Former NBA guard Frank Ntilikina has agreed to a contract extension with Partizan Belgrade, keeping him with the Serbian team until 2027. However, he accepted a significant pay cut to make that happen, according to Sportando. Monaco expressed interest in Ntilikina but he chose to stay put. “I’m more ready than ever, you will see the best version of me,” he said. Ntilikina averaged just seven points and two assists in the EuroLeague and 6.7 points per game in the ABA League during an injury-marred season.
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- Carmelo Anthony will be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame this weekend. His college coach at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, believes Anthony didn’t get enough credit for playing on mostly winning teams, he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda.com. “The thing I think about the NBA is that he made every team that he was on better than they were. Whether it was Denver or the Knicks, he made them better,” Boeheim said. “They had to go up against the Lakers and the Spurs in Denver. They couldn’t do it, but he made the team better. That’s all you can do sometimes as players. You can’t make a team a championship team by yourself. You have to have a lot of parts to it. His time in Denver, there were some great teams with the Lakers and the Spurs. He made them better, and that’s all you can do as a player.”
- Longtime NBA big man JaVale McGee signed with the Illawara Hawks of Australia’s National Basketball League a month ago. His new coach, Justin Tatum, has big plans for McGee. “Just a dominant presence,” Tatum told ESPN’s Olgun Uluc. “There’s no illegal defense here, so he’s gonna clog the lane, he’s gonna sit up there and make difficult shots for everybody else. Then, on the offensive end, we can just put the ball up anywhere as we break defenses down, and hopefully he can just catch a lob or be on the back-side. I’m really excited for how he’s gonna be the communicator on the defensive end.”
- Gary Payton II, who is still on the free agent market, is launching a professional skateboard league, according to ESPN’s Alyssa Roenigk. The Skate Board Association, a coed, six-team street skateboard league, plans to hold its inaugural 10-game season next summer in Big Bear Lake, California. Payton appeared in 62 games with Golden State last season.
I understand what Boeheim is saying, but he did not make the knicks better. He could have waited until free agency and signed a 4 year max deal with the knicks, but instead he forced a trade to get the 5 year max and depleted their depth eliminating their chances to be a championship contender, He also never extended himself on the defensive side of the ball, teams used to pick him apart leaking his defender down court.
1st ballot Hofer no doubt though
It’s not bad for people to negotiate for themselves.
I agree he was very subpar on defense.
So taking the Nuggets from 17-65 to 43-39 and the Knicks from 29-53 to 42-40 isn’t making them better? Is that what you’re saying?
Melo didn’t take the Knicks from 29-53 to 42-40.
He took them from 28-26 (their pre trade Record) to 42-40.
They went 14-14 after the trade. Then 0-4 in the playoffs. Combined that’s a 14-18 Record . So the trade did make the Knicks worse in Year 1.
Wasn’t that long ago people were talking about how valuable Payton was lol.
And how valuable did they say Payton was? The Trailblazers were the ones doing most of the talking.
Winning regular season games mean nothing. He literally got out of the 1st round twice in 20 seasons.
It would have been 0-20 if he met the Lakers or the Heat in the first round those two seasons.
Did not know that GP2 was into skateboarding. That’s kind of cool.
Carmelo had a lot of years in the league to learn how to pass. Instead, all he had was an iso game, which was never going to beat the best. People called on him for years to alter his game – instead, he just wanted to put up shots and collect checks. He wasn’t unlucky – he was selfish.
Has Tatum ever seen McGee play ? That’s so weird. Maybe there is another McGee that I haven’t seen before.
Frank has been cooked for a long time. Not sure why anyone cares about his pay cut like he does anything for any team.
This website tracks transactions of NBA players past and present. So, why wouldn’t they post about what Frank.