Fenerbahce has reached an agreement with French forward/center Joffrey Lauvergne, per Ismail Senol of Turkish bEIN Sports. Lauvergne is expected to sign with the Turkish EuroLeague club and become the team’s first transfer ahead of the upcoming season, once he officially becomes a free agent on July 1st.

Apart from Fenerbahce, Lauvergne also had offers from fellow EuroLeague powerhouses CSKA Moscow and Barcelona but ultimately it was Fener that struck a deal with the player to bring him back in EuroLeague.

Lauvergne had been considering to opt out of his contract with the San Antonio Spurs in order to explore possible lucrative opportunities in Europe. The 26-year-old French player indeed declined his option to continue with the Spurs to join the ranks of the 2017 EuroLeague champions who can offer him not only the salary he requires but also the opportunity to play for a contender.

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce was looking for a quality big who can cover both frontline positions. Lauvergne fills this criterion, being a player of a versatile offensive skillset and someone who can be paired with starting center Jan Vesely.

Lauvergne’s last EuroLeague run was during the breakthrough season of his career in 2013-2014 with Partizan Belgrade. The then 22-year-old player had 11.1 points and 8.6 rebounds, averaging 30 minutes over 24 games, playing alongside future NBAers such as Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Spurs forward Davis Bertans plus former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Sasha Pavlovic.

Throughout his stint in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls and the Spurs, Lauvergne averaged 5.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.