Amara Sy Latest to Defect as D-League Buyouts Begin

by Scott Schroeder on Jan 20, 2026 4:31 PM EST in Transactions Comment 4 comments

Like it or not, the D-League loses players each season to more lucrative contracts of the overseas variety. Last season, it was Andre Brown, Anthony Tolliver, Smush Parker, Coby Karl, Chris Alexander, Carl Elliott, Glen McGowan, Cory Underwood, Kendall Dartez, Sung-Yoon Bang, Alton Ford and T.J. Cummings.

Obviously, not all of those names are household (Sung-Yoon Bang should be, I'd argue), but they all spent an extravagant amount of money (I believe the number is over $30,000, which is more than the duration of the top D-League contract) to buy out of their contract.

Just like last season, the buyouts have again begun. Most recently, it was Bakersfield's Amara Sy following in the footsteps of Zabian Dowdell, Cedric Simmons, Joe Krabbenhoft, Garrett Siler and Adam Harrington. There was also a rumor that Rob Kurz may be next, thought no agreement has been reached.

On the surface, it doesn't make sense to me to play in a league that is not considered the "most heavily scouted league in the world," as D-League president Dan Reed recently told Steve Weinman.

Is that statement true? If so, it makes me question if the D-League is actually doing what it's supposed to, you know, be doing - Why would NBA caliber players pay good money to leave the D-League?

Anyway, let's take a look at where these guys are going.

Mark Deeks tweeted that Sy has signed a contract with C.B. Murcia in Spain, a team that also features former Illinois forward (and Arkansas Rimrocker) Roger Powell.
Dowdell left the Tulsa 66ers to join Unicaja in Spain, playing with Robert Archibald and Omar Cook.
Krabbenhoft, since leaving the Sioux Falls Skyforce, is playing with the SK Knights in South Korea, averaging 9.3 points and 4.7 boards.
Simmons is, I believe, somewhere in China, but I haven't seen him sign with a team since leaving the Idaho Stampede.
Siler, after leaving the Utah Flash before playing a game, is averaging 12.8 points and 9.8 boards with Shanghai Dongfang Sharks in China.
Harrington is in Poland.

Perhaps more importantly - who's next?

0 recs | Comment 4 comments | Add comment | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Read More: Rob Kurz (F - CLE), Andre Brown (F - MIA), Cory Underwood (F - PHI), Chris Alexander (C - OKC), Smush Parker (G - DEN), Coby Karl (G - CLE), Anthony Tolliver (F - GSW), Cedric Simmons (F - SAC), Garrett Siler (C - ATL), T.J. Cummings (G - MIL)

Comments

Pleasantly surprised

that you went the Gillberg route with that last link when I was totally expecting the obligatory Goldberg clip.

Blog Talk BayHawk: The Unofficial Blog Home of the Erie BayHawks

by blogtalkbayhawk on Jan 20, 2026 7:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I couldn’t find the Goldberg clip I wanted (not anything specific, just didn’t see anything that was right), so I decided Gillberg embodied my message just as well.

I blog at Ridiculous Upside. I know you'll love it.

by Scott Schroeder on Jan 20, 2026 10:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If the goal is to make it to the NBA,

then staying here is undoubtedly the better choice - off the top of my head, I can’t think of more than a handful of American players who have gone overseas and then come back. But if you want to make lots of money playing at a high-ish level, going overseas has to be an attractive option. I’m not too bothered by it, we still have plenty of talent over here.

I think that eventually, we’ll consider the leagues in Spain, Italy, Russia, etc. to be roughly the same level as the NBA. Americans will almost always favor staying put and trying to make it to the NBA - similar to the way marginal English soccer players tend to stick in the lower leagues of England instead of going to a top level team in another country for more money - but there always will be a few exceptions in both cases.

by richardhkirkando on Jan 21, 2026 8:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs