Team USA Notes: Reaves, Haliburton, Anthony, Curry
Team USA will leave the World Cup without a gold medal, but it may have developed a few players who will be useful in future international competitions, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. This version of the American squad was built around young talent than established stars, and many of them could return for future World Cup or Olympic tournaments.
Vardon points to Lakers guard Austin Reaves as one of those players. The 25-year-old is third in scoring for the U.S. at 12.4 PPG and second in steals at 1.3 per game. He has also regularly been on the court late in close games.
“I think I’ve been able to learn a lot from a lot of really good players, a lot of really good coaches, and basically just see that I belong,” Reaves said.
International play has often been the springboard for players to assert themselves as future stars, such as Kevin Durant in the 2010 World Championship, Vardon notes. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards appears ready to move into that role, and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton may be as well.
“I think being the point guard with other great scorers, other great players and understand that they want to be on the court at the same time as me, they want me to be in there to get them involved,” Haliburton said.
There’s more on Team USA:
- Friday’s loss to Germany was among the topics addressed by global ambassadors Pau Gasol, Luis Scola and Carmelo Anthony during an appearance on a talk show, relays Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. Anthony, one of the most accomplished international players in American history, considers the result an “upset,” but not a huge surprise. “You have to take your hat off to Germany, and for Serbia as well,” Anthony said. “That’s good for the sport, everybody has to think differently when approaching these competitions. The game has grown globally. Everybody has an opportunity to go there and win a gold medal.”
- Lack of size was an issue for the U.S. not only against Germany but throughout the World Cup, observes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. He notes that in three games against larger European teams, the Americans gave up 53 offensive rebounds and 64 second-chance points.
- Stephen Curry is Team USA’s “must-have guy” for the Paris Olympics, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Instead of turning to LeBron James and Durant again, Rankin would like to see the 2024 roster built around Curry with Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, Bam Adebayo and Jarrett Allen all in prominent roles.
World Cup Notes: SGA, Brooks, Doncic, F. Wagner
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has separated himself from the field in the race for World Cup MVP, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. The Thunder guard had 31 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday against Slovenia and has been outstanding while leading Canada to its first semifinals appearance in tournament history.
Among those impressed by SGA’s exploits is Canadian star Steve Nash, who served as general manager of the national team and had him on the roster for an Olympic qualifying tournament in 2016. Although Gilgeous-Alexander was just a teenager at the time and barely played, Nash could tell he had the potential to become something special.
“I mean, he’s got it, right?” Nash said. “He has the game, the feel, the understanding of his responsibility in the moment. It’s just a beautiful thing when you have a player like that in your arsenal.”
There’s more on the World Cup:
- Canadian coach Jordi Fernandez credited Dillon Brooks for his strong defensive effort against Luka Doncic in the win over Slovenia, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The Slovenians were upset by some of Brooks’ tactics before both players were ejected in the fourth quarter, but Fernandez doesn’t mind if Brooks takes the same approach in the semifinals against Serbia. “If they complain, they complain,” he said. “We have to play our game and we have to keep our composure, so we can control what we can control. I think yesterday we did a great job as a team defensively and especially Dillon put on a defensive clinic and it should be in a FIBA museum at some point.”
- Doncic was upset at not getting more foul calls and made a money-sign gesture toward FIBA officials during the game, but he and Slovenia remain on good terms with the organization, Barkas adds in a separate story. Doncic downplayed the incident in a post-game press conference, according to Barkas, and Slovenian Federation president Matej Erjavec sat with FIBA secretary general Andreas Zaglis for Thursday’s contest against Lithuania.
- Franz Wagner is confident that German teammate Dennis Schröder will bounce back in Friday’s semifinal meeting with Team USA after shooting 4-of-26 from the field against Latvia, relays George Efkarpidis of Eurohoops. Wagner also discussed the ankle injury that sidelined him for much of the tournament before he returned for the quarterfinals. “We tried to do as much rehab, icing, all that stuff as much as possible, and I think we did a really good job,” Wagner said. “And then the last week or so, I started working out on the court and was able to do a little bit more. I did a bunch of conditioning stuff, too, just so I can play again.”
And-Ones: Ignite, 2024 Draft, Unsuccessful Pairings, Eddy Curry
The G League Ignite’s impressive collection of talent was on display Wednesday night in Nevada, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. Six players who may be selected in next year’s draft were on the court for the Ignite, and a seventh, Thierry Darlan of France, missed the game against Perth, Australia, with an ankle injury.
The biggest attraction was guard Ron Holland, whom Hollinger considers the “betting favorite” to be the top pick in 2024. Hollinger adds that Holland isn’t a clear-cut No. 1 choice like Victor Wembanyama was this year, but he looked good in his first pro game, using a mix of explosiveness and ferocity to put up 23 points.
“Ron is very, very competitive” Ignite coach Jason Hart said. “So now I’m wanting to channel it to where the opposition doesn’t know if you’re mad or you’re happy. I just told him to relax, calm down … I think he heard me. But that’s going to be a process because he’s so competitive, and I don’t want to take that from him. That’s his thing; he’s just has to learn how to use it.”
Matas Buzelis and Izan Almansa, who are projected to be top-10 picks, also showed off their skills, Hollinger adds, along with Tyler Smith, London Johnson and Perth prospects Alex Sarr and Ben Henshall. The teams will meet again on Friday.
There’s more from around the basketball world:
- Buzelis tops the first mock draft posted by Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. O’Connor sees the 6’9″ point forward as a comfortable fit for any team because he’s capable of running the offense and reliably hitting mid-range jumpers. Buzelis will have to get stronger and improve his defense throughout the season to keep his No. 1 ranking, O’Connor adds. Rounding out O’Connor’s top five are Holland, Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter, UConn’s Stephon Castle and Almansa.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looks at NBA combinations that haven’t worked out, starting with the Timberwolves‘ pairing of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. He also mentions Trae Young and Dejounte Murray in the Hawks‘ backcourt, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with the Clippers, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland with the Cavaliers, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with the Mavericks and Joel Embiid and James Harden with the Sixers.
- Former No. 4 overall pick Eddy Curry talks to Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic about how he was able to find peace by helping others after a tumultuous playing career. At age 40, Curry is working as a consultant in Texas, advising young players as they deal with the challenges of basketball stardom.
Jayson Tatum Wants To Be On Celtics’ “Mount Rushmore”
In an interview with Jeff Goodman of The Messenger, Jayson Tatum talks about his desire to add his name to the long list of Celtics legends.
Tatum is off to a strong start, with nearly 10,000 career points, four All-Star appearances and several long playoff runs by age 25. But he understands that being an all-time great in Boston requires championship banners, and he hopes to win a few of those before he’s done.
“I would love to be on the Mount Rushmore of Celtics,” Tatum says. “(Larry) Bird, (Bill) Russell, Paul Pierce and those guys. They paved the way. The one thing all those guys have is chips. I have to get to the top of the mountain to even be considered as one of those guys. I want to be an all-time great, I want to be known as a winner, and I believe I will be.”
A year ago, the Celtics appeared to be in a strong position to win their 18th title as they prepared to report to training camp. They were coming off a tough Finals loss to the Warriors and had added Danilo Gallinari to an already impressive roster.
Things began to unravel when head coach Ime Udoka was suspended on September 22. Gallinari suffered an ACL tear that wound up sidelining him for the entire season, and an injury kept Robert Williams out for the early part of the year.
“It was a lot, a lot to process and deal with,” Tatum said. “And I give us credit, we came together. I think it brought us together as a team. We had the second-best record. We could have had every excuse to start off slow and make excuses.”
Tatum touches on several other topics in the lengthy interview:
On head coach Joe Mazzulla, who was frequently the target of criticism, especially as Boston fell behind 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals:
“I think it was unfair. I don’t know what more Joe could have done. He wasn’t out there turning the ball over and missing free throws. That was us.”
On the loss of Marcus Smart, who was sent to Memphis in the Kristaps Porzingis trade and had been the team leader since Tatum arrived in 2017:
“I am for sure going to miss Smart. He was my teammate for six years and we’ve been through it all. We had good moments together, we had bad moments together. He’s somebody that I wish was going be my teammate forever.”
On the record-setting five-year, super-max extension that Jaylen Brown received this summer:
“I was excited for Jaylen, and I wasn’t surprised. That was a no-brainer for me because he deserves it. He had a hell of a year, the best year of his career, and he was rewarded for that. It was the right time. People make a big deal of $300 million. The NBA makes a lot of money. Contracts will be $350 and then $370 million. That’s the way it’s going. I was happy for him. I knew it was going to happen, it was a no-brainer, but I still reached out to him and told him he should be proud of himself and his family. Don’t take it for granted. This is generational.”
On his own NBA future and whether he wants to spend his entire career with one team:
“Just recently I started to feel the connection with Boston. I have spent my adult life here, my son has grown up here, I’ve grown up here. I’ve accomplished so many things. … You never know what can happen, but I love playing for the Celtics. I figured out my space in the city and have grown to really enjoy it. I love the fans. It would be really hard to leave this place.”
Clippers Notes: Lue, Leonard, George, Westbrook, Plumlee, Coffey
After battling injuries for much of last season, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George should be fully healthy for the beginning of training camp, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said in an appearance on Chris Haynes and Marc Stein’s #thisleague UNCUT podcast.
“They’re both on track to be 100% by the time training camp starts, and that’s what we need,” Lue said. “You know, our best players will be healthy, and we’ve just been in an unfortunate situation where our two best players (haven’t had) a full season together the last three years and that’s been tough on us.”
The Clippers thought they were ready to compete for a title when they signed Leonard and traded for George during the 2019 offseason, but bad luck with injuries has prevented them from making a serious run. Returning from an ACL injury, Leonard was limited to 52 games last season, then tore his meniscus during a first-round playoff series. George appeared in 56 games and missed the playoffs entirely due to a sprained right knee.
Lue also indicated that he doesn’t plan to do as much load management with his two stars this season.
“We have to, like I say, start respecting the regular season and giving our fans what they want to see and playing hard every single night, putting our best product on the floor,” he said. “And you know, our guys are ready to do that this year.”
There’s more on the Clippers:
- On the same podcast, Lue said he’s looking forward to coaching Russell Westbrook for an entire season after the veteran guard re-signed this summer. Lue revealed that Westbrook and Mason Plumlee both had other options, but they wanted to say in L.A. “That just says a lot about the Clippers organization and what we’re trying to build there,” Lue added. “They both could have went other places for more money, but they like what we’re doing with the Clippers.”
- Appearing recently on Stephen A. Smith’s podcast, George ranked the Clippers second in the West behind the defending champion Nuggets. “I’m gonna give Denver their credit,” George said. “They’re the champions until beaten. If healthy, we got one of the biggest chances to win it, if healthy.”
- Amir Coffey has been charged with one count of carrying a loaded firearm and one count of carrying a concealed firearm, according to TMZ Sports. Coffey was arrested in late July following a traffic stop in Hollywood. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month.
World Cup Notes: Brooks, Motiejunas, F. Wagner, Naturalized Players
After a difficult season with the Grizzlies, Dillon Brooks feels rejuvenated by his World Cup experience, writes Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Brooks has moved past the acrimonious ending of his time in Memphis and is enjoying a summer that has included an $86MM contract with the Rockets and a chance to lead Canada to new heights in international competition.
Brooks had 22 points and five rebounds while playing his usual disruptive defense in Sunday’s win over Spain, moving Canada into the quarterfinal round and wrapping up a spot in the Olympics. The Canadians trailed by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, but Brooks hit three three-pointers during a rally in the must-win game.
“Coming off a tough year with my old squad, it was great having a refresh with Canadian blood,” Brooks said. “Guys who believe in me. Guys who trust in me.”
Reaching the Olympics is a life-long dream for Canadian teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose mother, Charmaine Gilgeous, competed for Antigua and Barbuda in the 400 meters during the 1992 games, Stroggylakis adds.
“In my whole life I knew what’s like going to the Olympics because of that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And I know the best athletes are there.”
There’s more from the World Cup:
- Former NBA big man Donatas Motiejunas tells Aris Barkis of Eurohoops that beating Team USA on Sunday compares to Lithuania’s last victory over the Americans in the 2004 Olympics. “I was a kid at that time, I was 14 years old so I remember watching the game and it was something spectacular,” he said. “Like I said from the first day we are here to bring joy to our people, to our basketball and I know how crazy it’s right now in Lithuania. And I really loved that we, as a team, can bring this joy to our people.”
- Germany reached the quarterfinals without Magic forward Franz Wagner, who suffered a sprained ankle in the opening game, and it appears his status for Wednesday’s contest against Latvia won’t be decided until shortly before game time, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. Wagner is considered day to day, but he hasn’t been active since the injury. “He had no team practice yet. We’re gonna have to see what his situation is tomorrow, and the medical staff will make a decision on Wednesday,” Germany head coach Gordon Herbert told reporters. “We go day by day; we have to see how his ankle feels in the morning, see if he’s able tomorrow or not, and we go from there. It’s a process. He wants to play, but he’s pretty frustrated and disappointed he can’t play.”
- Along with Mavericks star Luka Doncic, one of Slovenia’s most important players has been center Mike Tobey, who obtained a passport in advance of the 2020 Olympic qualifying tournament, Milanti adds in another piece. Tobey believes naturalized players will have an increased impact in international basketball. “I understand both sides of the rule,” he said. “For me, I think it helps make teams competitive. I’m sure in the future the national teams will do it more because sometimes teams are really just a piece away. Slovenia shows it’s just adding one person in the position they don’t have as many big guys in this generation. I think it can make a big difference, and help small countries compete.”
Heat Notes: Herro, Adebayo, Butler, Haslem
If the Heat can’t trade for Damian Lillard before the season begins, Tyler Herro may be the best option as the starting point guard, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Herro has been a shooting guard throughout his career, but he could be the most effective choice to replace Gabe Vincent, who signed with the Lakers this summer.
Giving point guard duties to Herro would allow Miami to keep Kyle Lowry in a reserve role, where he thrived at the end of last season and in the playoffs. At age 37, Lowry may be best suited for limited minutes rather than being counted on to handle the starting job again.
Winderman points out that Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo can help facilitate the offense, so Herro wouldn’t need to become a traditional point guard. He adds that if the experiment doesn’t work, the Heat could look for another option during the season, such as free agent Goran Dragic.
There’s more from Miami:
- Team USA could use another big man like Adebayo during the World Cup, but he’s probably better off with a summer of rest, Winderman states in another piece. Training camps will open three weeks after the end of the tournament, which is why a lot of veteran players decided not to participate. Winderman wonders whether Adebayo will be more eager to return to international competition in the 2024 Olympics.
- Butler’s tendency to sit out regular season games may prevent him from being considered for postseason awards, Winderman adds. Players are now required to participate in at least 65 games to be eligible, and Butler hasn’t reached that number since the 2018/19 season.
- Butler refused to answer a question about Team USA’s loss in the World Cup when approached by a journalist Sunday at the U.S. Open, according to a BasketNews story. Butler thought he was being asked for a photo when Sasa Ozmo of SportKlub Srbija introduced himself, and he quickly ended the conversation when he heard the question. “I don’t care about the World Cup,” Butler responded.
- The Miami Marlins will honor longtime Heat forward Udonis Haslem at their September 7 game, the team announced on Twitter. Haslem will get a one-day contract with the MLB club, which will hold “UD Night” at the ballpark.
Team USA Notes: First Loss, Banchero, Brunson, Bridges
Former Team USA coach Gregg Popovich used to talk about “appropriate fear,” which is what current coach Steve Kerr said his team should be feeling after losing to Lithuania on Sunday, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. After going unbeaten through exhibition play and the first four games of the tournament, the Americans now understand they’re not invincible as they enter the quarterfinals.
“It makes it real,” Austin Reaves said. “Obviously, now, it’s (win) or go home. We see the reactions. We obviously know that everybody wants to beat us in particular. We see the joy that they get from that. That taste in your mouth, it don’t feel good.”
Although the U.S. remains favored to win the tournament, it will have to play significantly better for that to happen. Sunday’s loss came after a close call Friday against Montenegro in which Team USA had to stage a late rally to pull out a victory.
Reynolds notes that Kerr has been through this experience twice before as a member of Popovich’s staff. The U.S. dropped its first game against France in the last Olympics, but didn’t lose again on the way to a gold medal. In the 2019 World Cup, the team lost in the quarterfinals and wound up finishing seventh.
“Every player that plays for USA Basketball, they have to recognize what they’re up against and it’s not enough for us to just tell them. They’ve got to feel it,” Kerr said. “I think they’ve felt it in the last couple games.”
There’s more on Team USA:
- Tuesday’s matchup with Italy will be especially significant for Paolo Banchero, Reynolds adds. With an Italian father and an American mother, Banchero had a choice of representing either nation, but he chose the U.S. because that’s who his mom once played for. “I’ll treat it like any other game,” he said.
- Jalen Brunson is accepting blame for the troubling pattern of slow starts, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Lithuania dominated the early part of Sunday’s contest, building a 31-12 lead after one quarter. “They executed their game plan and we just started too slow. We played way better in the second half and we waited too long to come to play,” Brunson said. “That’s on me, I have to come ready to play, I have to have everyone else ready to play. Respect to them, they played great.”
- Mikal Bridges vows that the U.S. squad will be more focused for the rest of the tournament, Barkas adds in a separate story. “We just have to be ready for the next one, add more fuel to the fire,” he said. “We are not getting sent home. We just have to keep playing with our talent, we have to keep our guys out there.”
Northwest Notes: Lillard, Gobert, Alexander-Walker, Clarkson
The market for Damian Lillard would have been limited even without his insistence on playing for the Heat, Sean Deveney writes in a Forbes article. Two months have passed since Lillard asked the Trail Blazers for a trade, and an unidentified executive tells Deveney that not many teams would have pursued Lillard regardless of his preference.
“I don’t think anyone likes the idea of Dame coming in and forcing the Blazers’ hand like this, forcing them to take a deal from a team that does not have the assets,” the executive said. “That’s a bad precedent, and it is one we are seeing too much of. But if Dame had not said, ‘Miami or nothing,’ where else was Portland really going to go for a deal? Maybe Brooklyn? But where else? There’s not that many teams that are going to give you a bunch of players and picks for a 33-year-old who can’t stay healthy and has a giant contract sitting there.”
Lillard will make about $215MM over the next four years, including a two-year extension he signed last summer that will pay him $58.5MM when he’s 35 and $63MM when he’s 36. There are also injury concerns after Lillard was shut down early the past two seasons.
The Heat are one of the few teams willing to absorb that deal, Deveney adds, and Lillard is a good fit with their other personnel, so Miami would have been a natural destination even if Lillard hadn’t mentioned the city.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- After a disappointing World Cup run with France, Rudy Gobert is looking forward to starting his second season with the Timberwolves, per Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops. Gobert said there were a lot of adjustments to deal with last season, but he saw positive developments, even though it ended with a first-round playoff ouster. “We didn’t go as far as we wanted to go but we were resilient,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries and a lot of things that didn’t go our way. But we kept fighting. I liked the mindset that we had. Especially in the playoffs.”
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker is looking forward to having stability when he reports to Timberwolves camp, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Alexander-Walker has been traded three times in his four-year career, but he signed a two-year, $9MM contract with Minnesota this summer.
- After scoring 34 points as the Philippines closed out World Cup play with a win over China, Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson told fans in Manila that he plans to continue playing for the national team, BasketNews relays. “I do not think this was my last performance with this jersey,” Clarkson said. “I have more time, and I still can hoop.”
Team USA Notes: Lithuania Matchup, Edwards, Kessler, Bridges
Team USA got its toughest World Cup test so far in Friday’s win over Montenegro, and another challenge awaits on Sunday against Lithuania, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The Americans will be the de facto top seed if they can reach the quarterfinal round with a perfect record, but Lithuania is also in contention for that honor after going 3-0 in pool play and crushing Greece on Friday.
The U.S. hasn’t fared well against larger teams, which will be an issue when it faces Jonas Valanciunas and the Lithuanians. Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Montenegro on Friday while getting Jaren Jackson Jr. in early foul trouble. Lithuania is the top rebounding team in the tournament and has six players who are at least 6’9″.
Vardon suggests that head coach Steve Kerr might consider a lineup change, starting either Paolo Banchero or Bobby Portis alongside Jackson to get more size on the court. But that would take away the advantage in transition offense that allows the Americans to get so many fast break points.
“We understand teams are gonna try to be physical and slow the game down, and (Montenegro) did a good job of that,” Kerr said. “But our whole thing is we feel like over 40 minutes, we can wear the other team down if we stay solid.”
There’s more on Team USA:
- Anthony Edwards led the rally against Montenegro with 17 points in the second half, notes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Timberwolves guard has emerged as the team’s primary scoring option, but he’s not making a big deal out of the role. “It’s a team sport,” Edwards said. “If I wanted to punch my chest and do that, I’d go play golf or tennis or swimming like Michael Phelps. I’d go do something that’s an individual sport. But it takes five guys to win a basketball game.”
- Walker Kessler thought he might be getting bad news when Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said he had a phone call for him, per Ryan Kostecka of NBA.com. Instead, it was head coach Will Hardy on the other end of the line informing Kessler that he had been selected to the World Cup team. “I was kind of freaking out, thinking I might get traded, but then he said it was coach,” Kessler said. “He then told me congrats on making the USA team. … I was definitely kind of speechless, but here I am.”
- Mikal Bridges told Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops that the depth of talent on the U.S. roster creates difficult matchups for other teams. “It makes it so tough to beat,” Bridges said. “Even if the starters struggle, we have guys from the bench who are gonna play better than the starters.”