Goga Bitadze moves to Orlando on a two-year deal / News - Basketnews.com

Goga Bitadze has signed a two-year contract with the Orlando Magic, just a few days after he was waved by the Indiana Pacers.

Credit: AP-Scanpix Credit AP-Scanpix

A first-round pick of NBA Draft in 2019, Goga Bitadze had lost his place in the Indiana Pacers rotation and was waived by the franchise last Thursday.

Goga Bitadze

Team:Indiana PacersPosition:CAge:23Height:211 cmWeight:113 kgBirth place:GeorgiaProfileNewsStatistics

His $4,765,339 team option for this season was exercised in October 2021. This was part of the four-year, $13.64 million rookie scale contract Bitadze signed with the Pacers four years ago.

That's one of the main reasons why the Georgian big man is set to continue his NBA career with the Orlando Magic after signing a two-year deal with the team.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports that the second year of the deal is a team option.

The 23-year-old center started this season with the Pacers. Bitadze averaged 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.6 minutes over 21 games for Indiana this season.

Last season he averaged career-high 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.

While with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s G League affiliate, Bitadze averaged 19.2 points, 13.3 boards, 4.0 assists, and 3.3 blocks through six starts during the 2019-20 season.

Last season, in two starts with Fort Wayne, the center notched 28.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 dimes, and 2.0 blocks per contest. He shot 70% from the field and 63.6% outside the arc. Bitadze will have the opportunity to win over fans with the Magic.

Bitadze will compete with Moritz Wagner on the Magic for minutes off the bench. Orlando trading away Mo Bamba for Patrick Beverley and a 2024 second-round draft pick was an interesting move. Bamba was no longer part of the team’s frontcourt rotation.

Bitadze has regularly played for the Georgian national team since 2017 and previously for U18 National Team back in 2016. He represented Georgia at the FIBA EuroBasket U20 Division B in Oradea (Romania) six years ago.

He has played professionally in Italy, Montenegro (Buducnost), Serbia (Smederevo, BC Mega MIS Beograd and BC Mega Soccerbet Sremska Mitrovica U19 team), Georgia (Vita Tbilisi) and NBA G League (Fort Wayne Mad Ants).

Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.