By Marcus Shockley
 Photo: ESPN |
With the NBA still in lockouts and talks scheduled to resume today, there is growing interest in what’s been happening overseas. With Deron Williams finding success with Besiktas and J.R. Smith getting into a spat with his Chinese team, the stories that might normally be surfacing during the NBA season seem to be pouring in from across the water. |
|
The latest is that Besiktas has also reached an agreement with Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, which means he and Williams would suddenly be teamed up as early as next week. This also means that fans here in the United States might suddenly have a lot more interest, just to see how effective Williams and Odom are together.
It’s not clear if the Euroleague teams are hoping to gain market share into the United States or simply increase their local interest as high as possible during the lockout, but Besiktas is now presented with a potential game-changing opportunity. If they were able to also sign a big name, such as Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard or another player to play alongside Deron Williams and Lamar Odom, suddenly the interest (and ESPN coverage) would go through the roof. It wouldn’t simply be an experiment for a couple of NBA players, but a team that could rival several NBA franchises. It should be noted that this won’t be easy; Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love and Brook Lopez all turned down offers from Besiktas thus far. |
|