2024-02-22 14:59:17
Published on February 22, 2024 at 3:59 p.m.
Two weeks after Killian Hayes, the Detroit Pistons decided to part ways with the other Frenchman present in their squad since the start of the season, Malcolm Cazalon, who had played very little until then.
This month of February is definitely fatal for French NBA players. After Killian Hayes (Detroit) and Frank Ntilikina (Charlotte), a third tricolor was cut by his team and finds himself without a contract. This is Malcolm Cazalon, also cut by the Pistons, two weeks after Killian Hayes. The 22-year-old guard (or winger) presented himself in the last draft but no team chose him. A few days later, however, he signed a “two way” contract with the Michigan franchise, which then allowed him to go back and forth between the NBA and the Development League. In the worst team in the League (8 wins, 46 losses), the native of Roanne (where his father Laurent, a former French international, played then, in 2001), almost never had a chance. Malcolm Cazalon played only one game, on November 5 in the loss to Phoenix, not taking a single shot or a single rebound in 155 seconds on the floor. He played 24 games in the G-League with the Motor City Cruise, averaging 10.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 28 minutes.
What next for Cazalon?
While the NBA season resumes this Friday after the break linked to the All Star Game, Malcolm Cazalon finds himself without a team (but not without a contract, because the Pistons will continue to pay him his salary). It remains to be seen whether another franchise will give him a chance, or if he attempts a return to Europe in order to relaunch his young career. Trained at ASVEL, the former French U17 and U18 international then joined Bourg-en-Bresse (2018-19), Louvain (2019-20) then the Serbian club Mega, used to preparing young players for the NBA . Last season, the French player averaged 11 points in the Adriatic League, but the step towards the NBA seems a little too high for him for the moment. In the meantime, eleven French players remain under contract (classic or “two way”) to this day in the biggest League in the world: Nicolas Batum (Philadelphia), Moussa Diabaté (Clippers), Ousmane Dieng (Oklahoma City), Olivier Sarr ( Oklahoma City), Evan Fournier (Detroit), Rudy Gobert (Minnesota), Théo Maledon (Phoenix), Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio), Sidy Cissoko (San Antonio), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington) and Rayan Rupert (Portland).
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