Nikoloz Tskitishvili ( ka, ნიკოლოზ ცქიტიშვილი; born April 14, 1983) is a Georgian former professional basketball player. He is a 7'0"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

- center, who was selected fifth overall by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in the 2002 NBA draft. Tskitishvili has also played for the senior

Georgian national basketball team The Georgia men's national basketball team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საკალათბურთო ნაკრები) represents the country of Georgia in international basketball matches, and is ...

Professional career

Europe

From January to July 2002, Tskitishvili played in Italy, for Benetton Treviso, winning the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

championship under head coach Mike D'Antoni. He played in 13 games, averaging 6.6 points per game (with a high of 15). Around that time, he was selected as the 5th overall pick of the 2002 NBA draft.

NBA

On February 25, 2005, Tskitishvili was traded by the Nuggets, to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, along with Rodney White, in exchange for Eduardo Nájera, Luis Flores, and a 2007 future first-round draft pick. In three seasons with the Nuggets, Tskitishvili averaged 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, 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

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

team. He was traded half-way through the 2005–06 season, to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, in exchange for a second-round draft pick. Tskitishvili's final NBA game was Game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals on May 30th, 2006 in a 106 - 86 win over the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

. Tskitishvili only played for a minute and half (substituting at the very end of the game for Leandro Barbosa) and recorded no stats. Phoenix would go on to lose games 5 and 6 (with Tskitishvili not playing in either game), thus losing the series to Dallas 4 - 2. 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 The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, and he was later waived by them on October 25. With career averages of 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game, over his first four

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

seasons, Tskitishvili is widely considered to be a major draft bust. Former ESPN writer

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...

claimed that Tskitishvili is "the worst-case scenario for any foreign pick" in the NBA. Columnist David Schoenfield of ESPN's Page 2, ranked Tskitishvili 30th, on his "100 worst draft picks ever", in 2006, and in 2008, ESPN's Adam Reisinger rated Tskitishvili as the worst NBA draft lottery pick ever selected.

Return to Europe

After playing in the

, Tskitishvili returned to Europe. In Europe, he had playing stints in the Spanish League ( Caja San Fernando, Fuenlabrada, Lagun Aro GBC),

( Teramo Basket), and Greek League ( Panionios). After that, he left Europe and went to Asia, in order to continue his playing career.

Asia

While playing in Iran, Tskitishvili won an Iranian Super League championship in 2012, with Mahram. He started the 2012-13 season with Iran's Foolad Mahan Esfahan, but he 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, in 27 games played. On October 27, 2014, he signed for a second stint with Champville.

NBA comeback attempt

On September 25, 2015, Tskitishvili signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, returning to the

, after a nine-year absence. However, he was later waived by the Clippers, on October 3, 2015.

Return to Asia

On October 11, 2015, Tskitishvili signed with the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). However, he left the team before the season began, and signed with the Japanese club,

Link Tochigi Brex Utsunomiya Brex is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. After winning the JBL 2 in 2008, the team played in the National Basketball League. In July 2015 it was announced that the team would compete in t ...

, on November 2. On December 24, he left Tochigi Brex, after averaging eight points and four rebounds per game. The next day, he returned to Champville. On April 3, 2016, he left Champville, and signed with Chemidor Tehran, of the Iranian Super League. In late December 2017, he signed with

Byblos Club Byblos Club is a multi sports club based in Byblos, Lebanon. The franchise was established in 1981, and such notable stars played as Jay Youngblood, Michael Fraser, Bassel Bawji, Ali Mahmoud, Rodrigue Akl, Ratko Varda, Steven Burtt, Joseph Vogel, ...

, of the Lebanese Basketball League.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" , Denver , 81 , , 16 , , 16.3 , , .293 , , .243 , , .738 , , 2.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" , Denver , 39 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .328 , , .273 , , .793 , , 1.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" , Denver , 23 , , 0 , , 6.9 , , .294 , , .000 , , .571 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" , Golden State , 12 , , 0 , , 5.2 , , .304 , , .200 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Minnesota , 5 , , 0 , , 2.6 , , .250 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.6 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Phoenix , 12 , , 0 , , 7.2 , , .364 , , .333 , , .667 , , 1.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 172 , , 16 , , 11.3 , , .304 , , .235 , , .730 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 2.9

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" , Phoenix , 4 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .5 , , .0. , , .0 , , .3

References

External links