Just days after drawing a tough group in the Euroleague, German powerhouse Brose Baskets Bamberg apparently are close to giving up on keeping BBL Finals MVP center Kyle Hines and guard Brian Roberts from their 2010-11 league and cup double winning team.
Bamberg general manager Wolfgang Heyder was quoted in two German media that the team could not challenge other top clubs in Europe financially in trying to retain the services of the two Americans.
“To our regret, a return of both to Bamberg is very, very unlikely. Actually I see the matter as settled,” Heyder was quoted in the Nürnberg AZ.
“After personal talks with the players and their agents, I think it’s hardly possible to keep Brian and Kyle,” Heyder told infranken.de.
“With Kyle Hines I was actually pretty confident that we could keep him … The competition of course found out that he was the MVP of the BBL Finals,” said Heyder.
The AZ said Roberts, who made big late game shots all season for Bamberg, had offers in the 500,000 euro net range in Spain and Turkey.
“With these sums, we just have to pass with our 6.5 million euro budget. We would need another big sponsor,” said Heyder in the AZ.
Bamberg will likely be looking for three new players for next season – an athletic center, a big, rebounding and good shooting wing player and a good shooting playmaker.
Infranken.de said Bamberg are considering extending their deal with Reyshawn Terry. But that depends on who will be brought in or kept as center.