A pair of point guards who were waived by NBA teams within the past week are drawing interest from clubs in Europe, according to league insider Marc Stein (Twitter links), who reports that both Spencer Dinwiddie and Jared Butler have suitors overseas.
While Stein doesn’t specifically identify any of the teams in the mix for Dinwiddie, he says Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes is not among that group. As for Butler, Stein suggests the Serbian team Crvena Zvezda has emerged as the frontrunner, echoing reporting from Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops. KK Partizan and Olympiacos are also among the teams linked to Butler, who is considered likely to end up with Crvena Zvezda.
Dinwiddie and Butler are among the most notable players who were part of the final wave of preseason cuts around the NBA. Dinwiddie was waived by the Hornets last Thursday despite having signed a guaranteed one-year contract with the team earlier in the offseason. Butler was released by the Suns a day later despite a strong preseason that included a 35-point, nine-assist performance last Tuesday.
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Former Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar and Olimpia Milano have parted ways, the team confirmed in a statement (story via BasketNews.com). Cancar signed with the Italian club as a free agent this summer, but has dealt with a knee issue in recent weeks, which may have played a part in his release.
- Another former NBA forward is leaving his team in Europe, as Spanish club Baskonia and former first-round pick Luka Samanic are going their separate ways, writes Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops. The expectation is that Samanic, the 19th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, will return to Cibona, his home team in Zagreb, Croatia. He had a brief stint with Cibona last season as well.
- While they’re losing Samanic, Baskonia has officially signed guard Kobi Simmons to a two-month contract, the EuroLeague team announced in a press release. Simmons, who made 42 NBA appearances for four teams between 2017-24, will add depth to an injury-plagued Baskonia backcourt.
- Former Sixers and Grizzlies shooting guard Dakota Mathias is headed to Australia, having agreed to a deal with the Brisbane Bullets, reports Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter link). Mathias signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Indiana in 2024 but hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since 2022.
- Free agent guard David Duke Jr., who has appeared in NBA games in each of the past four seasons with Brooklyn and San Antonio, is drawing interest from teams in Australia’s National Basketball League, according to Uluc (Twitter link). Duke was waived last week by the Suns and seems likely to open the season with Phoenix’s G League affiliate unless he finds a situation overseas that he likes more.
Butler and Spencer deserve to be in the NBA though
Still learning everyday, so what’s it mean to “deserve to be in the nba”?
Cleaned their room… took out the trash…?