By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Semih Erden will not be included in Anadolu Efes‘ roster for tonight’s Top16 game against Olympiacos and that’s the beginning of the end of his cooperation with the Turkish club. The former NBAer returned to his home country during the summer of 2012, despite being a restricted free agent of Cleveland Cavaliers, but hasn’t performed according to expectations.
As team manager Engin Ozerhun said: “Due to low performance and limited contribution to the team, we took this decision. He will maintain to work his individual training. We’ll see how this situation will end”. Erden’s contract includes an team option from next season, however according to Eurohoops sources the decision of not using it is already made.
The Turkish center is not included in the team’s future plans and it will be very hard for him to find a top level Euroleague contract after two underachieving seasons.