According to well-known player agent Dong Hao, Guangdong Southern Tigers have officially offered a contract to 1.80m guard Walker, who previously played for NBL's Hong Kong Aurochs. Dong Hao recommended Walker to Guangdong's general manager Zhu Fangyu through private connections. Additionally, the small foreign player Les, who only played less than 5 minutes in total, has been cut by the team but received his full monthly salary of $20,000, including accommodation and meals, which is quite lucrative.
You might say that Guangdong Southern Tigers are short on funds, yet they seem to be signing mediocre foreign players quite frequently, such as Barton, Arms, and Les. Even if they are paid monthly, the cumulative cost would still amount to around 250,000to300,000. If they had directly signed a good small foreign player, their record wouldn't have been hovering between 8th and 10th place. The current offer to Walker, who has a height disadvantage, can only serve as a temporary solution. It seems the club has decided to wait until the NBA layoff wave in February to seek a suitable small foreign player to sign.
In the home game against Beijing Royal Fighters, Zhejiang Guangsha's new recruit Boban will make his debut. The team is currently at the top of the leaderboard, so maintaining a stable lineup, filling gaps, and avoiding injuries are the most important tasks. Beijing Royal Fighters have a strong frontcourt, and Guangsha fans can look forward to seeing Boban face off against Salinger, Shen Zijie, and Zou Yuchen. If these three Beijing frontcourt players do not gain an advantage over Boban, then Guangsha can consider their acquisition successful. Guangsha's chairman Lou Ming is determined to bring a championship trophy back to Hangzhou this season. However, considering the current situation where CBA teams have significant changes in their foreign players, and the teams' strength will increase with the changes in foreign players before the playoffs, it is too early to predict who will be the champion.
According to Liaoning media, Zhao Jiwei will return in the game against Jilin Northeast Tigers. Wang Lanchen has recently performed outstandingly, so Zhao Jiwei could have rested more and didn't need to rush back. However, in their last encounter, Liaoning was not in top form, so coach Yang Ming sent Zhao Jiwei onto the court to strengthen the team's organization and passing, and also to provide support for the new recruit Patton. Due to the European New Year holiday, Patton's clearance letter has not been submitted to the basketball association yet. Another young Liaoning player, Huang Qiushi, also traveled to Changchun by high-speed train with Zhao Jiwei and may make his CBA debut in this game.
With the heroic efforts of veterans Zhou Peng and Weems, Shenzhen won away against Fujian Xingxing, achieving a three-game winning streak. Zhou Peng expressed that he and Weems always have the heart for the playoffs. After the game, there was more good news for Shenzhen. Last season's standout foreign player Mack, who had been recovering from a ligament tear for half a year, has arrived in Shenzhen to join the team and will replace Tillman to partner with Johnson on the perimeter.
Among Shenzhen's four foreign players, Thompson's rim protection is well-known, and Weims maintains high efficiency as long as his playing time is controlled. If Mack can continue his pre-injury performance from last season, coupled with the unpredictable Johnson, Shenzhen's foreign player selection, although not heavily invested this season, has proven to be very effective. Guangdong fans can't help but admire Zhou Peng's level in choosing foreign players, which is much better than Zhu Fangyu's, who has repeatedly made poor choices in small foreign players, spending a lot of money without achieving the desired results, leaving Guangdong fans speechless.