Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv signs Suleiman Braimoh

The experienced big man, who can play the center/forward positions, will join the Yellows following the injury of Alex Poythress

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv signed Suleiman Braimoh today (Thursday) on a contract until the end of 2022/23 season. The signing of the Nigerian-American forward/Center (33, 6-foot-7) comes following the injury that sidelined Alex Poythress for an indefinite period.

Braimoh knows the Yellows’ coach Oded Kattash well from when the latter coached him at Hapoel Jerusalem. Besides Jerusalem, Braimoh played for Hapoel Eilat and will arrive in Israel with deep knowledge of domestic competitions.

“He is a player who can play in several positions and will bring us toughness and experience”, coach Oded Kattash explained. “He has an amazing character, he is a good teammate and of course I know him well. As we know, he is also familiar with the Israeli league and in light of all these reasons we came to the conclusion that this is the player that suits us at this stage”.

“I’m excited to join such a great team and organization like maccabi”, Suleiman Braimoh told maccabi.co.il after signing the contract. “I’m ready to try my best to help the team in any way that I can and contribute to winning. I’m also looking forward to meeting the fans and supporters”.

Braimoh began this season with Tofas Bursa, where he averaged 8.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the Turkish league, alongside 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds on average per game in FIBA’s Champions League.

One of his standout games came in the 83:72 victory over Karshiaka, where he played 37 minutes, grabbed 12 rebounds, and scored 16 points. Bursa finished the Champions League group stage in third place and advanced to the play-in games, where AAK Athens knocked the Turks out.

A graduate of the American Rice College, The big man entered the 2011 draft but wasn’t picked by an NBA team. He has since played in the development league, the Bundesliga, the VTB, and the French team, Nanterre.

In 2018/19 season, Braimoh played for Hapoel Eilat and helped it qualify for Winner’s League Final Four. Maccabi won the championship that season after knocking out Eilat in the semi-finals and beating Maccabi Rishon Lezion in the finals.