Restricted free agent (Suns) Aaron Brooks has signed a one-year deal with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the CBA. He’ll be teaming up with James Singleton and Yi Jianlian, making Guangdong an apparent powerhouse. Via RealGM.com…
Aaron Brooks has agreed to a one-year deal with Guandong of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to sources.
Brooks is a popular player in China due to his tenure as a teammate with Yao Ming on the Rockets.
Brooks is a restricted free agent in the NBA and therefore will be able to fulfill his contractual obligation to play in China for the entire season.
Brooks was traded to the Suns in February.
Brooks has signed just in time, as the CBA’s 2011/12 season tips off on the 19th of this month. Without Yi, Singleton, and Brooks (with Marcus Haislip and Fred Jones) Guangdong won the title last season, as well as seven of the last eight titles. Kenyon Martin’s signing with last season’s runner-up, Xinjiang, has given them a formidable opponent, but the signing of Brooks has to make Guangdong the clear favorites once again. James Singleton was the most consistently dominant American during the preseason anyway… yes, more so than JR Smith, Wilson Chandler, or K-Mart.
Brooks has kind of slid under the rader over the past year or so, but don’t forget about his strong performance in ’09/10 season (82 games played, 19/5 averages), as well as the 17 PPG he posted in the ’08/09 playoffs, helping to take the Rockets to a seventh game agasint the eventual champions, LA. He’ll surely be a force in the CBA.
Guangdong’s first game of the season is on the 20th against Zhejiang (JR Smith’s team). No word on whether or not Brooks will be ready to roll for the debut.
