News: Erden to the Celtics, Aşık could join Bulls

Both play for Fenerbahçe and one is sure to make the jump to the NBA, while the other is very likely to do so as well. The deal between the NBA runner-up Boston Celtics and Semih Erden (pictured) is done and the Turkish forward will join the team for one season with an additional second as option. The signing will be announced on 8th July, when NBA teams are allowed to make their acquisitions public and the 23-year-old will earn the rookie minimum during the first year as per league rules. A product of Darüşşafaka, Erden later moved to Partizan before joining the Turkish title holder. Last season in the Euroleague he had 6.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Teammate Ömer Aşık could soon follow and join other Turks already in the NBA (Mehmet Okur, Hedo Türkoğlu and Ersan İlyasova) as negotiations with the Chicago Bulls and underway. The outcome will only be known once the club takes care of other deals (and rumours) though, namely those possibly involving the signing of forward LeBron James. The 24-year-old centre averaged 8.9 points and 6 rebounds in seven Euroleague games last season.
Both players are part of the Turkish national team.

Source: ntvspor.net