PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - After tripling the national TV contract and increasing the salary cap by 33 percent, most of the NBA franchises were flush with cash this summer and most of the top players at the end of their contract benefitted handsomely!

Salaries that seemed unimaginable just five or 10 years ago are now commonplace. As I've explained in past columns, the second-tier players proffitted more from the situation than the superstars but since most of them have enormous shoe contracts on the side, they really have no reason to complain.

Since 117 foreign players were on opening day rosters, the international contingent has never been so important and the best of those players also profited handsomely between this summer and October 31st, the deadline to extend players who had fulfilled their rookie contract obligations.

This past summer, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Joakim Noah, Bismack Biyombo and Ian Mahinmi signed colossal contracts in the USD $65-120 million range and they were joined near the October 31st deadline by Rudy Gobert, Steven Adams, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Victor Oladipo, Gorgui Dieng and Dennis Schroeder to name just a few!

Let's look at how these players are fairing in the first two weeks of the the new NBA season.

Batum has got the Charlotte Hornets off to a great start, winning four of five and "Batman" is playing his all-around game and receiving constant accolades from his coach who underlines his importance at many levels. Batum told me he's not going to change a thing from last season because his new contract was a direct result of the way he played in 2015-16. He's the typical example of a key player who doesn't have to score 20 points a game to push his team to victory and it's essential that he doesn't put added pressure on himself because of the big new contract.

Fournier is by far the leading scorer for the Orlando Magic while Biyombo is their leading shot blocker and second-best rebounder, despite only playing 21 minutes per game! Orlando have won three in a row after a poor start and when you add the excellent stats of Nicolas Vucevic from Montenegro to the mix, new coach Frank Vogel has some great young talent to work with!

Noah and Mahinmi hope to put injuries behind them so they can help their respective teams, the New York Knicks and Washington Wizards, to move up in the Eastern Conference standings.

As we move on to players playing out the last season of their rookie contracts, one stands above the rest: the "Greak Freak" from the Milwaukee Bucks! Antetokounmpo is a Russell Westbrook who's 20 centimeters taller! He can be a playmaker, run the break or use his 2.11m size to post up. He's a highlight machine who's increased his scoring from 17 to 23 points a game, to go with almost 9 rebounds and 7 assists a game while getting steals at a Steph Curry pace and blocking shots at a Biyombo pace! The Bucks have won four of six with Antetokounmpo doing everything and being everywhere! He's getting good international help from Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic while Jabbari Parker is strong averaging 17.8 and shooting 42 percent from three-point range. Antetokounmpo is 10th in the NBA in the Hollinger efficiency rating which is sky high!

Dieng from Senegal is now a starter on a Minnesota Timberwolves team that's similar to Orlando and Milwaukee and has a bright future with a lot of young talent!

Adams and Oladipo must become the faithful lieutenants to Westbrook's tidal wave style this season since the departure of Kevin Durant leaves no doubt about who is the Oklahoma City Thunder's alpha dog now.

Schroder is the new starting point guard on an Atlanta Hawks team which is still competitive despite the departures of Jeff Teague and Al Horford and he's looking to have a breakout season.

Gobert has become the face of the franchise for the Utah Jazz and one of the best low post defenders on the planet.

All of these international players are much richer than before and doing their darned best right now to prove that they are worth it!

George Eddy

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