traded to the Magic on June 28th, 2007.
Mavericks
Petteri Koponen: Drafted 30th by the Sixers in 2007; traded to the Trail Blazers on June 28th, 2007; traded to the Mavericks on June 23rd, 2011.
Renaldas Seibutis: Drafted 50th by the Mavericks in 2007.
Nets
Bojan Bogdanovic: Drafted 31st by the Heat in 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24th, 2011; traded to the Nets on June 24th, 2011.
Nuggets
Chukwudiebere Maduabum: Drafted 56th by the Lakers in 2011; traded to the Nuggets on June 23rd, 2011.
Pacers
Stanko Barac: Drafted 39th by the Heat in 2007; traded to the Pacers on June 28th, 2007.
Raptors
Jonas Valanciunas: Drafted 5th by the Raptors in 2011.
Rockets
Axel Hervelle: Drafted 52nd by the Nuggets in 2005; traded to the Rockets on September 22nd, 2009.
Lior Eliyahu: Drafted 44th by the Hawks in 2006; traded to the Rockets on June 28th, 2006.
Brad Newley: Drafted 54th by the Rockets in 2007.
Sergio Llull: Drafted 34th by the Nuggets in 2009; traded to the Rockets on June 25th, 2009.
Donatas Motiejunas: Drafted 20th by the Timberwolves in 2011; traded to the Rockets on June 24th, 2011.
Spurs
Erazem Lorbek: Drafted 46th by the Pacers in 2005; traded to the Spurs on June 23rd, 2011.
Nando De Colo: Drafted 53rd by the Spurs in 2009.
Ryan Richards: Drafted 49th by the Spurs in 2010.
Davis Bertans: Drafted 42nd by the Pacers in 2011; traded to the Spurs on June 23rd, 2011.
Adam Hanga: Drafted 59th by the Spurs in 2011.
Thunder
Yotam Halperin: Drafted 53rd by the SuperSonics in 2006.
Tibor Pleiss: Drafted 31st by the Nets in 2010; traded to the Hawks on June 24th, 2010; traded to the Thunder on June 24th, 2010.
Timberwolves
Loukas Mavrokefalidis: Drafted 57th by the Timberwolves in 2006.
Henk Norel: Drafted 47th by the Timberwolves in 2009.
Nemanja Bjelica: Drafted 35th by the Wizards in 2010; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24, 2010.
Paulao Prestes: Drafted 45th by the Timberwolves in 2010.
Tanguy Ngombo: Drafted 57th by the Mavericks in 2011; traded to the Trail Blazers on June 23rd, 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 27th, 2011.
Trail Blazers
Joel Freeland: Drafted 30th by the Trail Blazers in 2006.
Victor Claver: Drafted 22nd by the Trail Blazers in 2009.
Wizards
Emir Preldzic: Drafted 57th by the Suns in 2009; traded to the Cavaliers on June 26th, 2009; traded to the Wizards on February 17th, 2010.
RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.
—–
Lior Eliyahuis now on the T’Wolves. His rights were traded there along with Chase Budinger last summer.
Yeah, this post is over a year old now, and we haven’t been keeping it updated. I would guess we’ll publish a new version at some point this summer.
— Luke
When will this list be updated?