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Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray Headline Canada’s Preliminary Olympic Roster

June 19th, 2024 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Canada Basketball has formally announced its preliminary roster for the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris. The 20-man group will have to be trimmed to 12 players for Paris.

Here are the 20 players vying for spots on Team Canada’s Olympic roster, which will be coached by new Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez:

All 12 players who helped Canada clinch an Olympic berth and claim a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup are included in the preliminary roster, along with several notable newcomers, including Murray, Wiggins, Lyles, and Nembhard.

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, whose seasons ended earlier due to injuries, will also attend training camp with Team Canada, but won’t be in the mix for roster spots this summer, according to today’s announcement.

Even without Sharpe or Mathurin in the mix, the Canadians can put together a formidable NBA-heavy squad that should be in contention for a medal in Paris. Gilgeous-Alexander, Barrett, Brooks, Dort, Powell, Olynyk, and Alexander-Walker were the top seven players on last year’s squad and look like relatively safe bets to represent Canada again. If Murray, Wiggins, Lyles, and Nembhard were to join them, that would leave just one open spot for the remaining nine invitees.

One notable omission from the 20-man preliminary roster is veteran guard Cory Joseph, who spoke to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca earlier this week to express his disappointment about being left off the list. Joseph was unable to compete for a spot on the World Cup team last year due to a back injury, but was among the 14 players who made a commitment in 2022 to be part of Canada’s “summer core” for the current Olympic cycle.

“I took the honor of playing for your country very seriously and did it many times over the years,” Joseph told Grange. “This is not me complaining, I’m not a complainer. But there were times when I put FIBA basketball and playing for my country over my NBA situation at the time, whether I was in a contract year and I had no contract at the time and I went to go play for my country, whether I had little bumps and tweaks, I was there. Whether guys came or not, I always thought we still had a chance. For me it’s a little disheartening to be like, ‘Wow, I wasn’t even given an opportunity to compete for whatever position?’

“… I had planned to go to camp, and when you’re talking about the (last three or four spots) on the roster, there’s a pool of talented guys you could put on the roster, (but) I don’t see, in that situation, where I wouldn’t at least be invited to camp to be one of those guys (to compete for a spot), so that’s where my disappointment is with the organization. … I don’t want to take away from the fact that Canada Basketball is in a great place. This is not that. I love all those guys. I want them to do well. Quote that. I just think I should have been invited to camp at the very least, 100 per cent.”

Team Canada will hold its training camp in Toronto from June 28 to July 7 before heading to Las Vegas for an exhibition game vs. Team USA on July 10. The Canadians will also play exhibition matches with France on July 19 and the winner of the Puerto Rico Olympic qualifying tournament on July 21.

Canada will be in Group A at the Olympics, along with Australia. The group will be filled out by the winners of the qualifying tournaments in Spain and Greece.

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Western Draft Rumors: Rockets, Sheppard, Spurs, Castle, Nuggets, More

June 19th, 2024 at 1:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Both Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report and Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com (Insider link) have Reed Sheppard going to the Rockets at No. 3 in their most recent mock drafts. According to ESPN’s duo, Houston has shown “serious interest” in the former Kentucky guard, with both the front office and team ownership intrigued by his potential fit as a shooter and play-maker in the team’s rotation.

While that pick continues to be viewed as one that could get traded, the minimal perceived difference between No. 3 and picks latter in the lottery will make it difficult for the Rockets to get good value for it, Wasserman writes. But if a team does move up to No. 3 to nab a different player – perhaps Donovan Clingan – Sheppard shouldn’t fall much further than that, says Woo. The Spurs, who hold the No. 4 pick, are also believed to have interest in the former Wildcat, as are the Hornets at No. 6.

Here are some more draft notes and rumors from around the Western Conference:

  • According to Givony, Zaccharie Risacher and Sheppard looked like the Spurs‘ top two targets, but if they’re both picked in the top three, San Antonio may target a pair of guards at No. 4 and No. 8. Both ESPN and Bleacher Report have UConn’s Stephon Castle going to the Spurs fourth overall.
  • Sources tell Wasserman that the Spurs are also high on Providence guard Devin Carter, who has recently worked out for the Kings and Bulls. According to Woo, Carter has been one of the “hottest names on the workout circuit” and some teams now think he’ll be drafted in the top 10. Every team in the 8-to-11 range looks like a potential landing spot and there has been chatter suggesting a non-lottery team may try to trade up to land him, Woo adds.
  • Most teams are operating under the assumption that DaRon Holmes II has received a draft promise from the Nuggets, according to Givony, who says “several smoking guns” have pointed to Denver since the Dayton forward/center canceled multiple workouts and that it’s similar to what happened with Jalen Pickett a year ago. The Nuggets hold the No. 28 pick, though they might try to move back a few spots to draft Holmes for cap/tax reasons, Givony writes.
  • The Kings have explored trade options with the No. 13 pick in the draft, according to Woo. Sacramento’s 2025 first-rounder is owed to Atlanta, so while the Kings could agreed to a deal involving No. 13 on draft night, they’d have to select a player before officially moving it.
  • The Jazz, Trail Blazers, and Kings are among the teams that Purdue center Zach Edey has worked out for recently, and a visit to the Lakers may still be coming before draft night, says Givony.
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Warriors Top List Of NBA’s 2023/24 Taxpayers

June 18th, 2024 at 12:49pm CST by Luke Adams

While the official numbers from the NBA aren’t yet in, Bobby Marks of ESPN estimates (via Twitter) that the Warriors led all teams in 2023/24 with a luxury tax bill in the neighborhood of $176.9MM.

Golden State was subject once again to the “repeater” tax penalties this season, meaning that every dollar spent above the luxury tax line cost them more than a first-time taxpayer. The Warriors paid roughly $206MM in player salaries, meaning their roster as a whole cost more than $380MM. They didn’t make the playoffs, having been eliminated in the first play-in game by Sacramento.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties]

The Warriors weren’t alone among teams that are on the hook for tax payments without a playoff series win to show for it. Of the eight taxpayers, only two (the Celtics and Nuggets) made it beyond the first round of the postseason, with only one Boston advancing past the second round. Unlike Golden State, the Clippers, Suns, Bucks, Heat, and Lakers all made the playoffs, but they were each eliminated in the conference quarterfinals.

Here are the estimated tax penalties for 2023/24, according to Marks:

  1. Golden State Warriors: $176.9MM
  2. Los Angeles Clippers: $142.4MM
  3. Phoenix Suns: $68.2MM
  4. Milwaukee Bucks: $52.5MM
  5. Boston Celtics: $43.8MM
  6. Denver Nuggets: $20.2MM
  7. Miami Heat: $15.7MM
  8. Los Angeles Lakers: $6.9MM

Half of those tax payments get distributed among non-taxpaying teams, so those 22 clubs should each receive a little less than $12MM, Marks observes.

That payout for non-taxpayers serves to highlight why some teams who were hovering around the luxury tax line earlier in the season made a concerted effort to duck below – or stay below – that threshold. For instance, the Pelicans finished the season below the tax line by less than $400K after initially moving out of tax territory by salary-dumping Kira Lewis‘ expiring contract back in January. That cost-cutting move didn’t just save Pels ownership a tax payment — it also ensured that the team will receive that extra $12MM.

The tax line for 2024/25 is projected to be just north of $171MM, and while many of the teams listed above project to once again be taxpayers next spring, at least a couple of them could be in position to avoid the tax next season, including the Warriors.

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Nuggets May Be Too Focused On Dynasty Rather Than Next Title

June 16th, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Talk of a Nuggets dynasty has faded with this year’s second-round exit, and Troy Renck of The Denver Post believes the focus should turn to winning the next title. He accuses the organization of taking a “macro view” by trying to win multiple championships rather than doing what is necessary to get the next one. Renck contends that approach led to personnel decisions that created a thin bench and left the team unable to close out Game 7 against Minnesota.
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Nuggets Believe David Adelman Will Eventually Get Hired As A Head Coach

June 12th, 2024 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Bennett Durando of The Denver Post questions why Nuggets assistant David Adelman isn’t getting more consideration from teams that are looking for head coaches. Sources confirmed to Durando that Adelman interviewed this year with the Hornets, Cavaliers and Lakers, but he hasn’t been reported as among the frontrunners for any of those jobs. The Nuggets believe it’s just a matter of time before Adelman gets an opportunity, Durando adds.
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Nikola Jokic Included On Serbia’s Preliminary Olympic Roster

June 10th, 2024 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Serbian national team has officially unveiled its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, and that group is headlined by a noteworthy name. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is one of the 16 players on Serbia’s preliminary roster, which will be cut down to 12 players for this summer’s games in Paris.

Jokic was noncommittal when asked last month at the end of Denver’s season whether he intended to play for Serbia in the Olympics. Svetislav Pesic, the head coach of the national team, recently stated that the Nuggets star remained undecided. Jokic’s inclusion on the 16-man preliminary roster doesn’t guarantee he’ll be in Paris, but it’s a signal that he’s planning to participate.

Even without Jokic, the Serbians claimed a silver medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, falling to Germany in the final but qualifying for the Olympics based on that deep World Cup run. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Heat forward Nikola Jovic were among the key players on that team.

Bogdanovic and Jovic are also on the preliminary Olympic roster, and are joined by three more NBA players in Jokic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Hornets forward Aleksej Pokusevski. Filip Petrusev and Marko Guduric previously played in the NBA, while Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Jaramaz, and Vanja Marinkovic were selected in past drafts but have never signed NBA contracts.

Serbia will be in Group C along with the United States at the Olympics and can secure a spot in the quarterfinals with a top-two finish in round-robin play. South Sudan and the winner of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico (Lithuania is the top-rated club in that six-team tournament) will be the other competition in Group C. Assuming Jokic plays, he could end up facing fellow Nuggets star Jamal Murray – who will suit up for Canada – at some point in the single-elimination portion of the event.

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International Notes: Giannis, Jokic, Ibaka

June 9th, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

All-NBA Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo leads Greece’s preliminary roster heading into July’s qualifiers for this year’s Paris Olympics, slated for July 2-7, per Eurohoops.

Antetokounmpo is the headliner on an 18-man roster that also includes his brother Kostas Antetokounmpo, who spent three years in the NBA with the Mavericks and Lakers. A third Antetokounmpo brother, Bucks backup Thanasis Antetokounmpo, won’t be available as he recuperates from Achilles surgery.

Panathinaikos guard, Kostas Sloukas, this year’s EuroLeague Final Four MVP, is the other marquee name joining the group.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets remains undecided about playing for Team Serbia in this year’s Olympics, head coach Svetislav Pesic revealed during a guest appearance on the Politika podcast (hat tip to Eurohoops for the transcription). “Nikola Jokic’s participation alone certainly means something in every sense,” Pesic said regarding the All-NBA big man’s theoretical presence on the club. “From both the aspect of his individual quality and from the aspect of personality that Jokic is. Because when I say that Jokic is a better guy than he is a player, they all faint. Like, ‘You’re courting Jokic.’ Of course I’m courting him, because I want to point that out.”
  • 14-year NBA big man Serge Ibaka is reportedly signing a one-year contract to play for top EuroLeague club Real Madrid, per Javier Maestro of Encestando. In 2023/24, Ibaka transitioned back to European hoops, joining Bayern Munich, whom he paced in points, rebounds and blocks, per Eurohoops. During his prime with the Thunder, Ibaka was a three-time All-Defensive First Teamer. He won a league title with the Raptors in 2019.
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Nuggets Holding Trade Discussions With First-Round Pick

June 8th, 2024 at 7:38pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • During an appearance on the Jim Rome show, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said there have been discussions about trading the 28th pick (video link from Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports). Malone responded, “You can never have enough shooting” when asked about team needs, and although he said Denver has the league’s best starting five, he expressed concern about that group being overworked again.
  • Bennett Durando of The Denver Post offers his insight into players the Nuggets are projected to take in various mock drafts if they hold onto their first-round pick. ESPN and Yahoo Sports both have Denver selecting Dayton center DaRon Holmes II, whom Durando describes as a versatile big man capable of protecting the rim and spacing the floor. Other mock drafts give the Nuggets Duke center Kyle Filipowski, Indiana forward Kel’el Ware, Creighton wing Baylor Scheierman and California wing Jaylon Tyson.
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2024 NBA Draft Picks By Team

June 7th, 2024 at 6:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs and Trail Blazers were among the winners on last month’s draft lottery day, with the results on May 12 ensuring that both teams would have a pair of lottery picks in 2024. San Antonio received Toronto’s top-six protected first-rounder when it dropped to No. 8, while Portland was assured of receiving Golden State’s top-four protected first-rounder when it remained at No. 14. Both clubs’ own picks are in the top seven.

Besides being the only NBA teams to control two lottery picks this year, San Antonio and Portland have something else in common — they’re the only two clubs that own more than three total 2024 draft picks. In addition to No. 4 and No. 8, the Spurs have Nos. 35 and 48, while Portland has a pair of early second-rounders (Nos. 34 and 40) to go with its No. 7 and No. 14 picks.

Many of this year’s draft picks have changed hands at some point, with only 24 of 58 total selections held by their original owner, but they’re still a little more evenly distributed than usual. A year ago, 11 teams controlled three or more picks at this time, whereas this year only seven clubs hold more than two picks apiece.

In addition to those seven teams with three or more picks, 13 more clubs own a pair of draft selections, while another nine control one apiece. That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nets. Brooklyn traded both of its 2024 picks back in 2021, sending out its first-rounder in a package for James Harden and including its second-rounder later that year in a Sekou Doumbouya salary dump. The Nets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2024 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 58 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • San Antonio Spurs (4): 4, 8, 35, 48
  • Portland Trail Blazers (4): 7, 14, 34, 40
  • Washington Wizards (3): 2, 26, 51
  • Memphis Grizzlies (3): 9, 39, 57
  • Utah Jazz (3): 10, 29, 32
  • New York Knicks (3): 24, 25, 38
  • Indiana Pacers (3): 36, 49, 50

Teams with two picks:

  • Houston Rockets: 3, 44
  • Detroit Pistons: 5, 53
  • Charlotte Hornets: 6, 42
  • Sacramento Kings: 13, 45
  • Miami Heat: 15, 43
  • Philadelphia 76ers: 16, 41
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 17, 55
  • Orlando Magic: 18, 47
  • Toronto Raptors: 19, 31
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 23, 33
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 27, 37
  • Denver Nuggets: 28, 56
  • Boston Celtics: 30, 54

Teams with one pick:

  • Atlanta Hawks: 1
  • Chicago Bulls: 11
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 12
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 20
  • New Orleans Pelicans: 21
  • Phoenix Suns: 22
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 46
  • Golden State Warriors: 52
  • Dallas Mavericks: 58

Teams with no picks:

  • Brooklyn Nets
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International Notes: Slovenia, Doncic, Croatia, South Sudan, Siulepa

June 5th, 2024 at 12:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Slovenian national team has officially announced the 16 players who will make up its preliminary roster for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece next month (Twitter link). While the 16-man group features currently Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar and a couple other players with prior NBA experience (Zoran Dragic and Mike Tobey), the headliner is Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.

Slovenia obviously hopes that Doncic will be available to help the team try to claim one of the final four Olympic berths this summer, and the Mavs star said on Wednesday that he wants to do so, despite battling knee issues this spring, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets. Doncic still has one more series to get through, so his availability in Greece will presumably hinge on how he’s feeling at the conclusion of the NBA Finals.

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

  • Croatia, which will be in Slovenia’s group at the qualifying tournament in Greece, has also announced a preliminary roster for that event. Warriors forward Dario Saric and Clippers center Ivica Zubac are among the 17 players who are candidates to make up the 12-man roster, while former NBA wing Mario Hezonja is one of the other notable names in that group.
  • South Sudan, which has already qualified for the Olympics based on its results at last year’s World Cup, revealed a 25-man preliminary roster for Paris (Twitter link). Some of the biggest names in the mix for roster spots include Bol Bol, Wenyen Gabriel, Thon Maker, JT Thor, and World Cup star Carlik Jones.
  • Seventeen-year-old Australian prospect Roman Siulepa is signing with the Tasmania JackJumpers as part of the National Basketball League’s Next Stars program, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Givony identifies Siulepa as one of the most promising international prospects in his age group, noting that the 6’7″ small forward has averaged 21.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in the second division of Australia’s NBL this season.
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