Jeremy Pargo

And-Ones: Lewis, Ignite, Best Draft Assets, RSNs

Veteran NBA referee Eric Lewis has retired, the league announced today in a brief press release (Twitter link). Lewis officiated more than 1,000 regular season NBA games over the course of his career and has worked several NBA Finals contests since 2019.

Back in May, the NBA opened an investigation into a possible Twitter burner account run by Lewis. The Twitter account, which has since been deleted, responded to many posts about NBA officiating to defend Lewis and other referees. League rules prohibit referees from publicly commenting on the officiating without authorization.

According to today’s announcement, since Lewis has decided to retire, the NBA has closed its investigation into his social media activity.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Having previously announced the prospects that are joining the program for the 2023/24 season, the G League Ignite issued a press release revealing the veteran players who will serve as mentors. John Jenkins and Eric Mika will be returning to the team and will be joined by former NBA guards Jeremy Pargo and David Stockton, as well as guard Admon Gilder, who has played in a handful of international leagues since going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2020.
  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranked all 30 NBA teams based on their future draft assets, from the Thunder (No. 1) and Spurs (No. 2) to the Timberwolves (No. 29) and Suns (No. 30).
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic takes a look at where things stand with the NBA and the Bally Sports regional sports networks after parent company Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy. The league has been informed, according to Vorkunov, that Diamond Sports Group has the capital to honor its NBA commitments for the upcoming season, though one industry source told The Athletic that it’s a “very fluid situation.”

And-Ones: Wembanyama, Henderson, James Lawsuit, Cole, Las Vegas

The top two projected picks in next year’s draft will square off in Las Vegas next month, Jonathan Givony of ESPN reports.

Projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama and his team, Metropolitans 92 from Paris, will face the G League Ignite and projected No. 2 pick, Scoot Henderson, on October 4 and 6 in a pair of exhibition games in Henderson, Nevada.

Rafael Barlowe revealed earlier that discussions were ongoing about a potential matchup featuring those two teams (Twitter link).

They naturally won’t be guarding each other. Wembanyama is a 7’4” center with an eight-foot wingspan, while Henderson is a lightning-quick 6’3” point guard.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • LeBron James and rappers Drake and Future are accused in a $10MM lawsuit filed by former NBPA executive director Billy Hunter of stealing the “intellectual property rights” to a film, according to Carl Campanile and Priscilla DeGregory of the New York Post. Hunter is seeking a share of profits from the documentary as well as $10MM in damages in a complaint filed in Manhattan State Supreme Court. The film, “Black Ice,” focuses on a segregated hockey league for black players in Canada.
  • Former NBA guard Norris Cole and Craig Sword combined for 28 points as Team USA rolled past Panama 88-58 in the AmeriCup basketball tournament on Monday, ESPN reports. Sword appeared in three games with the Wizards last season. Another former NBA guard, Jeremy Pargo, added 10 points.
  • A $3 billion sports and entertainment center, including a $1 billion, 20,000-seat arena, near the Las Vegas Strip could be a stepping stone for the city to get an NBA franchise, Tashan Reed of The Athletic writes. The complex, which will break ground in 2023 and is set to be completed in 2026, will also include an amphitheater, hotel and casino. “There are no guarantees the NBA is coming, and that’s been made very clear,” Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke said. “So, what you’ve got to do is go build (the arena) and make it work on everything else. My guess is they’ll get more interested and fascinated by Vegas if there is a world-class, billion-dollar arena.”

Team USA Announces Camp Roster For AmeriCup

At the same time that 24 European nations will be competing in this year’s long-awaited EuroBasket tournament, Team USA will be going for gold in the 2022 AmeriCup, another event that hasn’t taken place in five years. The U.S. team won the 2017 AmeriCup and was preparing to defend its title in 2021 before the event was pushed back a year due to the delay of the Tokyo Olympics.

With the 2022 AmeriCup around the corner, Team USA has announced the 15 players who will take part in training camp from August 23-27 in Las Vegas before the squad chooses a 12-man roster for the September event. Those 15 players are as follows:

While not every player on Team USA’s training camp roster has NBA experience, many do, including Meeks (539 regular season games), Cole (360), McCaw (199), Clark (170), Johnson (103), Mason (103), and Pargo (86). Sword, Cheatham, Lamb, and Zimmerman have also made brief NBA appearances.

The U.S. team will be coached by Jazz assistant Alex Jensen.

The AmeriCup, also known as the Americas Basketball Championship, used to be part of the qualifying process for the Olympics and the FIBA World Cup, but now it’s a stand-alone event.

This year’s tournament will take place from September 2-11 in Recife, Brazil. Sixteen teams have been divided into four groups of four teams apiece. After each team plays three round robin games within its group, the top two teams in each group – along with the two best third-place teams – will move onto the quarterfinals.

Team USA will be seeking its eighth overall AmeriCup gold medal and its first back-to-back golds since winning the event in 1997 and 1999.

And-Ones: Blue, Pargo, Morey, G League Ignite

NBA alum Vander Blue has signed a new deal to play for Club Atletico Peñarol in Uruguay, per Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Most recently, Blue played with Mexican club Libertadores de Queretaro, where he averaged 21.7 PPG, 3.7 APG and 1.8 SPG during the team’s 2021/22 season.

The 6’4″ shooting guard out of Marquette, 29, logged parts of three seasons in the NBA for the Celtics and Lakers, playing a total of 10 NBA games, including one start, and ultimately averaging 13.4 MPG. He last saw league action for five games during the 2017/18 NBA season with Los Angeles.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • After leaving Napoli Basket last month, former NBA guard Jeremy Pargo has signed a new G League deal and will join the Windy City Bulls, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors. Pargo, a Chicago native, played with the Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Sixers and Warriors during three NBA seasons. The 35-year-old combo guard holds NBA averages of 4.8 PPG, 1.8 APG and 1.0 RPG across 86 contests.
  • As a recent guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, Sixers GM Daryl Morey shared some bold concepts for changing the NBA regular season’s schedule and playoffs structure (hat tip to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post). Morey proposed cutting the league’s current 82-game regular season schedule to 58 contests. “Every team plays every [other] team two times,” he said. “The playoffs, I 100 percent agree, shorter is better… I would have it one-and-done,” Morey said, suggesting that every postseason round be reduced from seven games to a single contest. “There’s a reason everyone tunes into every game at huge ratings in the NFL. It is literally one-and-done.”
  • Six prospects from the NBAGL club the G League Ignite, point guard Scoot Henderson, wing Dyson Daniels, shooting guard Jaden Hardy, and forward MarJon Beauchamp, plus big men Michael Foster Jr. and Fanbo Zeng, participated in the festivities for the NBA’s 2022 All-Star Weekend. Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated evaluated the Ignite players during a recent two-game stint prior to the weekend, five of whom (Henderson being the lone exception) could be selected for the NBA draft this year. Woo indicates that Henderson, Daniels, Hardy and Beauchamp all appear likely to be first-round picks.

Pacific Notes: Simmons, Thompson, Harrell, Caruso

Swingman Jonathon Simmons is among the non-roster players joining the Warriors for their mini-camp, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. Simmons joined the Warriors’ G League team in Santa Cruz in February after having played a combined 56 games with Orlando and Philadelphia in 2018/19. Zach Norvell, Jeremy Pargo, Ryan Taylor, and Roger Moute a Bidias are the other non-roster players participating in the mini-camp.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Klay Thompson will be able to practice without restrictions, but there are still some questions to be answered during the Warriors’ mini-camp, Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area writes. While reports have been encouraging, Thompson still has to show he can regain the form he had prior to tearing his ACL. Kevon Looney, who underwent core muscle injury in May, could also answer some questions about his health if he looks sharp on the court, Poole adds.
  • The Clippers probably won’t re-sign forward Montrezl Harrell unless it’s a sign-and-trade scenario, Jovan Buha of The Athletic opines. The likely contract demands of the league’s Sixth Man Award winner, coupled with his limitations and subpar playoff performances, make him a prime candidate for a sign-and-trade, Buha continues. The team will also look for an upgrade at point guard, though there won’t be a lot of attractive alternatives in free agency.
  • Guard Alex Caruso has become an essential role player for the Lakers and the stats prove it, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times notes. In Caruso’s 18.4 MPG during the regular season, the Lakers were 9.8 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents. During the postseason, the Lakers’ best defensive lineups have often been with Caruso on the court. He can become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

Jeremy Pargo Signs With Israeli Team

JUNE 3: Hapoel Jerusalem has published a tweet officially welcoming Pargo to the team, a signal that they’ve reached a deal with him.

JUNE 2: Jeremy Pargo is receiving interest from Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Premier League, Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando reports.

Pargo, who went undrafted back in 2009, spent this past season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League team. He earned a 10-day deal back in February and saw NBA action in three games.

Prior to his 44 minutes of court time, the combo guard had not played in the NBA since the 2012/13 season, when he suited up for the last Sixers’ team before Sam Hinkie took over the reins of the franchise. In addition to Philadelphia, Pargo has had stints in Memphis and Cleveland, and has six years of international experience, playing in Russia, Israel, Italy, and China at various points in his career.

Warriors To Replace Pargo, Norvell On Roster?

FEBRUARY 19: Despite an earlier report (outlined below) that suggested Pargo would probably return to the Warriors, Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears that the team is expected to sign new players soon to replace Pargo and Norvell.

That doesn’t mean that Pargo – or Norvell – won’t re-sign with Golden State later in the season, but it sounds like the team is casting a wider net as it evaluates back-of-the-roster players.

FEBRUARY 18: A pair of players on 10-day contracts with the Warriors saw those deals expire on Monday night, as guards Jeremy Pargo and Zach Norvell are now technically free agents. Golden State’s roster count has dipped back down to 12 players, and the club will have up to two weeks to return to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players.

Although the Warriors may not wait the full two weeks to fill out their roster, they seem unlikely to make a move for at least a couple more days, since their schedule doesn’t resume until Thursday against Houston.

There’s no guarantee that both Pargo and Norvell return for another 10-day contract – or a full-season deal – but Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle suggests that Pargo’s time in Golden State probably isn’t over yet. A source tells Letourneau that the Warriors are expected to let Pargo finish the season on the NBA roster.

Pargo, who turns 34 next month and hadn’t played in the NBA since 2013, was an unlikely G League call-up for the Warriors, but he has played well in three games with the team, averaging 8.3 PPG and 2.7 APG with a .500 FG% and .429 3PT% in 14.7 MPG. As Letourneau relays, head coach Steve Kerr has been impressed with the veteran guard.

“You watch him play, and he fits,” Kerr said. “He’s an NBA player. It’s good to see him out there, and I’m glad we’re able to give him this opportunity because he’s earned it.”

While Pargo intends to play professionally for several more years, he’s not necessarily counting on this season as a springboard to further NBA opportunities, per Letourneau. The former Gonzaga standout says he’s just trying to “enjoy the moment” with the Warriors and see what happens next. According to Letourneau, Pargo has already emerged as a respected elder statesman in Golden State, where he’s the oldest player on the roster.

“The biggest thing for me is that guys like Jordan (Poole) and Ky (Bowman), they really listen to what I have to say,” said Pargo, who has played in just 86 total NBA games. “They don’t go, ‘Oh, you’re not this or that.’ They listen, and that means a lot.”

Warriors Sign Jeremy Pargo To 10-Day Contract

FEBRUARY 8: Pargo has officially signed his 10-day deal with the Warriors, the club confirmed today in a press release. The Warriors have now signed five players since the deadline, getting their roster count back up to 14.

FEBRUARY 7: The Warriors‘ run of free agent contract agreements will continue with a 10-day deal for Jeremy Pargo, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Pargo is the fifth player to agree to a contract with Golden State in the last 24 hours.

Pargo will be called up from the Santa Cruz Warriors, but his résumé looks much different than a typical G-Leaguer’s. A combo guard, Pargo entered the NBA in 2011 and hasn’t appeared in a game since the 2012/13 season. Since then, he has had stops in Russia, Israel, China, Italy, and Lebanon. He also had a stint in the BIG3.

Pargo, who will turn 34 next month, appeared in 11 games for Golden State’s G League affiliate in 2017/18, then rejoined the club for the 2019/20 season. He has averaged 17.2 PPG, 5.8 APG, and 3.7 RPG with a .469/.331/.733 shooting line in 31 NBAGL games (31.1 MPG) this season.

It’s very unlikely that Pargo is part of the Warriors’ future plans, so this 10-day contract looks like a reward for his solid work in Santa Cruz. If and when he takes the court for Golden State, it will be his first NBA appearance since March 29, 2013.

The Warriors had six open roster spots after completing a series of deadline deals. They’ve since agreed to sign Pargo, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and Zach Norvell, and are promoting two-way players Ky Bowman and Marquese Chriss to their standard roster.

Eastern Notes: George, Pacers, Deng

Hoopsworld's Yannis Koutroupis explores the possible implications from a potential contract extension for Paul George and suggests that Danny Granger has now become an expendable piece. Losing Lance Stephenson - who is coming off of a career year and may have likely played himself out of Indiana's price range next summer – would be a bitter pill to swallow, opines Koutroupis. Here's more out of the Eastern Conference: 

  • Granger believes that Indiana can contend for a title next season and calls the addition of Luis Scola "our biggest free agent pickup" (Scott Agness of NBA.com). 
  • ESPN's Chad Ford (via Twitter) notes that Luol Deng has been working out at BYU-Hawaii over the last several weeks and says that the Bulls forward appears to be in fantastic shape.
  • Erildas Budraitis of RealGM catches up with CSKA Moscow's Jeremy Pargo, who last played for the 76ers and Cavaliers during the 2012/13 season.  The 6'2" point guard admitted that he probably won't think of returning to the NBA for another one or two years and calls his exit from Cleveland "unfortunate."
  • Earlier today, Yahoo's Marc J. Spears reported that Cavs number one overall pick Anthony Bennett resumed playing five-on-five basketball this week. 
  • Nets star Deron Williams is even more eager to get the season started after hearing head coach Jason Kidd and teammate Jason Terry say they expect him to be a part of the MVP conversation in 2013/14 (link via Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report). 
  • Despite NBA commissioner David Stern's recent efforts to quell tension between the Knicks and Nets owners, the players don't seem to be necessarily following suit. When Paul Pierce was asked today about J.R. Smith calling him a bitter person recently, the Brooklyn forward tersely responded with "Who? Who are we talking about right now? Exactly" (Tim Bontempts of the New York Post). 

Jeremy Pargo Signs With CSKA Moscow

9:56am: Pargo's deal with CSKA Moscow is actually worth $5.2MM in total, for two years, agent Brad Ames tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). For a player whose largest NBA contract was a two-year, $2MM pact, that's a pretty strong incentive to head overseas.

TUESDAY, 8:13am: CSKA Moscow has officially announced Pargo's signing, as passed along in English by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

FRIDAY, 2:04pm: Pargo's deal with CSKA Moscow will be a two-year pact that he intends to play out, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The wording of Charania's tweet suggests Pargo will earn $2.2MM in total, rather than annually, which would make more sense.

10:00am: After having been released by both the Cavaliers and 76ers during the 2012/13 season, Jeremy Pargo appears to be lining up a deal to play overseas. According to Emiliano Carchia and David Pick of Sportando, Pargo has agreed to terms with CSKA Moscow. Pick tweets that the deal would pay the point guard $2.2MM, which almost certainly exceeds any salary he'd land in the NBA.

Pargo, the younger brother of Jannero Pargo, appeared in a total of 39 games for the Cavs and Sixers in '12/13, averaging 6.8 PPG and 2.4 APG in 16.8 minutes per contest. His most successful stretch of the season came when he was subbing in for the injured Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, recording double-digit points in seven games — that run included a 28-point performance against the Sixers, the team he'd join a few weeks later. The 27-year-old is also no stranger to international ball, having previously played for two Israeli teams from 2009 to 2011.

Assuming the deal is finalized, Pargo will be far from the first player to make the jump from the NBA to CSKA Moscow. Past and present NBA veterans such as Andrei Kirilenko, Alexey Shved, Sonny Weems, and Nenad Krstic have played for the European powerhouse in just the last couple years.