Joel Freeland

Joel Freeland (born February 7, 1987 in Farnham, Surrey, England) is a British professional basketball player. He is a forward-center. His playing style has been compared to that of David Lee of the Golden State Warriors and former NBA player Keon Clark. He was selected in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Pro career

Freeland started his career with the English League side Solent Stars, who are based in Southampton. While he was playing basketball there he also had a job as a shelf stacker in Farnham. He then moved to Gran Canaria II, of the Spanish Third Division.

On June 28, 2006, he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft with the 30th overall draft pick. However, the Trail Blazers encouraged him to return to European play to further improve his game; in August 2006, he signed a 2-year contract with Gran Canaria of the Spanish ACB League.

Freeland averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.8 blocks per game during the 2005-06 season in the Spanish Third Division. However, the next year, while playing in the Spanish First Division, he played in only 16 games and his minutes were drastically reduced. In 2009, he joined the Spanish Euroleague club Unicaja Málaga on a 5 year contract worth €4.5 million euros net income.

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