Forward Bismack Biyombo signed a rookie contract with the Charlotte Bobcats hours after agreeing to pay a buyout to release him from his contract with Spanish club Fuenlabrada.
Terms of his new deal were not disclosed.
Biyombo did not play in Monday night's preseason opener against the Atlanta Hawks — a 79-77 Bobcats victory — because he hasn't had a chance to practice with the team, coach Paul Silas said. Silas said Biyombo would begin to practice today and would play in Thursday night's game at Atlanta.
Also Monday, the Bobcats traded for 7-0 foot center Byron Mullens of the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving up a second-round pick in the 2013 draft in return.
Fuenlabrada said Monday that Biyombo had agreed to pay the buyout, equivalent to $1.5 million, that will free him from the remaining two years of his contract. The Bobcats agreed to pay $525,000 of that — the most allowed by international rules — according to Rod Higgins, the Bobcats' director of basketball operations.
Michael Jordan, the Bobcats owner, had agreed to pay that before the team drafted Biyombo.
Biyombo had to watch his teammates from the sideline during training camp while he worked on the side.
"If you just saw him during the practice session, he was sitting over there about as depressed as I've ever seen anyone," Silas said. "Now when I first walked in, he had his hands in the air and smiling, so this is great for him as well as the team."
On his Twitter account, Biyombo posted: "Thank God it's over."
Biyombo, 19 and a native of Congo, was the seventh pick in the NBA draft. He had sought to avoid paying the buyout fee, but his civil suit against Fuenlabrada was dismissed by a Spanish court late last week.
Silas said he was relieved the situation was resolved and thought that Biyombo would be a big help for the young team. Biyombo is not expected to start but initially should help on defense.
"He's a really good defender and rebounder and a shot blocker," Silas said. "He has to work on his offensive game, which he's willing to do. He's worked on that already with posting up. We have to work on the shot from outside. But the energy that he brings is what we really need. I'm just looking forward to it. I'm happy to have him back and playing because everyone else is playing but him."
Silas believes Biyombo will be able to make up for the lost week of training camp.
"You can watch it all you want to, but until you get out there and execute ..." Silas said. "The good thing is we have time."
Mullens, who played one season at Ohio State, was selected 24th in the 2009 draft by the Dallas Mavericks, who traded his rights to Oklahoma City.
He has played in 26 NBA games over two seasons and also has played in 41 games for the D-League Tulsa 66ers, averaging 15.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over two seasons.
In the preseason opener, Kemba Walker opened his NBA career with a solid performance, shaking off a slow start to score a game-high 18 points — including the go-ahead layup— to lift the Bobcats. After missing eight of his first 10 shots, including a dunk on a fast break, Walker made a 17-footer and a driving layup over two defenders in the closing 90 seconds. He used his quickness to draw fouls in the lane and shot 9 for 11 from the line.
Josh Smith and Al Horford each scored 11 points to lead the Hawks.
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