Joel Freeland

Joel Freeland

Freeland in July 2013
No. 19 – CSKA Moscow
Position Power forward / Center
League VTB United League
Euroleague
Personal information
Born (1987-02-07) 7 February 1987
Farnham, Surrey, England
Nationality British
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
College Farnborough College of Technology
NBA draft 2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 30th overall
Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers
Playing career 2005–present
Career history
2005–2006 Gran Canaria B
2006–2009 Gran Canaria
2009–2012 Unicaja Málaga
2012–2015 Portland Trail Blazers
2012 →Idaho Stampede
2015–present CSKA Moscow
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Joel Freeland (born 7 February 1987) is a British professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. Standing at 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m), he plays at the power forward and center positions.

Professional career

Early years

Freeland began his career as a youth player with the Thames Valley Tigers/Guildford Heat before joining the Solent Stars. Within a year, he was representing England’s Under-18s and soon found himself in Spain, home of the second best basketball league in the world, with fourth division side Gran Canaria II. While playing in the lower leagues, Freeland was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, becoming the 30th overall pick of the 2006 NBA draft – the highest rank for a British born player in the history of the draft.[1] The Blazers encouraged Freeland to remain in Europe to learn his trade and subsequently signed with Gran Canaria in August 2006.[2]

During the 2006–07 season for Gran Canaria, Freeland appeared in 15 games and made his debut in the ULEB Cup. Freeland continued to improve during the 2007–08 season, appearing in 28 games and reaching the quarter-finals of the ULEB Cup. The 2008–09 season saw Freeland become one of Canaria's best players, averaging 10 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 minutes per game.

Unicaja Malaga

In July 2009, Freeland joined the Spanish Euroleague club Unicaja Málaga on a five-year contract worth €4.5 million euros net income.[3] During the 2009–10 season, Freeland made his Euroleague debut and made 32 ACB appearances. The 2010–11 season was Freeland's best season as he averaged career-highs of 13.3 points and 6 rebounds per game.

In July 2012, Freeland reached an agreement with Unicaja on a €1.5 million buyout.[4]

Portland Trail Blazers

On 28 June 2006, he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft as the 30th overall draft pick. However, the Trail Blazers encouraged him to return to European play to further improve his game. On 13 July 2012, Freeland signed a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers.[5] On 14 December 2012, he was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League.[6] He was recalled on 16 December 2012.[7]

On 26 December 2014, Freeland recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers. On 13 April 2015, he scored a career-high 16 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder.[8]

CSKA Moscow

On 13 July 2015, Freeland signed a two-year contract with the Russian club CSKA Moscow.[9] In a warm-up for a preseason game against Galatasaray, he suffered a left calf injury, which prevented him from play at the start of the season.[10]

International

Freeland represented the Great Britain national basketball team at the 2012 Olympics.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The Euroleague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Portland 51 1 9.4 .408 .000 .667 2.3 .3 .3 .2 2.6
2013–14 Portland 52 0 14.0 .475 .000 .690 4.0 .7 .2 .4 3.3
2014–15 Portland 48 8 12.9 .490 .000 .840 4.0 .3 .2 .5 3.5
Career 151 9 12.1 .459 .000 .728 3.4 .4 .2 .4 3.2

NBA playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014 Portland 9 0 2.7 .000 .000 .500 .9 .1 .1 .1 .1
2015 Portland 2 0 3.5 .000 .000 .000 .5 .0 .5 .0 .0
Career 11 0 2.8 .000 .000 .500 .8 .1 .2 .1 .1

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2009–10 Unicaja 14 6 19.7 .484 .211 .667 5.1 .7 .4 .4 10.1 9.5
2010–11 Unicaja 15 14 25.5 .603 .273 .788 6.3 1.3 .7 .6 13.9 17.5
2011–12 Unicaja 14 12 25.8 .510 .250 .667 6.8 .6 .2 .1 12.6 11.4
Career 43 32 23.7 .533 .239 .725 6.1 .9 .4 .4 12.2 12.9

Notes

  1. ↑ Joel Freeland recalls Farnham roots on NBA debut
  2. ↑ Freeman jugará en la ACB con el Gran Canaria Grupo Dunas (Spanish)
  3. ↑ Unicaja bulks up with Joel Freeland
  4. ↑ Joel Freeland heading to the Blazers
  5. ↑ "TRAIL BLAZERS SIGN BRITISH FORWARD JOEL FREELAND". NBA.com. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  6. ↑ CLAVER, FREELAND ASSIGNED TO STAMPEDE
  7. ↑ Blazers Recall Claver, Freeland
  8. ↑ Joel Freeland 2014-15 Game Log
  9. ↑ "CSKA returns Joel Freeland back to Europe". cskabasket.com. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  10. ↑ "CSKA Moscow's Joel Freeland will miss the beginning of the season". sportando.com. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.

External links

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