When the Summer market had already started dwindling, defending champion CSKA Moscow made sure to make a big splash with the announcement of the signing of star point guard Mike James for the next season.
James (1.85 meters, 28 years old) arrives from AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan, where last season he led the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in scoring and won the Alphonso Ford Trophy as best scorer with 19.8 points per game.
James also added 6.4 assists per game (second best in the league) and also led the EuroLeague in three-pointers made (70), field goals made (189), free throws made (147), fouls drawn (151) and playing time (1,018 minutes), he was also third in steals (39).
With all those great performances, James also landed a place in the All-EuroLeague Second Team and was named MVP for February.
James made his EuroLeague debut in 2014 playing two seasons with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and then went on to join Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in 2016.
After one season there he left to play elsewhere, but he returned midway through the following season to re-join the Greens, until in the Summer of 2018 he signed with Milan for three years until 2021. However, both sides decided to end their contractual relationship and now James will join CSKA in the Russian capital.
“Mike is a very talented player, who can create his own shots and open up situations for his teammates.” CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “During all these years in the EuroLeague and on different levels, he proved that he can score, but he also needs to adjust our system. He already committed in our talks that he is ready to do so. We wish him to stay healthy and help our team achieve new goals.”
“I’m excited to join a team with winning expectations and a winning mentality.” James said. “I’m honored that coach Itoudis chose me and let me come and join a team that won the EuroLeague last year, and I’m ready to help the team win in any way possible.”
