Veteran big man Marreese Speights may be playing in the east next season – not in the Eastern Conference, but in the eastern hemisphere part of this planet. According to BR's international basketball reporter David Pick, Speights is close to locking up a deal with the Guangzhou Long Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Source: NBA veteran free-agent Marreese Speights is nearing an agreement on a deal to sign in China with the Guangzhou Long Lions.

Speights signed a one-year deal with the Orlando Magic worth $2.1 million in 2017. That’s set to expire soon, but based on Pick’s report, the former Florida Gator will likely not have to spend much time looking for his next employer as he seems to have found one already.

With the Magic, Speights spent most of his time backing up Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon in the frontcourt. In one season in Orlando, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks in 52 games with only three stints in the starting lineup.

Marreese Speights was selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He would then bounce around the league, playing for the likes of Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, and the L.A. Clippers before suiting up for the Magic. In 2015, he won an NBA title with the Warriors.