Five years after being selected sixth overall in the 2010 draft, Ekpe Udoh spent the 2015/16 away from the NBA, playing overseas with Fenerbahce Istanbul. However, Udoh is contemplating returning to the NBA for the 2016/17 campaign.
According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, Udoh is weighing interest from six NBA teams, and has also received offers from two European powerhouses, Fenerbahce and CSKA Moscow. The 29-year-old big man is expected to make a decision on his next destination early on in the July free agent period.
In 270 career games with the Warriors, Bucks, and Clippers from 2010 to 2015, Udoh averaged just 4.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.9 minutes per contest, battling injuries along the way. With a career .429 FG%, the former No. 6 overall pick was never overly efficient on offense, and wasn’t an elite defender, but he feels as though his season with Fenerbahce was “critical” for allowing him to evolve and grow, as he tells Charania.
“It’s definitely a possibility to come back to the NBA,” Udoh said. “I can see myself fitting back today. I have lowered my weight to 240, so I’m even more mobile. I protect the rim, get out in transition and I’m able to play with any team and guard one through five. That was a big focal point around the NBA this past season, finishing off the pick-and-roll or hitting the open man. I can fit back in the NBA with whatever decision that I make.”
This guy is better than Joel Embiid because he has played in an NBA game before. The Sixers should sign him and cut Embiid. Right?
I don’t know it’s pretty tough to argue Embiid’s career numbers…not too many guys can match the number of suits he’s worn of the last two years.
Well he is better since he has actually played a game. Once Embiid actually plays a game then we can see and I’m sure at that point Embiid might actually be better. But given his injury history (two years and hasn’t even played a game) Embiid is basically worthless except to rebuilding teams. A team like the Warriors, for example, would probably prefer Udoh over Embiid just because they know what they’re going to get. What seperates Embiid’s value from this year’s rookie class is that this year’s rookies haven’t missed any time in the NBA yet. Embiid has missed too much time at this point to really call him anything more than a 7 foot question mark.
How did the NBA get by without Ekpe?