1.3 million a year! Leaving the defending champions! Another key player officially announces departure

Overnight, many high-quality and well-known foreign players have fled the CBA.

Lofton officially announced his signing with the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem for a one-year contract worth $1.3 million, while his salary with the Shanghai team last season was about $2 million.

He would rather take a pay cut to leave, which might hint at some undisclosed reasons...

Lofton was named Foreign Player MVP for the 24-25 season. In the 25-26 regular season, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1 steal in 20 minutes per game. In this year's playoffs, he averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 13.8 minutes per game, contributing significantly to the Shanghai team's championship victory.

"Whiteside" Hassan Whiteside's CBA career ended due to a doping violation. With Lofton also leaving, the Shanghai team's interior lineup is undergoing a complete overhaul. If they can actually trade for Hu Jinqiu from the Guangsha team, it could completely solve their urgent problem.

Beijing's small foreign guard, Germain, is also about to sign with the Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem, last season in the playoffs he averaged 27 minutes, 18.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.1 steals, with shooting percentages of 47.2% and 40.1%. This year in the playoffs, he averaged 27.9 minutes, 18.3 points, 4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, with shooting percentages of 44.6% and 35.8%.

Guangdong's small foreign guard, Quinn, rejected Guangdong's contract extension and instead took his talents to the Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban, after receiving a very attractive fully guaranteed contract.

This guy averaged 24.5 minutes, 19.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.6 steals in the regular season last year, with shooting percentages of 49.3% and 31.1%. This year in the playoffs, he averaged 26.5 minutes, 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.8 steals, with shooting percentages of 45.9% and 30%.

By the way, CBA teams usually only offer non-guaranteed contracts to foreign players, which makes many of them feel insecure, fearing that they will be cut if injured or underperforming. As mentioned above, they would rather take a pay cut to join other leagues for fully guaranteed contracts.

Foreign players are an important part of the CBA, effectively enhancing the league's competitive level and entertainment value, while also giving domestic players the opportunity to compete with high-level athletes. Perhaps they should not be treated merely as mercenaries, but rather given a sense of belonging to encourage them to stay long-term.