(not actually Luke Babbitt)
The services of former Blazer F Luke Babbit are coveted by the New Orleans Pelicans. Trouble is, he signed in the offseason with Russian club Nizhny Novgorod, and they’re not impressed with attempts thus far to buy Babbitt out of the deal. From Eurohoops’Lefteris Moutis :
In a brief interview of Sergei Panov, former Russian national team player and general manager of Nizhny, which was reproduced in the official site of the team, it’s clear that Nizhny at this point will not let Babbitt return to the NBA. As Panov said: “They made us an offer, which didn’t satisfied us. Now we will negotiate through agents, attorneys and lawyers. I learned some new English words after this incident like ‘spit in the face’ and ‘shit on your soul'”.
At this point, if Nizhny and the Russian basketball federation refuse to send the letter of clearance of Babbitt to the States, he will not be able to sign anywhere else until the end of the season according to the FIBA-NBA agreement.