By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
UNA Hotels Reggio Emilia announced the addition of JT Thor on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old power forward is a veteran of 185 NBA games, besides representing South Sudan in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coming out of Auburn, Thor was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 37th overall pick of the annual NBA draft. Upon a trade, he spent three years with the Charlotte Hornets and split the 2024-25 campaign between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards. His career averages settled at 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest.
“I’ve been playing professional basketball for the past four years, and I’m grateful for where that journey has taken me. I’m thrilled to start a new chapter in Europe and can’t wait to join the Reggio Emilia family,” he said.
With Kwan Cheatham Jr. on the sidelines, the team coached by Dimitris Priftis picked up the Nebraska native to reinforce the paint, heading to the next challenges in the 2025-26 editions of the FIBA Europe Cup and LBA UnipolSai.
“JT Thor is an athletic, vertical player with great footwork and quickness. He’s a good defender, capable of rebounding and protecting the rim. On offense, he brings versatility and an ability to shoot from beyond the arc, adding elements we’ve been missing. JT arrives after several seasons in the NBA. It will be his first experience overseas, and naturally, he’ll need some time to adapt to the European style of basketball,” noted the 57-year-old Greek play-caller.
Reggio Emilia sits 2-2 in Group J of the Europe Cup Regular Season, and 2-5 in the top-flight division of Italy.