What Joel Freeland is up to

The blog has taken on a decidedly international flavor since the start of the Olympics, and this Q&A with Joel Freeland, a Trail Blazers draft pick in 2006 now playing in Spain, only adds to the worldliness.

Regarding his missing the Las Vegas Summer League ...

24/7: Why were you not in Summer League with the Blazers this year?

JF: That's Gran Canaria! I had a little bit of a problem the first year when I went to Summer League. They were saying there was mis-communication between me, my agent and the club. Supposedly, I didn't tell them I was going to Summer League so they took sanctions.

This year they said due to the risk of injury they didn't want me to play in Summer League so there wasn't much I could do about it. Portland got in contact with them and the answer was still no.

There wasn't much I could say or do to change that decision. I would have loved to have been there because it would have given me another edge ready for GB camp.

So there's that.

As far as his plans for the future ...

24/7: Portland keep telling us they are keeping a close watch on you. Do you get that impression?

JF: I speak to my agent quite a lot and he tells me they're saying I'm a big part of their future and when the time is right, they'll bring me over. But I'm in no rush. I'm 21-years-old!

For me, I'd probably prefer to stay in Europe, make a name for myself, get a lot more experience under my belt then go over and try and make an impact instead of going over there when I'm still learning and trying to fight my way onto an NBA team, which is hard enough as it is, especially a team with such good young players.

I'm not bothered about staying in Europe, I think it's my best option.

And thus concludes this year's Joel Freeland update.