ESPN NBA

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina forward Walter Hermann has confirmed that he has a "95-percent chance" to play in the NBA this season for the Charlotte Bobcats.

"They (Charlotte) told me that the oral agreement is total," Hermann told the newspaper Ole. "They only have to send the contract to me to sign it. There is a 95-percent chance. They told me that they count on me, but the signature is left yet.

"It is the best thing that could have happened to me. I'll go to a team where I can have a lot of minutes. Charlotte treated me very well and convinced me. I want to go to the NBA. If I can do it, I'll go to the World Championship as a free agent."

Olympic champion Argentina is one of the big candidates to win the FIBA World Championship in Japan. It has just won the Super Four in Santa Fe and already defeated Venezuela in one friendly.

However, Hermann expects even more.

"Nowadays, I mark the team with a 7 or 7.5 (out of 10), but I'm surprised at how fast we have improved," he said. "I haven't imagined that we would have been so good at this point. We've been out of the national team for two years and we were coming from holidays, but we caught everything very quickly. It helps a lot that we know each other very well.

"Argentina are favorites (to win), because we are the Olympic champions and have the potential to fight for the title again. However, we must demonstrate it on the court."

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index