Shanghai Shark's former foreign reinforcement Bernard James has accepted a deal with Istanbul-based professional basketball club Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League.

According to Sportando, after a long negotiation, the former NBA player is set to soon sign a contract with the Turkish basketball powerhouse and will be replacing Joey Dorsey.

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James, 31, played 36 games for the Shanghai Sharks, averaging 14.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per contest. He guided the Sharks to a tenth and eleventh place finish winning 18 games of the 38 matches they played during the league's 2015-16 regular season. Shanghai is tied with the Shanxi Brave Dragons (18-20).

Shanghai Sharks is the basketball club that developed the eight-time NBA All-Star Yao Ming, who is the current president of the team.

James played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles from 2010 to 2012. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference All-Defensive team member in 2012 and a recipient of the United States Basketball Writers Association Most Courageous Award in the same year.

He was the 2012 NBA draft 33^rd overall pick selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the draft night.

The Savannah, Georgia-born is listed 6-foot-10 and weighs 240 pounds and plays the center position.

James played with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA 2014-15 season appearing for a total of 16 games. He is averaging 2.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9.9 minutes of playing time. During his stint with the Mark Cuban-owned basketball organization he shot 44.4 percent from the field and has 87.0 percent accuracy from the free throw line.

The professional American basketball player also played for the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League before joining the Shanghai Sharks for the 2014-15 CBA season.

Galatasaray competes in the Turkish Basketball Super League and Eurocup and is currently under the watch of head coach Ergin Ataman.

TagsNBA, cba, Shanghai Sharks, Dallas Mavericks, Bernard James, cleveland cavaliers