Honestly, this is a player that we would never have been able to sign early in the season. A guy (who) can play low post and be effective away from the basket. – Elan Chalon coach Jean-Denys Choulet
Former BYU power forward Brandon Davies has signed with Euroleague team Elan Chalon, as first reported by French newspaper Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire.
The contract was finalized Sunday, according to Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire, and came less than a week after the Brooklyn Nets waived Davies last Tuesday. The former Cougar had a non-guaranteed contract with the Nets, but it would have become a guaranteed contract Jan. 10 if he were still on the roster.
During the past season and a half in the NBA, Davies had played in 78 games, starting six, while averaging 3.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. He spent most of that time in Philadelphia, and the 6-foot-10 Provo native scored a career-high 20 points in the 76ers' 91-89 loss to Orlando Nov. 5.
According to Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire, Elan Chalon coach Jean-Denys Choulet met Davies' agent during a trip to Las Vegas this past summer.
"The relationship was paramount. It is clear that if I had not been there in Vegas this summer, it would not have (been) done," Choulet told the French newspaper, as translated by Google Translate.
Davies joins an Elan Chalon team, which plays in France's Pro A league, looking for reinforcements inside with an injury to fellow power forward Eric Dawson. Dawson has played in six of Elan Chalon's 16 games this year and has averaged 12.7 points and a team-best 9.7 rebounds per game, but he hasn't played since Nov. 1.
"Honestly, this is a player that we would never have been able to sign early in the season," Choulet told Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire about Davies. "A guy (who) can play low post and be effective away from the basket."
One of Davies' new teammates will be familiar. Former Loyola Marymount guard Anthony Ireland, who Davies faced in college when both played for West Coast Conference teams, starts for Elan Chalon and has averaged 10.3 points, a team-best 3.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds this season.
Email: bjudd@deseretnews.com; Twitter: @brandonljudd