Europe From January to July 2002, Tskitishvili played in Italy, for
Benetton Treviso, winning the
Italian League championship under head coach
Mike D'Antoni. He played in 13 games, averaging 6.6 points per game (with a high of 15). Around that time, he was selected as the 5th overall pick of the
2002 NBA draft.
NBA On February 25, 2005, Tskitishvili was traded by the
Nuggets, to the
Golden State Warriors, along with
Rodney White, in exchange for
Eduardo Nájera,
Luis Flores, and a 2007 future first-round draft pick. In three seasons with the Nuggets, Tskitishvili averaged 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, and shot 30 percent from the field, while appearing in 143 total games. After playing just 12 games for the Warriors, he signed as a free agent with the
Minnesota Timberwolves, after playing on their
NBA Summer League team. He was traded half-way through the
2005–06 season, to the
Phoenix Suns, in exchange for a second-round draft pick. Tskitishvili's final NBA game was Game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals on May 30, 2006, in a 106–86 win over the
Dallas Mavericks. Tskitishvili only played for a minute and half (substituting at the very end of the game for Leandro Barbosa) and recorded no stats. Phoenix would go on to lose games 5 and 6 (with Tskitishvili not playing in either game), thus losing the series to Dallas 4 - 2. On June 30, 2006, Tskitishvili was claimed off of waivers by the
Portland Trail Blazers. He was waived five days later, after the team announced they would re-sign center
Joel Przybilla. On October 2, 2006, Tskitishvili was signed by the
New York Knicks, and he was later waived by them on October 25. With career averages of 2.9 points and 1.8 rebounds per game, over his first four
NBA seasons, Tskitishvili is widely considered to be a major
draft bust. Former
ESPN writer
Bill Simmons claimed that Tskitishvili is "the worst-case scenario for any foreign pick" in the NBA. Columnist David Schoenfield of
ESPN's Page 2, ranked Tskitishvili 30th, on his "100 worst draft picks ever", in 2006, and in 2008, ESPN's Adam Reisinger rated Tskitishvili as the worst NBA draft lottery pick ever selected.
Return to Europe After playing in the
NBA, Tskitishvili returned to Europe. In Europe, he had playing stints in the
Spanish League (
Caja San Fernando,
Fuenlabrada,
Lagun Aro GBC),
Italian League (
Teramo Basket), and
Greek League (
Panionios). After that, he left Europe and went to Asia, in order to continue his playing career.
Asia While playing in Iran, Tskitishvili won an
Iranian Super League championship in 2012, with
Mahram. He started the 2012–13 season with Iran's
Foolad Mahan Esfahan, but he was released in November 2012. The next month, he signed with
Champville, from Lebanon's
Division A, and posted 17.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, in 27 games played. On October 27, 2014, he signed for a second stint with Champville.
NBA comeback attempt On September 25, 2015, Tskitishvili signed with the
Los Angeles Clippers, returning to the
NBA, after a nine-year absence. However, he was later waived by the Clippers, on October 3, 2015.
Return to Asia On October 11, 2015, Tskitishvili signed with the
Fujian Sturgeons of the
Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). However, he left the team before the season began, and signed with the Japanese club,
Link Tochigi Brex, on November 2. On December 24, he left Tochigi Brex, after averaging eight points and four rebounds per game. The next day, he returned to
Champville. On April 3, 2016, he left Champville, and signed with
Chemidor Tehran, of the
Iranian Super League. In late December 2017, he signed with
Byblos Club, of the
Lebanese Basketball League. ==Career statistics==