According to Eurobasket.com, center Alexis Ajinca has decided to stay with the French basketball club Strausborg IG for next season, and a contract extension is in the works (H/T AirAlamo.com).
If you recall, the 7’2″ Ajinca was on the San Antonio Spurs’ 2012 Summer League team where he averaged 10 minutes, 2.8 points, shot 50% from the field, 2.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 1.5 personal fouls, and one turnover in four games with the Spurs.
Of course stats in Vegas are never really so impressive because guys don’t play in some games and it’s more on a basis of the coaching staff trying out each prospect to see if they have any sort of strength to add to their program.
Ajinca’s best game was against the Miami Heat where he logged 16 minutes, scored six points and grabbed six rebounds. However, if you watched all of the games that Ajinca played in, he seemed to look very slow compared to the other players on the court and it’s unknown if he could really make a mark against the NBA’s best players. He also didn’t display his outside shot, as he missed his only two attempted 3-pointers.
With Ajinca staying overseas, this may improve the chances that Spurs 2010 draftee Ryan Richards could receive a training camp invite when training camps open up in several weeks. Richards had an inconsistent week as well in Vegas, but in his last game when he received the minutes, he scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in a way that no other Spurs big man on that roster could have done. Richards used finesse and speed to make moves around or threw defenders to score from both the inside and outside.
Will Richards receive that exclusive training camp invite with Ajinca out of the picture? That remains to be seen. But, there is a greater possibility now that the Frenchman has decided to stay in France.
(Photo: Shep McAllister – Spurs.com)
