By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An NBA draft pick in 2022, Ismael Kamagate was loaned from EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to Bertram Derthona Tortona. His NBA rights belong to the Denver Nuggets.
Both Italian clubs confirmed the move on Tuesday. The French center is set for additional playing time for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Coming out of his second appearance with the Nuggets in the NBA Summer League, Kamagate penned a two-year contract with the Milan outfit in July. Debuting in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, he averaged 1.1 points per contest over nine brief showings. Producing 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in Italy’s LBA UnipolSai paints the picture on his domestic campaign.
Focusing on the top-tier division of Italy for the remainder of the season, Kamagate is likely to receive an upgraded role under the guidance of Walter De Raffaele, compared to a much tougher task of sneaking into the rotation at the team coached by Ettore Messina.
Bertram Derthona was recently eliminated in the Basketball Champions League. A two-game sweep by Galatasaray Ekmas in the Play-In series ended the first continental campaign in team history. At 6-10 in the LBA, the distance from the Playoffs zone is at two games with 14 outings left in the double-legged round-robin schedule.
Kamagate, a youth product of Paris, was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 46th overall pick of the 2022 draft. His rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and then to the Nuggets.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net
