{"id":382112,"date":"2026-07-22T07:53:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/382112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T07:53:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T07:53:27","slug":"former-san-antonio-spurs-forward-leaves-nba-to-join-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/382112\/","title":{"rendered":"Former San Antonio Spurs Forward Leaves NBA To Join Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1920x1080-30.png\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Stanley Umude\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Stanley Umude played two games for the San Antonio Spurs last season.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/san-antonio-spurs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> are coming off their first NBA Finals appearance since 2014. They came up short against the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/new-york-knicks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Knicks<\/a> in five games.<\/p>\n<p>One of the players who briefly played for the Spurs last season, forward <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/stanley-umude\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stanley Umude<\/a>, has officially left the NBA to join Barcelona in Liga ACB in Spain.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement by Barcelona on their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcbarcelona.com\/en\/basketball\/first-team\/news\/4539810\/agreement-to-sign-stanley-umude\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">official website<\/a>, Umude will be playing for the Catalan club this upcoming season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFC Barcelona and Stanley Umude, a US player who also holds Nigerian nationality, have reached an agreement that will keep him at the club until 30 June 2028. Fans at the Palau will get to enjoy the 27-year-old, 1.98-metre forward, who can also play at shooting guard and arrives to add versatility on the perimeter,\u201d the team wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Umude signed a two-way contract with the Spurs in December, but he only ended up playing in two games. He averaged 1.0 point and 0.5 assists in just 3.5 minutes per game. He also played for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/detroit-pistons\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Detroit Pistons<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/milwaukee-bucks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> during his four-year NBA career.<\/p>\n<p>The Arkansas product went undrafted in 2022 and joined the Pistons as a free agent. He spent two years in Detroit before signing with the Bucks in 2024. He won the NBA Cup with the Bucks that same season.<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio Spurs This Offseason<\/p>\n<p>The San Antonio Spurs did not have a busy offseason, but they did address one of their needs this summer. The Spurs could have used a power forward in the NBA Finals, alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/victor-wembanyama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They signed veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/tobias-harris\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tobias Harris<\/a> to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/tobias-harris-spurs-free-agency-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">two-year contract<\/a>, leaving the Detroit Pistons after helping them reach the Eastern Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n<p>The Spurs also brought back <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/harrison-barnes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Harrison Barnes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/julian-champagnie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Julian Champagnie<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/jordan-mclaughlin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jordan McLaughlin<\/a>. Barnes and McLaughlin earned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/harrison-barnes-will-re-sign-with-san-antonio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">one-year deals<\/a>, while Champagnie signed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/spurs-julian-champagnie-free-agency-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">three-year contract<\/a>. Champagnie was coming off a breakout season and was huge for the Spurs in their run to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Spurs\u2019 biggest move of the offseason was signing Wembanyama to a massive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/spurs-sign-victor-wembanyama-to-multi-year-contract-extension\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">five-year, $252 million extension<\/a>. Wemby took a page out of <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/jalen-brunson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jalen Brunson<\/a>\u2018s book by taking a $50-plus million pay cut to help the Spurs in the next few years when <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/stephon-castle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stephon Castle<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/dylan-harper\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dylan Harper<\/a> are up for extensions.<\/p>\n<p>Former Spurs First-Round Pick Tried to Make NBA Return<\/p>\n<p>Before a former San Antonio Spurs player left the NBA, a different ex-Spurs player tried to return to the biggest league in the world.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheSteinLine\/status\/2070870729713721426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">NBA insider Marc Stein<\/a>, former Spurs first-round pick <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/lonnie-walker-iv-nba-return-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lonnie Walker IV<\/a> was hoping to get back into the league after a stint with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel last season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLonnie Walker IV is a candidate to return to the NBA this summer, league sources say, after the scoring guard played in the EuroLeague last season. The seven-year NBA vet (10.0 PPG) has an NBA out in his Maccabi Tel Aviv contract until July 15 and is expected to draw interest,\u201d Stein <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheSteinLine\/status\/2070870729713721426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">tweeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Walker, the deadline has passed, and he\u2019s set to stay with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He played four seasons in San Antonio after getting drafted 18th overall in 2018. He also played for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/brooklyn-nets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/philadelphia-76ers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/paolodavid99\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Juan Paolo David<\/a> Juan Paolo David is a sports journalist covering basketball for Heavy. He has a decade of experience writing about the NBA and WWE. He&#8217;s currently based in the Philippines.  <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/paolodavid99\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Juan Paolo David<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Stanley Umude played two games for the San Antonio Spurs last season. The San Antonio Spurs are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-382112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}