By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Laboral Kutxa’s president Josean Querejeta denied on Monday to the Spanish press that he had contact with any team for the possible sell of Thomas Heurtel. However, the situation seems to be quite different.
According to Eurohoops sources not only Thomas Heurtel already has a deal with Anadolu Efes, but during the last two weeks Laboral Kutxa knows the exact amount of money that the Turkish club is willing to pay as a buy out in order to get the player. Still, the statement of Querejeta is not surprising, considering his track record as a negotiator.
Querejeta at this point knows that if he decides to keep Heurtel in Vitoria, he will lose him as a free agent in the summer of 2015 and he will also have to pay his contract for the rest of the season. So business-wise, there’s no other option than to sell him. Despite rumors about the opposite, no other club made an offer in order to get the player from Laboral Kutxa – at least so far according to our sources – so Querejeta in the last moment decided, like a good poker player, to bluff.
The best case scenario is an even bigger buy out by Efes – something he probably can’t achieve at this point – and the worst case scenario is a public demonstration of his willingness to do the best for his club and negotiate hard, something that may temper fans’ criticism for losing one of the best players of the team, just before the start of Euroleague’s Top16. Still what we expect to hear next from the club, is the release of the player in order to join Anadolu Efes.