By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Juan Plaza is doing a total renovation with Unicaja Malaga’s roster and one day after he let Augusto Lima free, he signed another Brazilian: Rafa Hettsheimeir. The 27-year big man signed for two years (getting around 400.000 euros per season) and he will fill in for Luka Zoric, who moved to Fenerbahce Ulker.
In any case, Hettsheimeir’s transfer will be done only when he will pass the medical tests in mid September, after his games with Brazilian NT. During last season he suffered a serious injury in his left knee and in Malaga there is still worry about it.
Unicaja will add one more player for its front line, since Plaza needs a strong game inside the paint as he tries to make his team more competitive in Liga Endesa and Euroleague. His chosen (after the failure of signing Spenser Nelson) is Robbie Hummel, who had great season with Obradoiro and now is ready to sign a contract with Malaga earning about 350.000 euros.
In Eurocup, Maccabi Haifa announced the signing of forward Brian Randle who finished last season in Hapoel Tel Aviv. Belgium’s Spirou Charleroi added rookie Karol Gruszecki, who has spent the past four seasons playing college basketball in the United States, first for North Platte Community College before transferring to the University of Texas at Arlington for his final two seasons. Also, Alba Berlin signed a very familiar face to German basketball, forward Jan Jagla who played for Bayern Munich last season.