Veteran center Aron Baynes to sign with Brisbane Bullets

Veteran center Aron Baynes will make his return to basketball with the Brisbane Bullets in Australia’s National Basketball League, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

According to Windhorst, Baynes will sign a two-year contract that includes an NBA out. The 35-year-old also had offers on the table from teams in Europe and China, per Windhorst, but those offers wouldn’t have given him the opportunity to opt out and return to the NBA, which is his ultimate goal.

Baynes, who has nine NBA seasons under his belt, last played in the league in 2020-21, appearing in 53 games (31 starts) for the Raptors. He represented Australia in the Tokyo Olympics later that year but suffered a major spinal cord injury after a freak fall that left him hospitalized in Japan and Australia for two months. We described that incident and Baynes’ recovery in more detail back in January.

Baynes, who was initially unable to walk following his spinal cord injury, has been engaged in a long, difficult rehabilitation process for much of 2022. He reportedly worked out for NBA teams in Las Vegas earlier this month while the Summer League was taking place.

NBA clubs figure to continue monitoring Baynes as he suits up for the Bullets in Brisbane later this year.