Spurs 2013 first-round draft pick Livio Jean-Charles will remain with French team Asvel Villeurbanne next season, according to Tony Parker, the Spurs point guard who owns part of Asvel, as Catch-and-Shoot reports (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 20-year-old forward hasn’t played this season because of a knee injury.
San Antonio took Jean-Charles with the 28th overall pick last year after an impressive performance in the Nike Hoop Summit in which he competed against many of this year’s premiere draft prospects, including Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Noah Vonleh. Still, the 6’9″ forward put up underwhelming numbers with Asvel in 2012/13, notching just 3.3 points in 14.0 minutes per game.
The extra year overseas isn’t altogether surprising, given that the injury kept him from using this season to improve his game. If he had signed this summer, the Spurs would have given him a rookie scale contract worth the equivalent of what this year’s 28th overall pick is set to receive. There might be some degree of pressure for the Spurs to sign Jean-Charles in the summer of 2015, the last year he’d be subject to the rookie scale. Still, he’d be unlikely to command more money unless he shows significant improvement in his game, and Parker, who’s buying a majority stake in Asvel, probably wouldn’t attach an exorbitant buyout to Jean-Charles’ deal with the French team.