By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
New Orleans Pelicans announced the signing of forward Luke Babbitt, Nizhny Novgorod admitted that the Russian club’s demands were satisfied and his letter of clearance is traveling to the States. As Eurohoops reported the initial reaction of Nizhny was not constrained.
However Babbitt had already left Russia and there was no turning back. As Nizhny’s general manager Sergey Panov said: “This situation was unpleasant for the club. We encountered for the first time such a behavior. We did not want his act to go unpunished just because the NBA came calling. Therefore, we firmly negotiated, there were hundreds of phone calls, emails and I met with his agent in Belgrade. As a result, the amount of the compensation that we were paid, is proportionate to his contract with the Pelicans”. The exact amount of the buy out wasn’t announced.