Former second-round pick signing with Turkish basketball club

Free agent point guard Raul Neto is signing with Turkish club Fenerbahce after spending the last eight seasons in the NBA, according to an official release. Nearly two weeks after reports surfaced that he was working on signing with the club, Neto’s deal, a one-year pact with an option for the second year, is finalized.

Neto, a 31-year-old point guard from Brazil, averaged 3.3 points and 1.6 assists in 48 games with the Cavaliers last season after signing a one-year deal with the team in the summer of 2022. Neto’s role with Cleveland never expanded past third-string point guard and, as such, he played just 10.5 minutes per game, his lowest average since the 2016-17 season, his sophomore year in the NBA.

Neto began his career in Utah before playing in Philadelphia, but he never got a major role in either city. Before signing with Cleveland, Neto had an underrated stop in Washington. The veteran guard signed with the Wizards in 2020 and emerged as a key rotation piece for a competitive Washington team. In two seasons in D.C., he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 assists, his highest average for any one franchise in the league. Neto became a playoff starter for the Wizards, starting in three of five of their games in the 2020-21 season and averaging 6.4 points in the playoffs.

Neto, the No. 47 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, has 464 games of NBA experience (102 starts) in the regular season and the playoffs. After being selected in that year’s draft by the Hawks, Neto’s rights were traded to the Jazz. Neto didn’t play with the Jazz until the 2015-16 season, in which he made 53 starts. After spending time with four NBA franchises, Neto is making the move back overseas. Neto played with Acunsa GBC of the Spanish ACB from 2011-14 and then with Spain’s UCAM Murcia CB in the 2014-15 season.

Neto is the latest signing by a Fenerbahce club with plenty of NBA connections. Fenerbahce recently signed Nate Sestina, who went to training camp with the Nets in 2020, and Georgios Papagiannis, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Yam Madar, a draft-and-stash piece by the Celtics who may come stateside in future seasons, is also playing for Fenerbahce in the upcoming season.