Korolev is a Turkey
Sorry. That should read 'Korolev will play in Turkey.' My bad.
According to this English as a Second Language item on a European hoops site, Turkish power Fenerbahce has apparently agreed to terms with the erstwhile Clipper:
The Istanbul team Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul is getting ready to sign with a Russian player. There are rumours around the basketball society that Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul has agreed on terms with the Russian forward of Los Angeles Clippers Yaroslav Korolev (206-G/F-87).
It's been a strange, on-again, off-again summer for Yarik. The Los Angeles Clippers declined their third year option on the young Russian, but then were rumored to have agreed on a new minimum deal in July. While that deal was never made official, he was officially on the Vegas Summer League roster, and he was working out with the Summer League team (I saw him with my own eyes). But something went haywire along the way. He failed to play a single minute in Vegas, and has been the odd man out ever since, as the Los Angeles Clippers have announced the signings of Josh Powell and Ruben Patterson. The injury to Elton Brand no doubt sealed his fate. The Clipper braintrust appears to have opted for players they think can help now, in the absence of Elton Brand, at the expense of longer term projects like Korolev.
(The wisdom of this approach is more than a little debatable. If one assumes that a healthy Elton Brand is a prerequisite for a playoff spot, then signing a veteran like Patterson at the expense of a youngster like Korolev is ill-advised. If you're admitting that the guy simply couldn't play and will never help, that's one thing. But if the implication is that he still had potential, but they couldn't wait on it, what better year to wait than this year? Maybe Patterson helps you win a handful more games, and lose a couple more ping pong balls in the lottery. Is that a good thing? Oh well.)
It's interesting to note that the Los Angeles Clippers aren't the only team who could not find room for Korolev. The Russian team tearing up the EuroBasket competition right now is doing so without him. This despite the fact that the Los Angeles Clippers used a higher draft pick on him (#12) than any Russian in the history of the NBA - Kirilenko (#24), Khyrapa (#22) and Monia (#23) are all playing for the Russian team, as are a pair of 21 year olds, so it's not just an age thing. Clearly MDsr just plain screwed up when he drafted the 18 year old over the likes of Danny Granger and Gerald Green. But of course the bigger mistake was bringing him to the NBA right away, rather than allowing him to stay in Europe and play a couple more seasons.
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