Spurs' 2007 draft pick Tiago Splitter will make his NBA debut in 2010.

The Spurs’ signing of Euroleague center Tiago Splitter earlier in the week had very little fanfare. There were no ESPN one-hour specials, no Jim Gray playing emcee and the news was absent from all the 24-hour news networks.

It was your typical Spurs offseason transaction. Very low key and very business-like.

The move may not look significant now but when the season begins in October teams will realize that the Spurs just got bigger and better by adding the best big man in Europe.

“We’re very fortunate to be adding one of the best players not playing in the NBA,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said of the heralded 6-foot-11 Brazilian star who was drafted by the Spurs in 2007 with the 28th pick, but played in Europe the past three seasons. Now, he will play alongside his idol, Tim Duncan, in the San Antonio frontcourt.

In the Euroleague, Splitter wore No. 21 because of Duncan. In the NBA, he will wear No. 22.

“I really decided that I wanted to come here,” Splitter told the Associated Press. “I stayed more time in Europe to improve my game a lot. It was the right time at the right moment.”

The 25-year-old was MVP of both the Spanish League regular season and finals while leading Caja Laboral Vitoria to a second championship, averaging 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 38 games. He shot 59% from the field and 76% from the line.

The 235-pound Splitter still has room to grow physically, but he easily becomes the most talented big man to play with Duncan since David Robinson retired in 2003.

The Spurs are a franchise built on dominant big men. There was Artis Gilmore in the 1980s, followed by Robinson in the 1990s and then Duncan in the 2000s. But Duncan prefers to play power forward and he’s had to endure a slew of low-level, journeyman-type centers the past seven years.

Remember Rasho Nesterovic? Or, how about Nazr Mohammed? And who could forget the very bland Fabricio Oberto era?

Splitter is expected to contribute right away and it would be a huge disappointment if he’s not in the starting lineup on opening night. He’s certainly upgrade from Matt Bonner and Antonio McDyess.

Bringing Splitter aboard was an offseason target for the Spurs after being swept by Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals. San Antonio hasn’t drastically changed its roster since, apart from swingman Richard Jefferson opting out of his deal for free agency.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Splitter didn’t appear lured by an immediate NBA payday. The most the Spurs could offer Splitter this season was their midlevel exception, around $5.8 million, whereas his Spanish club could have offered him more.

“If I stayed in Spain I could have made more money,” Splitter said. “But this is my moment.”

Splitter has played for Caja Laboral Vitoria in the ACB League since the 2003-04 season. In his seven seasons with Caja Laboral, he has established himself as one of the dominate big men in Europe. He has led Caja Laboral to four Spanish League regular season titles (2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07 and 2008-09) and two Spanish League championships (2007-08 and 2009-10).

In addition the team has advanced to at least the quarterfinals of the Euroleague Championship six straight seasons (including four straight semifinal appearances from 2004-08).

During the 2009-10 Euroleague action, Splitter averaged 13.0 points and 5.4 rebounds in 26.1 minutes in 16 games. He shot 54% from the field and 63% from the line. He earned All-Euroleague honors for the third straight season.

Originally signed by Caja Laboral in April of 2000, at the age of 15, Splitter played, on loan, with Araba Gorago Alava in 2000-01 and Basket Bilbao Berri in 2001-02 and 2002-03 before joining Caja Laboral for the 2003-04 season.

Born and raised in Brazil, Splitter has played for the Brazilian National Team since 2002 and is a teammate of Leandro Barbosa and Nene. Splitter’s Brazilian teams have captured gold medals at the 2003 South American Championship, the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2005 Americas Championship and the 2009 Americas Championship.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Olympiacos point guard Milos Teodosic was voted the 2009-10 Euroleague MVP after a breakout season. Teodosic, who led Olympiacos to the Euroleague Final against Regal FC Barcelona, was joined on the 2009-10 All-Euroleague First Team by Olympiacos teammate Linas Kleiza at forward, Regal FC Barcelona guard Juan Carlos Navarro, CSKA Moscow forward Viktor Khryapa and Partizan Belgrade center Aleks Maric.

It is a first-time honor for all but Navarro, the 2009 Euroleague MVP and 2010 Euroleague Final MVP, who was named All-Euroleague First Team for the fourth time. Kleiza, who played for the Denver Nuggets last season, won the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy. Khryapa received the Euroleague Best Defender Trophy and the Rising Star Trophy went to Ricky Rubio, 19, of Barcelona, the youngest winner of an end-of-season award ever in the Euroleague.

Ricky Rubio led Regal FC Barcelona to victory in the 2010 Euroleague Final.

Rubio was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, but opted to play in Europe. The Minnesota Timberwolves hold his draft rights. Rubio and Navarro, teammates on Spain’s national team, recently led Barcelona to a victory in the Euroleague Final over Olympiacos.

The 2009-10 All-Euroleague second team featured Bo McCalebb of Partizan at point guard, CSKA forward Ramunas Siskauskas, forward Josh Childress of Olympiacos, forward Erazem Lorbek of Barcelona and center Tiago Splitter of Caja Laboral. Siskauskas, the 2008 MVP, is a second-team selection for the third time. He was also on the first team and was MVP in 2008.

Lorbek, the 2005 Rising Star, is on the second team for the second time. Splitter is also on the Second Team for the second time and was a member of the 2008 All-Euroleague First Team. Childress, who played for the Atlanta Hawks for four seasons, and McCalebb, a Euroleague rookie, are both first-time honorees.

Euroleague.net contributed to this report.

At the time, the decision was considered both risky and a huge gamble financially. If Jennings’ European experiment fails and he falls flat on his face in the Italian ruins, his chances of coming back to the States and playing in the NBA would be nothing but a dream. But if Jennings succeeded in Europe, he could change the way high school players perceive playing in the Euroleague and at the time he would improve his draft stock.

Very few people thought Jennings could pull it off. Basically, it was Jennings, his mother and brother, and Sonny Vaccaro. That’s it.

The Milwaukee Bucks have found a gem in point guard Brandon Jennings.

When the Milwaukee Bucks selected Jennings with the 10th pick in the NBA draft last June, they knew they got a good player but who would have thought Jennings would be GREAT. Probably himself, his mother and brother and Sonny Vaccaro.

Jennings has certainly made the Bucks look good with their gamble and made the all the naysayers look extremely foolish.

The 6-1 point guard is averaging 25.5 points per game, which ranks him eighth in the NBA and 5.5 assists. He’s also making 54% of his 3-point shots, something most scouts didn’t think he could do based on how he shot the ball in Europe.

Jennings punched his ticket on the Rookie of the Year ballot with a 55-point game on Nov. 14 against Golden State.

Jennings, born and raised in Los Angeles, admitted that even though it was tough sledding for him during his first weeks in Italy, he persevered and said his one-year stint in Europe helped him grow as a person and gave him the confidence that he can compete at the pro level.

The fact that Jennings survived his European odyssey and is currently thriving in the NBA makes Vaccaro believe “the kid” has already succeeded.

“Brandon Jennings played the mental game and won,” Vaccaro said.

Based on what Jennings has done so far on the court, hard to argue against Vaccaro’s sentiment.

Prokhorov, 43, said he will also fund nearly half of a project to build a new arena in Brooklyn. The NBA board of governors still has to approve the deal but NBA commissioner David Stern he is very much in favor of the historic transaction, a sign that the NBA is serious about building a worldwide identity.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is close to becoming the majority owner of the New Jersey Nets. (GETTY IMAGES)

Stern explained that the deal will help the NBA expand its reach and would ensure that the Nets will have a state-of-the-art arena.

“We are looking forward to the Nets’ move to a state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn, with its rich sports heritage,” Stern said in a press release. “Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia.”

The proposed blockbuster deal, worth $200 million, would give Nets principal owner Bruce Ratner the needed cash to move forward with the centerpiece of his Atlantic Yards development, which includes plans for retail and residential projects.

It would make Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire and former amateur basketball player, the NBA’s first non-North American owner. He has a net worth of $9.5 billion.

After leading Spain to a gold medal in the 2009 European Championships, you can make a strong case for Gasol as the best non-American player in the world.

Led by Gasol, named the “best player” of the tournament, Spain defeated Serbia, 85-63, in the championship game. Gasol finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, and was easily the most dominant force for the undisputed No. 1 team in Europe.

His performance throughout the championships served notice to the rest of the world that he is a legitimate superstar and belongs in the conversation when the topic of discussion turns to the “best players in the world not named Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.”

Pau Gasol has surpassed Dirk Nowitzki as the best player from Europe. (REUTERS)

Though they are almost similarly built – both are 7 feet and right around 250 pounds – Nowitzki and Gasol have varying basketball talents. Gasol, 29, is a classic back-to-the-basket post player who can occasionally face up and hit the 15-foot jump shot. Nowitzki, 31, prefers to start his offensive moves away from the basket  and loves to take his defender near the free-throw line, using his patented step-back jumper.

Gasol showed the NBA community that he is tough enough to play in the interior, helping the Los Angeles Lakers capture the Larry O’Brien trophy last June by outplaying Orlando’s Dwight Howard, a first-team All-NBA center, in the NBA Finals.

Nowitzki has long been recognized as Europe’s best player because of all his individual accomplishments. He is, without question, one of the top power forwards in the NBA and has earned the reputation for being a great offensive player (he averaged 25.9 points per game in 2008-09). He is a four-time member of the All-NBA first team, an eight-time NBA All-Star and is the only European-born player to ever win the NBA’s regular-season MVP.

Because the Dallas Mavericks superstar did not participate in this year’s European Championships (per Mark Cuban’s request), we never got to see the highly anticipated one-on-one matchup between the two European studs – although the end result would have favored Gasol’s squad because Germany is not in the same class with Spain.

It’s safe to say that Germany is a one-man team, boasting only two other NBA players on its roster compared to Spain, which fields at least seven players with NBA experience.

If I had a choice to pick between the two, I would take Gasol because he commands so much respect inside than Nowitzki. The game is still played inside-out, and Gasol is one of the best in the world at scoring in the paint and protecting the paint. Defense has never been Nowitzki’s forte and, at times, he easily gets flustered by a more physical defender. Gasol has learned how to play against bigger and stronger players, and his basketball IQ is off the charts.

Bottom line, Pau Gasol has surpassed Dirk Nowitzki as the best European-born player in the NBA. Gasol has an NBA title, a FIBA World Championship and European Championship to prove it.

The devastating one-sided defeat is just the latest in a long line of disappointments for France on the international stage since 2000 when it captured the silver medal in the Olympic Games. Despite a roster that boasts several NBA players, France has never finished higher than fourth in the FIBA World Championships (and that was in 1954), hasn’t finished higher than third in the past five European Championships, including a shocking eighth-place finish in 2007, and has failed to qualify in the past two Olympics.

France, led by Tony Parker and Ronny Turiaf, was eliminated by Spain in the 2009 European Championships.

There is no reason for France to be a mediocre player in international basketball. Les Bleus is one of just a handful of countries in the world that can field a legitimate NBA starting lineup, starting with point guard Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs), swingman Nicolas Batum (Portland Trail Blazers), swingman Mickael Pietrus (Orlando Magic), forward Boris Diaw (Charlotte Bobcats) and center Ronny Turiaf (Golden State Warriors). Off the bench, it can call on Mickael Gelabale (Oklahoma City Thunder), Johan Petro (Denver Nuggets), Yakhouba Diawara (Miami Heat) and Joakim Noah (Chicago Bulls).

France has sent more players to the NBA than Spain, but yet the Spaniards have enjoyed much more success.

That was evident during the quarterfinals of this year’s European Championships as Spain, led by Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol, played at a much higher level, running up a 23-12 lead early and extending the gap from there with hot shooting and a smothering defense.

“That was a tough game for us,” Diaw said. “They just played better than us from the first to the last minute. We were behind them pretty much the whole game, and trying to come back on a great team like Spain is tough.”

Gasol led Spain with 28 points and nine rebounds, dominating in the paint on both ends by muscling down low for baskets on the offensive end, and blocking three shots and altering more on the defensive side. And that was despite France throwing Turiaf, Diaw and Florent Pietrus at him.

“It’s no surprise — he’s one of the best players in the world,” Diaw said of Gasol. “Obviously it’s difficult to play against him. You have to double-team him and because they have great players around, you can’t help because they have (Rudy) Fernandez and (Juan Carlos) Navarro who are great shooters.”

Florent’s brother, Mickael, did not play in this year’s Euro Finals, as did Petro, Gelabale, Diawara and Noah. Because France did not have its full compliment of NBA standouts, it was forced to rely heavily on Parker, who struggled against Spain’s suffocating defense.

Spain coach Sergio Scariolo praised his team’s defensive effort, singling out Ricky Rubio and Raul Lopez for limiting Parker – the undeniable star and face of the French national team – to just six points on 1-of-6 shots from the field and had three turnovers. The Spurs’ All-Star point guard had been averaging 16 points per game.

“They did a fantastic job on Tony,” Scariolo said. “They were supported by the team, of course, but the individual effort was unbelievable.”

The New York Knicks are pursuing a trade for European sensation Ricky Rubio, who was taken at No. 5 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Brandon Jennings, who plays for Lottomatica Virtus Roma, has gone from high school star to European League neophyte. (REUTERS)

If college and professional basketball were caught in a Matrix, Brandon Jennings would be an anomaly. He is the glitch in the system. He’s the worm virus that everyone needs to pay attention to because the impact could cause a complete overhaul of the system.

A year ago, Jennings was considered the best high school player in the country out of Oak Hill Academy (Va.) with his sights set on Tucson, Ariz., to play for the University of Arizona and follow the road taken by past standout Wildcat point guards such as Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Gilbert Arenas. But when Jennings did not meet the academic requirements, the Compton, Calif., native was knocked off the fast lane to stardom and was faced with a very difficult decision.

Because Jennings was too young to enter the NBA draft, he needed to take a different route, a path that landed him 7,000 miles away from home. He decided to play professionally in Europe, becoming the first high-profile high school player to make this move.

Instead of living in a college dorm,  Jennings is now making a living in Rome as a member of Italy’s Lottomatica Virtus Roma. Instead of attending 8 a.m. classes, he works out with his pro team for three hours in the morning and repeats the process later in the afternoon. Instead of battling Tyreke Evans and Greg Monroe for freshman of the year honors, he’s battling Ibrahim Jaaber, Rueben Douglas and Sani Becirovic for playing time.

And instead of preparing to play against top-seeded Louisville in the Sweet 16 with the 12th-seeded Arizona Wildcats, Jennings is preparing to play in Serie A against Carife Ferrara this Sunday.

During an interview with HBO’s Real Sports, the 19-year-old basketball pioneer revealed to Bryant Gumbel that the transition from high school star to Euroleague rookie has not been easy. Though Jennings is making the best of the situation, he is clearly homesick and is counting the days when he returns to the States.

Off the court, he’s had to adjust to a completely different culture and a more subdued lifestyle. On the court, his still-maturing body has been overwhelmed by some of the European veterans who could care less that he was a McDonald’s All-American. “It could be worse,” Gumbel said about playing in Europe, to which Jennings replied, “It could be. I could be in college. I could be in class right now.”

During his senior year at Oak Hill, Jennings averaged 15 points a game. Through 21 games in the Italian League, he’s averaging less than eight points. “I’m playing against grown men,” Jennings said. “I’m playing against guys that are way stronger than me. Guys with a lot more experience.”

Despite being thousands of miles away from his basketball dream and the ups-and-downs of his European experience, Jennings has not wavered on his decision to spurn the books in favor of booking a flight to Italy and getting a head start on his pro career. It’s a calculated risk that Jennings is willing to roll with, hoping that his name would be synonymous with Curt Flood and not Maurice Clarett.

“It’s the best decision I’ve made so far,” said Jennings, who credits Sonny Vaccaro for authoring the idea of having high school players play overseas for a year.

Vaccaro, a former high-powered shoe executive turned Father Flanagan, firmly believes that high school players should be afforded an option. So, when Jennings reached out to him, Vaccaro agreed to advise him and helped negotiate a deal with Virtus Roma.

Jennings ended up signing a three-year professional contract that pays him $1.2 million a year, complete with a three-bedroom apartment, a car and tuition for his younger brother. There is a clause in the contract that will allow Jennings to apply for the NBA draft once he fulfills his one-year obligation with the team.

The fact that Jennings has been able to survive his European odyssey, Vaccaro believes “the kid” has already succeeded. “I think he’ll go in the Lottery, and I think I’m going against public opinion right now,” Vaccaro said. “Brandon Jennings played the mental game and won.”