Matt Thomas playing with Valencia BC in Spain

[I-stateTheTruth]

I don't know why this hasn't shown up on these boards - forgive me if I missed it - but I came across a couple reports that Matt Thomas is likely to sign with Valencia Basket, in the Spanish league. In the process, he apparently turned down the advances of the basketball wing of L. Messi's employer, FC Barcelona.

Article on turning down FC Barcelona: https://sportando.basketball/en/spa...portedly-turns-down-offer-from-barcelona.html

The headline of this article in the Spanish sports daily Marca translates as "Valencia Basket ties up wing Matt Thomas" but then it says it could not finalize the transaction in June due to some contract verbiage in the contract of Erick Green, an American that played for Valencia last season: http://www.lasprovincias.es/deportes/valencia-bc/valencia-basket-escolta-20180531002416-ntvo.html So, it seems like it could be de-railed but bigger clubs are taking an interest in Matty Ice after this year's performance at Obradoiro.

For a bit of context, Valencia finished #4 in the Spanish league regular season (2 of the top 3 spots were won by giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, where Doncic played). Valencia seems to have lost in the 1st round of the 8-team playoffs but qualifies for intra-European competition next year.

The latter bit is important because those teams are basically in two leagues, play more games, get more TV and sponsorship money and pay much better. Clyburn, Babb and Ejim all played for teams in Russia this year that were in the Euroleague (as well as their own domestic league) and so the pay scale is much higher. If you follow soccer at all, it's sort of like the teams that play in the Champions League (or the Europa Cup) - they have to finish toward the top of their domestic leagues to qualify).

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

It appears to be official: Valencia Basket Club (Spain) has announced that Matt Thomas signed a two-year deal with the club. It's not so common for Americans to get more than 1-year deals so this shows his status in that league after the MVP year he had at Obradoiro of Santiago de Compostela.

With Valencia, he will play in the Euroleague (at least this year) in addition to the Spanish league. This is significant because the Euroleague is often referred to as the 2nd-best league in the world, and it will be something like 30 additional games to go along with the 34 games of the Spanish league. It's possible that he could face Ejim, Babby and/or Clyburn if their clubs in Russia continue in the Euroleague (need to research that).

I wonder if he'll try to make the jump to the NBA after the 2nd year at Valencia. That's not unheard-of if he puts up good numbers in the Euroleague.

Matt hasn't tweeted this news yet but the club did.

https://sportando.basketball/en/spa...ket-signs-matt-thomas-to-a-two-year-deal.html

(Note that probably will not interest you: as an undergraduate at ISU, I studied in Valencia for a semester so this is kind of cool to me).

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

 

[Cyclonepride]

I still feel like Matt has a great skillset to be a (admittedly small) two in the NBA.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

I hear about guys making good money in Europe but usually don't see dollar amounts. I Googled and found this. Good to see him doing well.

David Pick‏ @IAmDPick
Source: Matt Thomas, the ACB's rookie assassin, successfully passed his physical and signed a guaranteed $1M+ deal with Valencia through 2020. Obradoiro to receive $55,000 to forego his rights.


Edit: Could have found the same info in the link by translating. Roughly 500,000 euros/year.

 

[LLCoolCY]

I hear about guys making good money in Europe but usually don't see dollar amounts. I Googled and found this. Good to see him doing well.

David Pick‏ @IAmDPick
Source: Matt Thomas, the ACB's rookie assassin, successfully passed his physical and signed a guaranteed $1M+ deal with Valencia through 2020. Obradoiro to receive $55,000 to forego his rights.


Edit: Could have found the same info in the link by translating. Roughly 500,000 euros/year.

Well then, there are +1M$ reasons why Matty Ice passed on, what I assume, NBA Summer League opportunities. He can get playing time and likely some more attention from the NBA later and earn a lot more right now than toiling in the G-League for less. Plus living for free in Spain isn't a bad choice either (Euro club team pay housing and expenses for their players).

Congrats to Matt, That is winning at the Basketball Career even if not in the NBA in my opinion.

 

[Dandy]

Surprised he isn't on a Summer League squad this year. He was doing excellent last year for the Lakers.

 

[BryceC]

Honestly that's an astronomical amount of money considering it's tax free and everything.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

Honestly that's an astronomical amount of money considering it's tax free and everything.

Yes, if that figure is right, it's very much at the high end of Euro pay scales for BB. I would take that money and avoid the risk of not landing in the NBA, too. That's probably a 5x increase over what he made at Obradoiro. There are US players making under $50k a year in many of the "smaller" Euro leagues.

He'll have to pay US taxes on 80% of that income, more or less.

Since this was cooking already, it's clear to me why he didn't play in the summer league.

 

[cyfan92]

That's A LOT of cash tax-free!!!

 

[Clonefan32]

Surprised he isn't on a Summer League squad this year. He was doing excellent last year for the Lakers.

I'm not so sure he doesn't have a better thing going where he is. Like someone said above, make your name over there for a few years and you may have a shot at getting a longer term deal in the NBA.

 

[Clonefan32]

Matt is hosting a basketball camp in my hometown today. Seeing as he's rich now maybe I'll go over and hit him up for lunch.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

That's A LOT of cash tax-free!!!

Why do you think that? You're only exempt from the first ~$100k in income earned overseas from a US perspective plus whatever Spain taxes you.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

It HAS to be a done deal; Matt re-tweeted these today:

 

[Dandy]

I'm not so sure he doesn't have a better thing going where he is. Like someone said above, make your name over there for a few years and you may have a shot at getting a longer term deal in the NBA.

This rarely happens. He'll be ~25 by the time this contract runs out. If he is not playing at an ELITE level over there he won't make it back to the NBA. The NBA GMs are stupidly obsessed with age:upside. At 25 he has probably peaked.

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

I made a mistake in an earlier post. According to that EuroHoops.net tweet above, Valencia qualified for the 2nd tier of the international leagues there, the EuroCup (currently known as 7 Days EuroCup due to the sponsor). They have 24 regular season games followed by playoffs.

The "Euroleague" is the highest level (kind of the equivalent of the Champions League). 3 teams in Spain have annual spots in the EuroLeague (these include Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) but Valencia seems to have finished too low (4th) in the Spanish league to qualify.

My bad. Anyway, that's still a very competitive environment - and a good pay day - for our Matty Ice (he'll probably have to play in Russia in the winter now so we'll see how icy he truly is).

 

[LLCoolCY]

This rarely happens. He'll be ~25 by the time this contract runs out. If he is not playing at an ELITE level over there he won't make it back to the NBA. The NBA GMs are stupidly obsessed with age:upside. At 25 he has probably peaked.

It is rare for sure, but so is going un-drafted, working your way up through the G-League and making the roster by 25. At least going this route Matt can bank a couple of millions, live abroad and still have a slight chance of making a NBA team. I know some NBA teams are now looking at Clyburn after his team (w/Doncic) Euro Championship.

 

[Clonefan32]

This rarely happens. He'll be ~25 by the time this contract runs out. If he is not playing at an ELITE level over there he won't make it back to the NBA. The NBA GMs are stupidly obsessed with age:upside. At 25 he has probably peaked.

My post was in reference to the prior post about him not being on a Summer League roster. Most of those guys are hoping for a 2-way contract, at best, which I believe pays less than $100,000.00. Matt had an awesome summer last year and I don't think he even got a sniff by the Lakers. So I think he's wise to keep working up the ranks in Europe, and if his star over there gets bright enough, maybe he can take a shot at the NBA later on. But $500,000/year in Europe sure beats the hell out of making $75,000/year splitting time between an NBA bench and playing for the Maine Red Claws.

 

[cyfan92]

Why do you think that? You're only exempt from the first ~$100k in income earned overseas from a US perspective plus whatever Spain taxes you.

$100K isn't a lot of money? Plus the the foreign tax credit and I beleive you are only taxed at 24% in Spain on income vs 39% in the US at that income bracket

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

It is rare for sure, but so is going un-drafted, working your way up through the G-League and making the roster by 25. At least going this route Matt can bank a couple of millions, live abroad and still have a slight chance of making a NBA team. I know some NBA teams are now looking at Clyburn after his team (w/Doncic) Euro Championship.

Clyburn played in Russia, not with Doncic.