Hines signs to play ball in Italy
GREENSBORO -- Kyle Hines is taking the more traditional American route to European basketball.
The recent UNCG graduate signed a one-year, tax-free, $180,000 deal Wednesday with an Italian professional team, opting for the relative security of that opportunity over the possibility of going to an NBA training camp.
His reasoning is the same cited by most foreign-bound Americans, and his choices differed from those of six recently publicized NBA defectors.
Those guys knew they could stick around if they wanted. Hines, a 6-foot-6 post man, averaged 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12 minutes a game for the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA Summer League earlier this month, but the club didn't promise him a roster spot.
Prima Veroli did. In fact, the second-division team, based 65 miles east of Rome, already had Hines' mug shot on its Web site by Wednesday afternoon.
"It was more of a guaranteed deal," said Hines, only the 96th player in NCAA Division I history with 2,000 or more points and 1,000 or more rebounds a career. "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Even though I had the possibility of getting into (an NBA) camp, they weren't going to give me a guarantee."
Hines said he and his agent, Page High School graduate Lance Young, did their homework on Prima Veroli and determined the club was trustworthy. European teams haven't always paid their players -- particularly foreigners -- on time in the past.
"I met the coach and general manager in Las Vegas," Hines said. "They seem excited about the upcoming year, and we felt comfortable with each other."
It certainly sounds better than the stories former Spartan center Demetrius Cherry heard while playing in Poland in 2001.
"If you're winning, then they pay," Cherry said in 2002. "And if you're not, they're not too eager to pay."
Hines' deal looks pretty good. It's roughly the equivalent of $280,000 in taxable income for a North Carolina resident. That's short of the NBA's minimum salary of $414,114 but not a bad chunk of change for a recent college grad.
The Bobcats were impressed with Hines' worth ethic, but when they couldn't offer a viable shot, the Italian job looked like a better fit.
"If I weren't a rookie and just out of school, I would probably go to (NBA) camp," Hines said. "But this is a great situation for me."
Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com
