Olivier Hanlan

And-Ones: A. Brown, Hanlan, Draft, Africa

Former NBA swingman Anthony Brown and Serbian team KK Partizan Belgrade have officially parted ways, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Brown’s deal was supposed to run through June, but the two sides agreed to terminate it just a month after it was finalized.

In other international basketball news, former Spurs second-round pick Olivier Hanlan has signed with German club Telekom Baskets Bonn, according to an announcement from the team (hat tip to Sportando). Hanlan signed with San Antonio in September, but was waived a few days later, so the Spurs no longer have his NBA rights.

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

  • ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have updated their 2019 mock draft (Insider link), with Zion Williamson now claiming the No. 1 spot, followed by Duke teammate R.J. Barrett at No. 2. Givony and Schmitz also zero in on players whose stocks have recently improved or fallen, with USC’s Kevin Porter (No. 21 to No. 9) and Murray State’s Temetrius “Ja” Morant (No. 16 to No. 10) among the big risers.
  • The NBA, which unveiled a new training facility at its basketball academy in Senegal this week, has “big plans” for Africa, writes Ken Maguire of The Associated Press. NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum suggests that the league believes the number of African players on NBA starting rosters (13) could double within a decade, Maguire notes.
  • In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some NBA roster moves or salary-cap decisions that didn’t receive a ton of attention at the time, but have paid off so far, including the Grizzlies‘ acquisition of Garrett Temple.

Spurs Waive Olivier Hanlan, Add Nick Johnson

The Spurs have waived guard Olivier Hanlan, according to the NBA.com transactions log.

San Antonio signed Hanlan last week. Hanlan will likely wind up with the G League’s Austin Spurs unless he’s claimed. He played 44 games for them last season.

San Antonio has added guard Nick Johnson to the training camp roster, according to a team release. Johnson was named the G League finals MVP last season after leading Austin to the title.

The 6’3” Johnson has not played an NBA game since the 2014/15 season, when he was a Rockets rookie.

Houston selected him in the second round in 2014. He averaged 2.6 PPG in 9.4 MPG. Johnson has appeared in a total of 102 G League games and spent the 2o16/17 season with Bayern Munich in Germany.

The Spurs technically have a full camp roster, though recently-retired Manu Ginobili is still on the 20-player list.

Hanlan, a former Boston College standout, was selected in the second round by the Jazz in 2015. The Spurs acquired his rights the following summer in exchange for Boris Diaw and a future second-rounder.

Hanlan has also played professionally in Lithuania and France. With Austin last season, the 6’4” guard averaged 14.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 30.6 MPG. He averaged 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 2.6 APG in five Las Vegas outings with the Spurs’ summer league team.

Spurs Sign Okaro White To Exhibit 10 Deal

The Spurs have made another addition to their training camp roster, according to ESPN’s Michael C. Wright, who tweets that veteran forward Okaro White has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with San Antonio. Per RealGM’s transactions log, the Spurs have also officially completed reported deals with Drew Eubanks, Olivier Hanlan, and Jaron Blossomgame.

White, who signed a two-year contract with the Cavaliers during the final week of the 2017/18 season, was waived by Cleveland in August before the team owed any guaranteed money for that second year. Formerly a member of the Heat, White has appeared in 41 NBA games over the last two seasons for Miami, averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.4 minutes per contest.

The Florida State alum, who missed a good chunk of the ’17/18 campaign with a broken foot, talked earlier this year about how he’s still working to mentally get over that injury. It appears he’ll have the opportunity to work on it this fall with San Antonio.

The Spurs now have a full 20-man roster, with 15 players on fully guaranteed salaries, four on non-guaranteed deals, and one (Eubanks) on a two-way pact. However, one of those 15 guaranteed contracts is Manu Ginobili‘s — the club will still need to officially release him at some point after he announced his retirement.

Spurs To Sign Guard Olivier Hanlan

The Spurs will sign guard Olivier Hanlan, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.

It’s apparently a training camp deal, as San Antonio has 14 players with guaranteed contracts and another on a partially-guaranteed deal. They recently invited former Thunder swingman Josh Huestis to camp and signed Amida Brimah and Julian Washburn to Exhibit 10 deals.

The former Boston College standout was selected in the second round by the Jazz in 2015. The Spurs acquired his rights the following summer in exchange for Boris Diaw and a future second-rounder.

Hanlan, who has also played professionally in Lithuania and France, spent last season with the G League’s Austin Spurs. The 6’4” guard averaged 14.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 30.6 MPG in 44 games, including 30 starts. He averaged 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG and 2.6 APG in five Las Vegas outings with the Spurs’ summer league team.

Canada Basketball Unveils 18 Training Camp Invites

Canada Basketball has announced its preliminary 18-man roster of players who have been invited to participate in training camp and exhibition play ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers next month, reports Josh Lewenberg of The Sports Network.

Among the 18 named individuals, eight played in the NBA last season – Khem Birch (Magic), Chris Boucher (Warriors), Dillon Brooks (Grizzlies), Cory Joseph (Pacers), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Kelly Olynyk (Heat), Dwight Powell (Mavericks), and Tristan Thompson (Cavaliers).

The preliminary roster also includes former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, as well as three other G League players – Aaron BestOlivier Hanlan, and Kaza Kajami-Keane.

The remaining six players are former first-round pick of the Magic, Andrew Nicholsonformer college standouts’ Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim, Baylor’s Brady Heslip, and Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos, as well as brothers Phil Scrubb and Tommy Scrubb.

As also highlighted by Lewenberg, notable absences include Trey Lyles (Nuggets), Nik Stauskas (Nets), and most glaringly, Andrew Wiggins (Timberwolves). Per Lewenberg, multiple sources indicated that one factor in Wiggins’ decision to decline Canada Basketball’s invitation is his strained relationship with national team head coach Jay Triano, who left Wiggins on the bench during the final moments of a qualifying game for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Southwest Notes: Parsons, Matthews, Nelson, Rockets, Spurs

Chandler Parsons stint with the Grizzlies has not gone according to plan. The former Rockets and Mavericks standout has been hampered by knee injuries, including three knee surgeries the last three years. Now, after playing just 15 minutes in Memphis’ first few regular season games this year, Parsons is frustrated with his limited playing time, Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal writes. 

“It sucks right now playing 15 minutes a night to be honest with you,” Parsons said. “But they have a plan in place that, hopefully, I’ll be playing big minutes when it matters.”

Parsons appeared in just 34 games last season, averaging 6.2 PPG and 2.5 RPG in a career-low 19.9 minutes per game. After signing a four-year, $94MM deal with the Grizzlies in July 2016, Parsons has not come close to his past performance. If he continues to show he’s over his prior knee injuries, the Grizzlies will look salvage the remainder of their pact with the 28-year-old.

Check out more news coming out of the Southwest Division:

  • Wesley Matthews‘ early season struggles may seem to be the perfect chance to bench him but if the Mavericks ever intend on trading him, they must do it while his value is high, Eddie Sefko of Dallas Sports Day writes.
  • Veteran Jameer Nelson endured a 10-hour journey from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to join his Pelicans teammates for a Sunday evening contest against the Lakers. As William Guillory of NOLA.com writes, Nelson, 35, posted five points and five assists in 24 minutes — including a clutch three-pointer — to help New Orleans avoid a loss in a game they once led by 22 points.
  • New Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said that James Harden is “truly the best player in the NBA” as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes.
  • Olivier Hanlan, a former second-round pick by the Jazz from 2015, has joined the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, according to Chris Reichert of 2Ways10Days (Twitter link). San Antonio currently holds Hanlan’s NBA rights, having acquired him in last year’s Boris Diaw swap.

Jazz Acquire Boris Diaw From Spurs

FRIDAY, 12:38pm: Diaw is officially a member of the Jazz, according to the team, which issued a press release to announce its trade with the Spurs. Utah acquires Diaw, a 2022 second-round pick, and cash considerations for the rights to Hanlan.

TUESDAY, 3:49pm: The Spurs and the Jazz have reached an agreement on a trade that will send Boris Diaw to Utah, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). San Antonio had been working to trade Diaw in a deal that cleared cap room for Pau Gasol, so the Jazz won’t be sending out any salary in the swap. Instead, as Wojnarowski tweets, the Spurs will get the rights to 2015 second-round pick Olivier Hanlan, who spent last season playing overseas.Boris Diaw vertical

Diaw, 34, had spent the last four-plus seasons in San Antonio, serving as a rotational player for the perennially-contending Spurs. He played just 18.2 minutes per game in 2015/16, matching a career low, but was solid when he was on the floor, averaging 6.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.3 APG, and posting a .527 FG%.

In Utah, Diaw will be joining an increasingly intriguing roster that will include offseason additions George Hill and Joe Johnson. Utah already has a solid young foundation in place, with Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, and Rodney Hood among the club’s players under contract. The Jazz have supplemented those core pieces this offseason with some solid veteran acquisitions, and should easily be in playoff contention next season.

[RELATED: Utah Jazz depth chart at RosterResource.com]

The Jazz should have the cap room necessary to absorb Diaw’s $7MM salary without making any other notable moves, while for the Spurs, clearing that figure from their cap will allow the team to finalize its agreement with Gasol. San Antonio could have waived Diaw last week and saved $4MM in cap room, since his $7MM salary was only guaranteed for $3MM at that point. However, the Spurs opted to keep him, and were able to clear his entire salary while adding Hanlan to their lengthy list of draft-and-stash players.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Olivier Hanlan Signs Overseas Pact

Olivier Hanlan, the No. 42 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft by the Jazz, has signed a deal with the Lithuanian club Zalgiris Kaunas, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The pact is for two years and includes an option for the second season, though it is unclear if that is a team or player option.

If the Jazz are to retain Hanlan’s NBA rights, the team will need to extend him at least a one-year, non-guaranteed contract offer. Hanlan is not required to sign the agreement for Utah to hold onto the point guard’s rights, and he would become a draft-and-stash player as a result.

The 22-year-old appeared in 32 contests for Boston College last season and averaged 19.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. His slash line was .454/.353/.759.

Northwest Notes: Lawson, Hanlan, Raduljica

The Nuggets are “firmly behind” point guard Ty Lawson despite his ongoing struggles with alcohol and problems with the law, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Denver GM Tim Connelly issued a statement of support after Lawson was sentenced Friday to alcohol rehab by a Denver judge on a DUI charge. “When one of our guys goes through some issues we support him as a family, and we’re going to stand behind him,” Connelly said. “I don’t want to comment too much on what’s going on in his personal life, but when any of our guys has an issue we all have an issue. And we want to stand firmly behind him.” It was reported earlier this week that the Rockets, Pistons and Lakers have expressed interest in acquiring Lawson.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • Utah’s Olivier Hanlan faces a big decision now that summer league is over, according to Jody Genessy of The Deseret News. Hanlan will probably receive a one-year, non-guaranteed contract offer later this summer, which the Jazz must tender to retain his NBA rights. Hanlan can either sign the offer and compete for a roster spot in training camp or he can leave it unsigned — becoming a “stash” player whose rights are retained by the Jazz — and seek a job with a foreign team or in the D-League. Utah already has four point guards under contract, so heading overseas may be Hanlan’s best option. “My agent knows all of this,” he said of Michael Tellem. “He’s been going back and forth with the Jazz. I’ll sit down with him. I’ll know a bit [more] in the next few days.”
  • Miroslav Raduljica, who played briefly with the Wolves last season, tweeted that he will play for Panathinaikos in the Greek League for the next two seasons. The Serbian signed two 10-day contracts with Minnesota in January and appeared in five games, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds.
  • Blazers coach Terry Stotts liked what he saw out of his collection of young players during summer league, according to Mike Richman of The Oregonian. Portland’s summer league standouts were Noah Vonleh, who was acquired in a June 24 trade with Charlotte, and Allen Crabbe, who played 51 games for the Blazers last season.

And-Ones: Thunder, Grizzlies, Antic

The Thunder have been shopping Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb and Steve Novak, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. Oklahoma City, which has $78.26MM in guaranteed salary commitments for next season, is seeking financial relief but it is also seeking a draft pick, Mannix adds. The Thunder already have picks at No. 14 and No. 48.
In other news around the league:
  • The Knicks, Kings and Hornets are the teams most likely to trade out of the Top 10 in the draft, Mannix reports in a separate tweet.
  • Guards Andre Hollins and Deville Smith and forwards Nino Johnson and Aaron White worked out for the Grizzlies on Monday, completing the team’s predraft workouts, according to Grizzlies.com.
  • R.J. Hunter, Anthony Brown, Olivier Hanlan, Christian Wood, Sir’Dominic Porter and Mouhammadou Jaiteh will work out for the Wizards on Tuesday, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. (Twitter link).
  • Fenerbahce of the Turkish League is interested in signing Hawks free agent center Pero Antic, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.