Xavier Silas Signs In France, Not With Philadelphia 76ers

It wasn't long ago that Xavier Silas, undrafted rookie and former star of the Northern Illinois basketball program had decided that he would wait out the NBA lockout to make good on a training camp invite from the Philadelphia 76ers. The beckoning of playing for a Euroleague team in France was apparently too much to pass up, however, as Silas has replaced Osiris Eldridge with BCM Gravelines.

Silas averaged 22.3 points on his way to earning All-MAC status before ultimately not hearing his name called on draft night while players like Chukwudibiere Maduabum, Targuy Ngomba and Ater Majok all were selected in the waning moments of the draft. Silas did receive some good news on draft night, however, as the Sixers called and asked him to skip any overseas offers because they were interested in bring him into camp.

"I didn't have time to be disappointed or upset," Silas told ESPN's Scott Powers. "Sacramento's 60th pick was still on the screen when Philly called me and wanted me 100 percent to come into camp. They said, ‘We don't want you to go to Europe. We want you to come in our training camp 100 percent because we need a '2'."

Reading the quotes from that interview, which was publishes less than three months ago, makes it seem as though something drastic has recently changed in Silas' personal life -- or that he never expected the lockout to last quite this long.

"It's all about the journey and staying true to your plan and the goal. The goal is to play in the NBA," Silas told ESPN. "Not just play in the NBA, but contribute there and have some accolades in the NBA. That's what the goal is. That's still what I'm trying to do."

Silas has recently been working out in Las Vegas while participating in the Impact Basketball league competitive training series so it's possible that either the NBA veterans in attendance either told him to take the money and run or he was in attendance for Thursday's NBPA meeting and decided that the lockout is going to last too long for it to make sense to keep following his dream this season (that's just me being a bloggissist, however, and not having any sources to confirm either way).