Ahead of the team’s first season in the EuroLeague, Dubai Basketball is loading up on former NBA players. The team announced this week in a pair of press releases that it has signed free agent shooting guard Dwayne Bacon and wing Justin Anderson.
Bacon, who will turn 30 next month, hasn’t been on an NBA roster since being waived by the Lakers in October 2022, but the former No. 40 overall pick out of Florida State appeared in 207 regular season games for Charlotte and Orlando from 2017-21. He averaged 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 19.4 minutes per game – with a shooting line of .402/.314/.780 – during that time and has since played in Monaco, Greece, China, Puerto Rico, and Russia.
Anderson, meanwhile, is a 2015 first-round pick who made 242 NBA regular season appearances for six teams from 2015-22. The 31-year-old, who averaged 5.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on .410/.292/.775 shooting in the NBA, has played for three separate clubs in Spain since 2023.
In addition to Bacon and Anderson, Dubai recently added former Brooklyn swingman Dzanan Musa and former Dallas guard McKinley Wright. The roster also features longtime NBA big man Davis Bertans, who played for Dubai last season.
Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:
- Big man Donta Hall, who suited up for three NBA teams from 2020-21, has agreed to a three-year deal with the Greek team Olympiacos, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. Hall also drew interest from Panathinaikos, tweets Marc Stein, while his former team in Spain (Baskonia) will receive a buyout payment, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details.
- Speaking to the French outlet L’Aisne Nouvelle, Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert explained why he won’t be suiting up for France at this year’s EuroBasket tournament. “I’ve had busy summers in recent years, and it’s taken a toll,” Gobert said (hat tip to Eurohoops). “People don’t always realize how intense the EuroBasket is. It finishes just before the NBA resumes, and it’s a big responsibility. I had said I’d wait until the end of the season to decide, and now I have. This summer, I’m focusing on myself, my family and my son.”
- We’ve passed along several international basketball updates over the course of this week, including updates on Nassir Little‘s new team overseas, a Cavaliers second-round pick signing in Italy, and former NBA guard Vasilije Micic ending up in Israel. Our full archive of international basketball stories can be found right here.
Dwayne breakfast Bacon.