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UPDATE: BRISBANE general manager Richard Clarke says the club was prepared to persist with import Alonzo Gee who was officially released from his contract on Saturday.
The Bullets cut ties with Gee just four matches into the 2018-19 NBL season after the veteran of 213 starts in 417 NBA games requested to go home to the US for “personal reasons”.
Brisbane granted his wish, effective immediately.
NBL: BULLETS BOUNCE BACK TO DOWN WILDCATS
The Bullets were expected to severe ties with the 31-year-old before the end of the weekend after he withdrew from Saturday night’s clash with Illawarra in Wollongong.
He did not fly to Sydney with the Brisbane squad on Friday after a lacklustre four points from five shots and four rebounds in the Bullets’ 100-96 win over Perth on Thursday night when he cut a frustrated figure.
Gee averaged just over seven points per game with the highest tally of 13 points coming in the season-opener against New Zealand.
It was all downhill after that for the small forward who had trouble creating his own shots on offence while his rebounding stats also went backwards.
The explosiveness that was his calling card in the NBA did not make the trip across the Pacific Ocean.
But Brisbane say Gee’s underwhelming numbers are not why he is heading home.
“Alonzo advised the club about his reasons to return home and we respect those reasons and agreed to grant him an immediate release from his contract,” Clarke said.
“We were bringing in a third import to play with the current group. We weren’t looking to release anyone.
“We had already commenced recruitment for an additional import with Nnanna Egwu’s departure to take up his pre-existing contract in Malaysia, we have now stepped up that recruitment to be a direct replacement for Alonzo.
“We hope to have a player in Brisbane next week and cleared to play for at least the away leg of this week’s double header against Adelaide.”
Gee came to Australia with an impressive resume after NBA stints with Washington, Cleveland, San Antonio, Denver, New Orleans and Portland.
But his output never matched his pay packet as the marquee import with the Bullets.
While Brisbane was not happy about his numbers offensively, they were content with his efforts on defence.
Brisbane is targeting fringe NBA players who have recently been cut by teams in the world’s best competition to fill the import void.
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Originally published as Bullets release Gee due to personal issues
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