By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Earning his way back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Dani Diez became the fourth new player for Cazoo Baskonia.
Diez, 29, inked a one-year contract, the team announced Wednesday. Carrying the experience of 71 games played in the EuroLeague mark two of his four campaigns at Unicaja and the 2013-14 season with Real Madrid. In other European club continental competitions, he has made his way to 29 Basketball Champions League contests and 40 games of the 7DAYS EuroCup.
The Madrid-born small forward went from the youth divisions of Real Madrid to debuting with the senior team during the 2011-12 season. After being loaned to Donosti Gipuzkoa for the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons, he was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 54th overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft. His NBA rights were afterward traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
From 2015 to 2019, Diez played for Unicaja, jumped to Iberostar Tenerife for the next two seasons, and spent the 2021-22 season at Hereda San Pablo Burgos. A former regular for the junior national teams of Spain in multiple successful showings, he was capped at the senior level in recent international windows focused on the 2023 FIBA World Cup and 2022 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers.
At Vitoria-Gasteiz, the latest newcomer will join forces will fellow summer signings Daulton Hommes, Markus Howard, and Maik Kotsar. Plenty more pieces to the puzzle are expected for the new head coach Joan Penarroya heading to the 2022-23 editions of EuroLeague and Spain’s Liga Endesa.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League