Webster heading to Italy
Corey Webster’s peripatetic basketball season continues, with the Breakers and Tall Blacks guard headed to Virtus Roma in Italy to see out the season in Europe.
The 31-year-old has recently returned from China after he had cut short his season with the Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League to take up a lucrative deal with Zhejiang Guangsha Lions in the CBA’s premier competition.
However the CBA league has been put on hold because of the coronavirus outbreak, with a final decision yet to be made on whether the season will resume in April or be abandoned.
Webster returned from China in mid-February and was required to undergo a two-week self-isolation period which he has completed.
It had initially appeared he was going to sign to play the remainder of the season in Russia, but it is understood Roma came to the party with a deal he was happy to take. The club sits 14th of 17 teams in Serie A with a 7-14 record.
The veteran Tall Blacks shooting guard averaged 18.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals in seven games for the Lions before his season was cut short.
In 11 games for the Breakers he averaged 19.5ppg, 3.8rpg and 4.2apg. He signed a two-year contract extension with the Kiwi club before his departure for China that will see him play there through the 2022-23 ANBL season.
Webster will join fellow Tall Black Isaac Fotu in the Italian league. The Kiwi big man is a starter for 8-13 Treviso in the Serie A league where he is averaging a highly respectable 14.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Fotu’s Treviso is scheduled to meet Webster’s Virtus Roma on March 22. The Kiwi guard was due to fly out for Italy late yesterday.
Meanwhile, Webster’s Breakers team-mate Scotty Hopson, whom the Breakers have made it their top priority to resign, is heading to the NBA’s G League to see out his season.
The talented American forward has linked with the Oklahoma City Blue – the feeder team to Steven Adams’ OKC Thunder outfit.
Hopson is hoping to impress enough in the secondary league to earn a late-season whistle-up to the NBA.
‘‘What’s on my plate right now is playing well in front of NBA personnel in order to facilitate a callup,’’ he said after confirming the move soon after his return to the US.
Hopson averaged 19.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 rebounds for the Breakers who came within a whisker of sneaking into the ANBL’s playoffs with an 11-3 second half of their season and a 15-13 record overall. They missed fourth spot on a points percentage countback.
He has hinted strongly he is considering a return to the club for 2020-21.
‘‘When that season is over, I will evaluate all possible opportunities in the NBA as well as the Breakers,’’ he said of his plans beyond the current G League campaign.