And-Ones: Rondo, Season Questions, EuroBasket
Veteran guard Rajon Rondo has agreed to a settlement with the woman who accused him and his girlfriend of assault and battery in 2020, according to TMZ.
As the report notes, Rondo was allegedly upset at the plaintiff for parking too close to his car. The altercation happened in a parking lot outside of an apartment complex. Rondo’s girlfriend was seen punching and causing injuries, while Rondo appeared to nudge the woman with his elbow.
The 36-year-old is currently a free agent. He played parts of 39 games with the Lakers and Cavaliers last season, averaging 4.8 points and 4.4 assists in 17.9 minutes per game on 39% shooting from the floor.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- ESPN’s NBA insiders pose five questions they’re eager to see answered this season. Among the questions is what will happen in Brooklyn, as the team welcomed back Kevin Durant last month after failing to find a trade for him. Kyrie Irving is also expected to return full-time after last season’s vaccine mandate, while Ben Simmons will suit up for the first time in over a year.
- The 2022 EuroBasket All-Tournament Team is Dennis Schröder (Germany), Lorenzo Brown (Spain), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Willy Hernangomez (Spain) and Rudy Gobert (France), according to veteran writer Marc Stein (Twitter link). As we relayed, Spain won EuroBasket 2022 by defeating France 88-76 on Sunday.
Spain Wins EuroBasket 2022
After defeating France 88-76 in the championship game, Spain has officially won EuroBasket 2022, as announced on social media (Twitter link). This is the fourth time Spain has won the tournament.
Spain was led by Raptors forward Juancho Hernangomez, who finished with 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting. His seven three-pointers were the second-highest mark in a EuroBasket final, trailing only Aleksander Djordjevic in 1995, according to EuroHoops. He also won the game’s MVP award.
“Spain played better from start to finish, they had a clear gameplan and we didn’t execute ours well enough, we never really had control of the game,” France guard Evan Fournier said, per EuroHoops.
Hernangomez’s brother, Willy Hernangomez, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Spain, while Lorenzo Brown recorded 14 points and 11 assists. France was led by Fournier’s 23 points and only led once during the contest — when Rudy Gobert made a free throw to make it 1-0.
Eastern Notes: Quickley, Grousbeck, Bucks, Cavaliers
There’s an expectation that Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley will receive an increased role to start the 2022/23 season, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Quickley, 23, is entering his third season and was drafted No. 25 overall by the franchise in 2020. He has shown flashes of potential to start his career, but he has shot below 40% from the field in both of his seasons. Last year, Quickley averaged 11.3 points and 3.5 assists per game, shooting 39.2% from the floor and 34.6% from deep.
Quickley remains a strong athlete and leader with plenty of upside. It’s reasonable to assume he’ll be playing alongside Derrick Rose off the bench, backing up Jalen Brunson and Evan Fournier, though it’s unclear how much playing time he’ll get. His minutes increased from 19.4 to 23.1 per game last season.
Here are some other notes from the East:
- Speaking to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck discussed his expectations for the team and Brad Stevens‘ green light to spend money, among other topics. Grousbeck is determined to win a championship, allowing Stevens to push team salary well into luxury tax territory to upgrade the roster. The Celtics came within two wins of a title last season and have all of last year’s core players under contract this season.
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic examines six Bucks players who have the most to prove this season. Milwaukee won the championship in 2020/21, but the team was unable to overcome Khris Middleton‘s injury in the spring and lost to the Celtics in seven games during last year’s playoffs. The team remains a force, headlined by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and others.
- Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype previews the Cavaliers‘ upcoming season. Cleveland traded for All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell this offseason, adding him to a core of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. The team also projects to have one of the deeper benches in the league.
Knicks Sign Ryan Arcidiacono
The Knicks have signed free agent guard Ryan Arcidiacono to a contract, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link). Terms of the agreement weren’t released, but it’s likely a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deal ahead of training camp.
Arcidiacono, 28, appeared in 10 games with the Knicks last season. He averaged 1.6 points in 7.6 minutes per game, shooting 50% from the floor. The Villanova product signed with New York for the rest of the season in February after inking two 10-day deals.
Before joining the Knicks, Arcidiacono spent the first four years of his career with the Bulls. His most productive season was the 2018/19 campaign. He held per-game averages of 6.7 points, 3.3 assists and 24.2 minutes that year, starting in 32 of 81 contests.
Besides Arcidiacono, the Knicks have 13 players on standard contracts and two players on two-way deals. New York is also carrying DaQuan Jeffries on an Exhibit 10 deal and is expected to two other players (Jean Montero and Garrison Brooks) to Exhibit 10s.
Chris Paul Hopes To Join Ownership Group After Retirement
Suns star Chris Paul is entering the 18th season of his professional career, but the 37-year-old already knows what he wants to do when his playing days are over. Paul is hoping to own an NBA team one day, as Ngozi Nwanji of AfroTech relays (hat tip to Yahoo)
“I would like to be a part of an ownership group after I’m done playing,” Paul said at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit, according to Nwanji.
Paul also stated his intentions earlier this summer. Of course, Paul plays for Phoenix, a team currently owned by Robert Sarver — who was recently fined $10MM and banned for a year after an investigation revealed he showed racial insensitivity and disrespect in the workplace.
Paul would likely want to stay involved in the NBA and improve league-wide leadership. Aside from being a strong on-court leader, Paul also served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association for eight years. He has played for New Orleans, Los Angeles (Clippers), Houston, Oklahoma City and Phoenix over the course of a storied career.
One of Paul’s friends, LeBron James, has already declared he wants to own an NBA team after he retires, while Dwyane Wade, another one of his friends, bought a stake in the Jazz last year. For now, Paul’s focus surely remains on winning a title, as the Suns fell short last season despite finishing 64-18.
Jazz Sign Paris Bass To Exhibit 10 Deal
SEPTEMBER 14: The contract with Bass is official, the Jazz announced in a press release.
AUGUST 7: The Jazz have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent forward Paris Bass, his agent Daniel Hazan tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
Utah’s agreement with Bass is an Exhibit 10 deal, Tony Jones of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Bass will compete for a roster spot in training camp.
Bass most recently played for the Lakers during the Las Vegas and California Classic summer leagues, averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 16.2 minutes per game.
Bass, a 6’8″ forward, went undrafted in 2017 and has spent most of his career playing internationally. He signed two 10-day hardship contracts with the Suns this past season, and averaged 17.3 points and 7.0 rebounds with the Lakers’ G League affiliate on the campaign.
Western Notes: Edwards, White, Thunder, Brown, Moody
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards could face a fine or suspension for making homophobic comments in an Instagram video, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Edwards has since apologized for his remark on social media.
“What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry,” Edwards wrote (Twitter link). “It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there’s no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!”
As Hine notes, Edwards used the word “queer” when describing someone in a derogatory way. The video has since been deleted. Multiple players, including Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic, have faced fines for making homophobic remarks off the court in recent years.
Here are some other notes from the Western Conference:
- The Thunder have hired former player DJ White as a video analyst, the team announced on social media (Twitter link). White is the fifth former Thunder player who is now working in the organization. He played 42 games with the team from 2008-11.
- James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com examines whether head coach Mike Brown can fix the Kings’ defensive woes. Sacramento had the fourth-worst defensive rating last season, finishing with just a 30-52 record. Brown was hired as head coach of the team in May.
- C.J. Holmes of the San Francisco Chronicle explores why Warriors guard Moses Moody will face high expectations this season. Moody, 20, was drafted No. 14 overall by the team in 2021. He appeared in 52 games last season, averaging 4.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 11.7 minutes per contest. He also averaged 31.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in four G League outings.
And-Ones: Italy, Power Rankings, Markkanen, Tjarks
Italy defeated Serbia 94-86 in an upset win on Sunday, eliminating two-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic and his team from the EuroBasket, as relayed by EuroHoops. The Italian team, which will play its quarterfinal contest vs. France on Wednesday, was led by Nicolo Melli and Achille Polonara, both of whom had 21 points.
Jokic finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Serbia was a +11 points when he was on the court, but the team was outscored by 19 points in the 11 minutes he sat, according to Adam Mares of DNVR Sports (Twitter link).
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Marc Stein releases the first edition of his power rankings (Substack link) for the 2022/23 season. The Warriors and Bucks, the two most recent NBA champions, sit at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Celtics, Nuggets, and Clippers round out Stein’s top five.
- New Jazz big man Lauri Markkanen scored a Finnish national team record 43 points in the squad’s win over Croatia, as covered by Sportando. Markkanen also recorded nine rebounds, shooting 19-of-28 from the floor. Utah acquired him as part of a deal that sent away Donovan Mitchell this month.
- Basketball analyst Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer has tragically passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. A GoFundMe has been set up for the Tjarks family that can be found here. We at Hoops Rumors extend our sincerest condolences to Tjarks’ friends and family.
Community Shootaround: Top Remaining Free Agents
As the NBA offseason nears its end, several players who ended last season under contract with a team remain available in free agency. Training camps are set to open across the league later this month, so time is running out for those players ahead of the regular season.
Teams are also still rounding out their training camp rosters by signing players to Exhibit 10, two-way and non-guaranteed deals. As shown by our current list of free agents, Dennis Schröder, Isaiah Thomas, Jeremy Lamb, Lou Williams, Lance Stephenson, Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins and Dwight Howard are among the veterans still available.
Of course, many of those players are likely nearing the end of their careers, including Williams (36 next month), Anthony (38) and Howard (36). Iguodala, 38, still hasn’t decided whether he’ll be playing or retiring. The Warriors likely value his leadership and experience more than his production at this point in his career.
The rest of those players are all 33 years old or younger, but several young players are also available. Schröder has a case to be the best option, averaging 13.5 points in 28.7 minutes per game with Boston and Houston last season. Plenty of the others hold All-Star experience.
We want to know what you think. Among the remaining free agents, who do you think is the most valuable one? Who could help a specific team this season, even if they wind up signing later in the year? Which players on our current list of free agents interest you the most? Take to the comments section below and voice your opinions!
Eastern Notes: Giannis, Dragic, LaVine, Celtics
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo did some weight training and is expected to practice on Sunday with Greece, according to EuroHoops. Antetokounmpo recently suffered a minor ankle sprain, but he seems to be proceeding without any issues.
“We decided to do just an optional training session,” Greek national team assistant coach Sotiris Manolopoulos said. “We left it up to the players to come and make some shots. Giannis did his own training at the hotel and tomorrow will practice without any issues. He is healthy.”
Antetokounmpo sustained the injury on Thursday. With the NBA season around the corner, this is good news for Bucks fans, as they’re hoping to see Milwaukee start the season without any interruptions and win a second championship in three years.
There’s more out of the Eastern Conference today:
- Bulls guard Goran Dragic recently came to the defense of Antetokoummpo in light of Gilbert Arenas‘ negative comments, EuroHoops relays. “Giannis is the MVP. Gilbert Arenas is not,” Dragic said as part of a larger quote. “Was he ever the MVP? I don’t think so. So he can’t talk about Giannis. Giannis won the championship, won the MVP award. He has been the defensive player of the year.” Arenas previously stated that Antetokounmpo “doesn’t understand basketball yet” and downplayed the Bucks star’s 2021 championship.
- Zach LaVine‘s lucrative new contract will created added pressure on the Bulls star this season, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. LaVine signed a five-year, $215MM deal with the team in July, cementing his future in Chicago. He averaged 24.4 points per game last season, shooting 48% from the floor and 39% from three-point range. The Bulls will be looking to contend once again this season.
- Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com examines a number of Celtics topics in his latest mailbag. Among the subjects Bulpett discusses is whether Payton Pritchard should play more. With Boston adding Malcolm Brogdon this offseason, Pritchard’s role is arguably more unclear, but he remains an effective option off the bench.