After playing a significant role for the San Antonio Spurs earlier in his NBA career, Tiago Splitter found himself having to prove himself once again during his stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers the past two seasons. However, with the different injuries he suffered, he was waived and left with no team to play for in the league for this campaign.
Although he admitted recently, via Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype, that he received a number of training camp offers, nothing official was extended to him. He named the Cleveland Cavaliers, L.A. Clippers, and Utah Jazz as some of the teams that had interest in him to workout for them, but nothing materialized. He then said that he was not listening to offers outside the league as he sees himself coaching someday in the NBA, where he believes his future lies.
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“No, only offers in the U.S. I want to stay in the NBA. I believe my future is here. I’ve received invitations to training camp, but no formal contract offers. I didn’t think I was ready for that, so I decided to pass and start thinking about a potential coaching career. Pretty much all teams reached out with invitations to camp. I talked to Cleveland, Utah, Clippers… I did some workouts, but no guaranteed offers.”
Only at 32 years old, Splitter may still have a lot left in his tank, and could contribute to a contender. He remains a free agent for now, and could receive a call as the season progresses, especially from a team who’ll be in need of a veteran center to provide them quality minutes off the bench.
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Tiago Splitter is a six-year NBA veteran, and had his best run with the Spurs from 2010-15. He was part of their championship winning squad back in 2014, and played primarily as the backup of Tim Duncan. He also has plenty of experience playing internationally, as he has been an integral part of the Brazilian National Team in different tournaments held around the world.