COLLEGE: Providence
VITALS: 6'10", 225 lbs.
YEAR DRAFTED: 1990 by Seattle (Round 2, Pick 53)
RIGHTS HELD BY: Oklahoma City
Obviously the Sonics never signed Shamsid-Deen to a contract. They had drafted Shawn Kemp the year before and also had veterans Derrick McKey and Xavier McDaniel on the roster. He didn't latch on to another NBA team and began his international journey in France at Paris Basket Racing, a team that ten years later would produce the Spurs' Tony Parker. After two years in the French capital, Shamsid-Deen spent a year in Spain with midtable team Valvi Girona.
His next two seasons were for German squad Bayer Leverkusen, arguably his best two seasons as a professional. Bayer won the Liga de Alemania (German league) in his first season and the Copa de Alemania (German Cup) in his second. Leverkusen qualified for the Euroleague that first year and Shamsid-Deen was the seventh rated player in the competition after recording several big rebounding games against Real Madrid and Barcelona, two basketball (but primarily soccer) superpowers in Spain.
Then it got a bit hectic for the former Friar. Bayer cut him in 1995 due to an injury and Shamsid-Deen became a basketball nomad. He went back to France for half a season, returned to Spain then had stints all over the world including Venezuela, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, Poland, and Argentina before bringing his career to a close in Austria. He was an All-Star in a return stint to Germany in 1999.
Needless to say the fact that Oklahoma City still has the rights of a 45 year old who retired a decade ago must be an oversight. Nothing against Shamsid-Deen but most 45 year olds aren't being bantered about having their draft rights traded each June. Strangely, Shamsid-Deen is not the oldest player on this list (I'll get to the two older than him soon enough) but it was strange to see a name that I last saw in this sorry excuse of a set from my youth:
Thanks for reading the second edition of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile each and every day until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley. For less of me, throw your computer out of the nearest window.
Shamsid-Deen Bio Info: acb.com
Image Credit: Shamsid-Deen Profile (draftreview.com), Shamsid-Deen Wild Card (millercards.net)