By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Patrick Beverley is expected to be released by Spartak St. Petersburg in order to join Houston Rockets! For the last 10 days the two teams were in negotiations and finally the deal was made, despite the fact that Beverley is the most important player in the Russian club’s roster which still is in the hunt of the VTB League and Eurocup.
However, Spartak understood that it couldn’t deny Beverley the chance to play in the NBA, as he was offered a guaranteed contract until the summer of 2015! Houston is ready to sign the American guard in order to add him next to stars like Jeremy Lin and James Harden. The Rockets will also pay the bulk of Beverley’s buy out which is 600.000 $ according to Eurohoops’ sources.
Beverley had also signed a contract with the Miami Heat back in the summer of 2010, but he was unlucky and the team cut him just before the start of the season, because Mike Miller was injured and the Heat decided to add veteran Jerry Stackhouse. This the past and now Beverley will have a place in the NBA until the end of the 2014-15 season.
Spartak is losing its starting point guard and according to trusted sources from Turkey the Russians are already in negotiations with Galatasaray in order to sign Jaka Lakovic. The most possible scenario is for the Slovenian guard to get paid by the Turkish club until the end of 2012 and Spartak will cover his contract until the end of the season. Also, Spartak is one step away from signing Russian former Clipper Jaroslav Korolev who left Spanish club Lagun Aro in November.