Cui Yongxi of the Chinese mainland will join the Portland Trail Blazers on an Exhibit 10 contract after not being selected by any team during the NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, announced his sports agency on Friday.
An Exhibit 10 deal provides a one-year, minimum salary that doesn't count towards the salary cap. The team may convert it into a two-way contract before the regular season begins. If a player on such a contract is waived, he can join the team's G League affiliate.
Cui, 21, participated in workouts for six NBA teams—the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and Portland—before the draft. He will play for the Trail Blazers in the NBA Summer League, which will begin in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 12.
In an interview with Tencent Sports, Cui revealed that he learned a lot about U.S. basketball, which will be beneficial for his development.
\"My biggest gain was that I learned a lot of new things including forms of training, style of playing, and trends in basketball development here,\" Cui said. \"After I communicated more with players here and faced them on the court, I found myself getting closer to matching their pace. Hopefully, I can achieve more improvement in the future.\"
When asked about the gap between young players in China and the U.S., Cui said it may start with players younger than teenagers.
\"They have professional trainers working with children who love basketball,\" Cui said. \"In fact, they began to play basketball in a professional system when they were 11, or even eight or nine years old. I think the gap is in training quality, including differences in nutrition and professionalism of college and high-school basketball. They are all different from what's on our side.\"
Reference(s):
Undrafted, China's Cui Yongxi to join Trail Blazers on Exhibit 10 deal
cgtn.com
