There's no shortage of free agent movement worldwide, as our constantly updated International Player Movement Tracker shows. Some of the most intriguing signings involve players who have NBA experience. Many ex-NBA types wind up in Spain, where the ACB league is widely considered the best professional circuit outside of the Association. China, too, is an increasingly popular destination, especially since its season ends early, giving players a chance to jump back to the NBA for the stretch run.
Neither of those two countries boasts the greatest number of ex-NBA players who've agreed to deals with overseas teams this summer. Italy has that honor, boasting 20 players with NBA experience who'll be joining teams in that country this year, including Kim English and Samardo Samuels, who saw NBA action as recently as this past season. Russia is next on the list, with the likes of Luke Babbitt, Mickael Gelabale, Andrew Goudelock and Jeremy Pargo. Some of the guys whose names appear below have limited NBA resumes, and a few only appeared in a single NBA game. Still, they represent the growing global connection between the NBA and leagues around the world.
This list doesn't include players who will be playing overseas on existing deals, and not all agreements are final. China, in particular, figures to see more NBA players migrate its way in the weeks ahead because of its convenient schedule, and many training camp invitees who fail to make NBA opening-night rosters will probably end up playing international ball. Those caveats aside, here's each country with pro teams that have combined for at least three new deals with former NBA players this offseason:
- Italy (20): Troy Bell, Mardy Collins, Travis Diener, Jerome Dyson, Kim English, Malik Hairston, Jarvis Hayes, Othello Hunter, Linton Johnson, Bobby Jones, Coby Karl,Keith Langford, Jeremy Richardson, Samardo Samuels, Matt Walsh, JaJuan Johnson, Tamar Slay, Jerry Smith, Kyle Weaver, Edwin Ubiles
- Russia (19): James Augustine, Luke Babbitt, Primoz Brezec, Derrick Brown, Paul Davis, Mickael Gelabale, Andrew Goudelock, Luke Harangody, Viktor Khryapa, Yaroslav Korolev, Nenad Krstic, Aaron Miles, Sergei Monia, Demetris Nichols, Jeremy Pargo,Kosta Perovic, Sonny Weems, Julian Wright, Courtney Fortson
- France (14): Alex Acker, Alexis Ajinca, Jon Brockman, Yakhouba Diawara, Daniel Ewing, Taurean Green, Travis Leslie, Kevin Murphy, David Noel, Ryan Reid, Mike Scott, Mouhamed Sene, Pape Sy, Jawad Williams
- Turkey (13): Carlos Arroyo, Esteban Batista, Khalid El-Amin, Semih Erden, Lynn Greer, Nathan Jawai, Linas Kleiza, Damir Markota, Kirk Penney, Zoran Planinic, Walker Russell, Darius Washington, Sean Williams
- Spain (11): Joey Dorsey, Rudy Fernandez, Ben Hansbrough, Oliver Lafayette,Maciej Lampe, Raul Lopez, Bostjan Nachbar, Juan Carlos Navarro, Andres Nocioni, Andy Panko, Sergio Rodriguez
- Greece (8): Mike Batiste, Antonis Fotsis, Stephane Lasme, Acie Law, Gabe Pruitt, Cedric Simmons, Vassilis Spanoulis, Roko Ukic
- Israel (5): Ronald Dupree, Ndudi Ebi, Donta Smith, Antoine Wright, Tyler Honeycutt
- China (4): Bobby Brown, Ivan Johnson, Johan Petro, Yi Jianlian
- Germany (3): Martynas Andriuskevicius, Sharrod Ford, Casey Jacobsen
- Lithuania (3): Omar Cook, Justin Dentmon, Andreas Glyniadakis
- Poland (3): Craig Brackins, Christian Eyenga, Cezary Trybanski
- Serbia (3): Ratko Varda, Charles Jenkins, Tarence Kinsey