Former UConn star Adama Sanogo spent most of his first two professional seasons on two-way contracts with the Bulls after going undrafted in 2023. Now, the 6’9″ forward is set to continue his career overseas.
Sanogo has reached an agreement to sign with Trapani Shark, the Italian team announced in a press release on Friday. Club president Valerio Antonini first announced the deal on social media (Twitter link).
Sanogo was the leading scorer and rebounder for the national champion Huskies in 2022/23 before going pro. The 23-year-old only appeared in 13 NBA games across two seasons for Chicago, but played a significant role for the Windy City Bulls, averaging a double-double (19.2 PPG, 11.6 RPG) across 67 games and earning a spot on both the NBAGL All-Rookie Team and the All-NBAGL Third Team in 2024.
Sanogo was waived by the Bulls in February.
We have a few more updates from around the international basketball world:
- Italian wing Gabriele Procida, the No. 36 overall pick in the 2022 draft whose NBA rights are held by the Jazz, has officially signed a three-year contract with Real Madrid, the Spanish club announced in a press release. Procida is still just 23 years old and remains a candidate to come stateside at some point, so it’s worth noting that his new deal includes NBA outs in both 2026 and 2027, as Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reports.
- After spending the past two seasons with Olimpia Milano, former NBA forward Nikola Mirotic has left the Italian club to sign with AS Monaco Basket, according to a press release from the team. Mirotic, who averaged 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in 319 NBA outings from 2014-19, unexpectedly turned down a lucrative NBA contract offer in 2019 to return to Europe and has been playing overseas since then.
- Former NBA guard Patrick Beverley is weighing the possibility of investing in Hapoel Tel Aviv after playing for the Israeli club last season, team owner Ofer Yannay said during an appearance on The Baseline Podcast (YouTube link). “Patrick is now considering becoming a shareholder of Hapoel, to invest money in Hapoel,” Yannay said, per BasketNews.com. “This is something that we are negotiating on.” Beverley started last season with Hapoel Tel Aviv before leaving the team in February following a suspension.
After 2 or 3 years of not being signed, NBA clubs should no longer have “rights” for any player. You have the right to sign them if you draft them, if they aren’t ready and you don’t want to be the one responsible to develop them, sure let them play overseas on their own, but they should not hold their rights endlessly. It’s a shame how many good players never get to compete in the NBA due to draft-and-stash rules.
Terrible take
HayesT, can you please name some of these players who wanted to come and would’ve been good NBA players but were held back by the team who held their NBA rights? I’m not a watcher of European basketball but am interested to learn more about it. Thanks in advance!