Former Providence Friar Justin Minaya, still just 27, has signed a two-year deal with FC Barcelona bringing his defensive prowess and energy to Spain. For the past couple of years Minaya split his time between the G-League and the NBA with the Portland and Orlando organizations. I’m sure the stability of having a set place and team for the next two years is going to feel like a relief after bouncing around between the leagues since 2023.
| Date | Transaction |
|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2022 | Justin Minaya foregoes his last year of eligibility but goes undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, making him an Unrestricted FA. |
| Apr 4, 2023 | Justin Minaya signed a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers following a stint with the only G-League Team without an NBA affiliate, the Mexico City Capitanes. |
| Apr 10, 2023 | Justin Minaya, previously with the Portland Trail Blazers, became a free agent. |
| Oct 2, 2023 | Justin Minaya signed a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. |
| Oct 20, 2023 | The Portland Trail Blazers converted Justin Minaya to a Two-Way contract with the Rip City Remix. |
| Jul 1, 2024 | Justin Minaya, previously with the Portland Trail Blazers, became a free agent. |
| Jul 1, 2024 | Justin Minaya signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. |
| Jul 1, 2025 | Justin Minaya, previously with the Portland Trail Blazers, became a free agent. |
| Sep 2, 2025 | Justin Minaya signed a contract with the Orlando Magic. |
| Oct 5, 2025 | The Orlando Magic placed the contract of Justin Minaya on waivers, then played with the Osceola Magic. |
| Oct 7, 2025 | Justin Minaya, previously with the Orlando Magic, became a free agent. |
Minaya will join another former Big East player, UConn’s Tyrese Martin, on the Barca Basket squad for the upcoming season in the Spanish ACB League.
Last season, Barcelona had a pretty damn good 2025-26 year on paper, going 21-17 in the EuroLeague and 24-10 in Liga ACB while making it all the way to the Spanish league finals. Unfortunately, they couldn’t finish the job, falling to Valencia Basket for the domestic title before getting bounced in the EuroLeague play in tournament and missing the playoffs altogether. Adding multiple players with NBA experience should help elevate the team into that next tier in their leagues for this season.
Unlike a lot of the International teams, it appears that Barca’s twitter account actually loves to post, so it will be much better to follow along with Minaya’s career these next two seasons than it is a lot of other former Friars (sans Bryce Cotton). Here’s a couple of snippets from just the past couple of hours as the two sides were finalizing their deal.
You can watch FC Barcelona basketball games on DAZN or Fubo for streaming Liga Endesa (ACB) matches, or potentially FanDuel TV, whatever in the world that is.
Let’s get after it Justin!
The Morning Hangover 