It is that time of the year in the NBA. The rumor mill is working overtime, the trade machines are heating up, and fanbases around the league are fantasizing about their team's perfect offseason. While most players hitting free agency are waiting for their next contracts from NBA teams, some are taking their talents overseas.
Increasingly more players are signing international deals to prove themselves once again, improve their game, and build back their confidence, to earn another chance in the NBA. On Friday, it was a former Atlanta Hawk who signed a surprise new contract in Japan. Jarrett Culver is reportedly signing a deal with the Sendai 89ers for the 2025-26 season, per Alberto De Roa of HoopsHype.
Jarrett Culver Takes His Talents to Japan for the 2025-26 Season
While Culver is still only 26 years old and should have a chance to make it back to the NBA, this has to be a disappointing outcome for the former sixth-overall pick. The former Texas Tech standout came into the league in 2019 with an intriguing skill set, good positional size, and defensive chops. Starting his career in Minnesota, Culver wasn't able to establish his career, before getting traded to the Grizzlies after two seasons.
After a season in Memphis, Culver signed a deal with the Atlanta Hawks before the 2022-23 season. He appeared in ten games (one start) in Atlanta, and averaged 4.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists in 13.7 minutes per game, while hitting 39.5% of his field goal attempts and going 1/12 on threes.
This underwhelming performance resulted in Culver's release by the Hawks in January 2023. Since then, the swingman has played for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Osceola Magic of the G League. Now, he is starting the first overseas journey of his career, in a country that isn't necessarily known for pro basketball. How the rest of Culver's career shapes up will be interesting to watch.