Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Georgian: ნიკოლოზ ცქიტიშვილი; born April 14, 1983) is a Georgian professional basketball player that currently plays for Champville of the Lebanese Basketball League. He is a 7'0", 245 lb. forward-center, who was selected 5th overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA Draft.
Pro career
From January to July 2002 he played in Italy for Benetton Treviso, winning the Italian Championship under Mike D'Antoni. He played in 13 games, averaging 6.6 points per game (with a high of 15).
On February 25, 2005, Tskitishvili was traded by the Nuggets to the Golden State Warriors along with Rodney White, in exchange for Eduardo Nájera, Luis Flores, and a 2007 future first-round pick. In three seasons with the Nuggets, Tskitishvili averaged 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and shot 30 percent from the field while appearing in 143 total games.
After playing just 12 games for the Warriors, he signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves after playing on their summer league team. He was traded half way through the 2005-06 season to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a second-round draft pick. On June 30, 2006, Tskitishvili was claimed off of waivers by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was waived five days later, after the team announced they would re-sign center Joel Przybilla. On October 2, 2006, Tskitishvili was signed by the New York Knicks and was waived on October 25.
With career averages of 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game over his first four NBA seasons,[1] Tskitishvili is widely considered to be a major draft bust. ESPN writer Bill Simmons claimed that Tskitishvili is "the worst-case scenario for any foreign pick" in the NBA.[2] Columnist David Schoenfield of ESPN's Page 2 ranked Tskitishvili 30th on his "100 worst draft picks ever" in 2006,[3] and in 2008 ESPN's Adam Reisinger rated Tskitishvili the worst NBA draft lottery pick ever selected at 5th overall.[4]
Tskitishvili won a championship in 2012 with Mahram in Iran's Superleague after stints in the Italian and Spanish leagues. He started the 2012-13 season with Iran's Foolad Mahan Esfahan, but was released in November 2012. The next month, he signed with Champville from Lebanon’s Division A and posted 17.9 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for 27 games.[5] On 27 October 2014 he signed for a second stint with Champville.[6]
Georgian national team
Nikoloz Tskitishvili has also played for the Georgian national basketball team.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
| Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
|---|
| 2002–03 |
Denver |
81 | 16 | 16.3 | .293 | .243 | .738 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 3.9 |
| 2003–04 |
Denver |
39 | 0 | 7.9 | .328 | .273 | .793 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 2.7 |
| 2004–05 |
Denver |
23 | 0 | 6.9 | .294 | .000 | .571 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| 2004–05 |
Golden State |
12 | 0 | 5.2 | .304 | .200 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| 2005–06 |
Minnesota |
5 | 0 | 2.6 | .250 | .000 | .500 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| 2005–06 |
Phoenix |
12 | 0 | 7.2 | .364 | .333 | .667 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 2.8 |
| Career |
|
172 | 16 | 11.3 | .304 | .235 | .730 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
References
External links
