After reports of refusing to take an anti-doping drug test conducted by FIBA, Maccabi Tel Aviv officially announced that they have dropped former NBA forward Sonny Weems.
Based on the article released by Eurohoops, the club decided to let go of Weems, who last played for the Philadelphia 76ers before signing a two season deal with the team.
Maccabi mentioned that the decision was made due to "irregular chain of events". Weems also was a no-show on their practice following his refusal to take the test, where his teammates Gal Mekel and Victor Rudd were also called by FIBA but they took the test.
Weems is currently the team's leader in assists with 4.3 APG, second in scoring with 11.6 PPG with 0.95 SPG over 19 games with the Israelis. Despite his decent numbers, his team is still near the bottom of the standings at 14th place, winning only seven out of their 20 games.
With Maccabi's decision to drop the former Arkansas Razorback, it leaves their Latvian coach Ainars Bagatskis to rely more on Andrew Goudelock to carry the scoring for his team. A second-round pick by Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 Draft, Goudelock leads his team in scoring with 16.8 points per outing built around 45.7% from beyond the arc.
Expected to fill the hole left by Weems' departure are wingman Devin Smith with Colton Iverson lurking in the post. A veteran of European leagues, the 33-year old Smith is ranked third in scoring with 10 PPG together with his intangibles and veteran presence while on the field.
Iverson, the team's leader in rebounds with 5.5 boards per game, will have to assert himself more in the shaded lane to open up their outside shooters.
Maccabi is Weems' third team in Euroleague. He first suited up for Zalgiris Kaunas and was later named to the All-Euroleague First team during his stint with the league-leading CSKA Moscow.
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