International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Greg Monroe To Play In Germany

July 25th, 2019 at 8:02am CST by clarkcrum

JULY 25: Monroe has officially signed with Bayern Munich, the team confirmed today in a press release.

JULY 24: Earlier this afternoon, FC Bayern Munich Basketball teased a “big” signing announcement for tomorrow, and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando is now reporting that the team is planning to announce the signing of NBA veteran big man Greg Monroe.

Monroe, 29, appears to be prioritizing playing time and perhaps financial gain with the move to Europe, which makes sense given the nine-year veteran’s recent struggles to carve out a niche in the ever-growing small ball atmosphere of today’s NBA.

The seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft, Monroe was named NBA All-Rookie Second Team for his efforts during the 2010/11 season. For his career, he holds averages of 13.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG, but has become a journeyman of sorts over the past couple of seasons.

Monroe will join fellow former first-round pick Josh Huestis on Bayern Munich’s 2019/20 roster, where the club will look to three-peat as Basketball Bundesliga champions this upcoming season.

And-Ones: Zion, World Cup, Schedule, Marinkovic

July 23rd, 2019 at 1:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Zion Williamson, one of the top free agents on the shoe endorsement market, has reached a deal with Jordan Brand, he announced today on Instagram. Although terms of the multi-year arrangement were not released, Williamson received offers in excess of $10MM a year from some of Jordan’s competitors, relays Nick DePaula of ESPN.

“I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of the Jordan Brand family,” Williamson said. “Since I was a kid, I dreamed of making it to the league and having the type of impact on the game Michael Jordan had and continues to have today. He was one of those special athletes I looked up to, and I really can’t express how happy and excited I am for this journey.”

The company held an all-employees meeting this morning where the news was disclosed. Digital billboards featuring Williamson are scheduled to be unveiled soon.

There’s more NBA-related news to pass along:

FIBA’s decision to move the World Cup to the summer before the Olympics may be responsible for so many stars deciding to skip the event, tweets Michael Lee of The Athletic. He notes that it’s difficult to find elite players who are willing to commit two straight offseasons to international competition. Many of the players who withdrew are sincere about their desire to prepare for the upcoming season, observes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). With no obvious favorite for the 2019/20 title, many stars are seeking any advantage they can get. Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan are the latest players to pull their names out of consideration for Team USA.
A summer filled with blockbuster trades and unprecedented free agent movement presents unique challenges for schedule makers, writes Jacob Feldman of Sports Illustrated. The scheduling process usually starts in mid-June, but the league came to an agreement with ESPN and TNT to push it back because of the expected flurry of transactions. The schedule release is still anticipated for its normal time of early to mid-August.
Kings second-round pick Vanja Marinkovic will leave his Partizan Belgrade team to sign with Valencia in Spain, tweets international basketball consultant Vedran Modric. It will be a two-year deal with an option for a third season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link).
Center Matt Costello, who played briefly for the Spurs during the 2017/18 season, has reached a deal with Spanish club Herbalife Gran Canaria, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando.

Wesley Johnson Signs With Panathinaikos

July 22nd, 2019 at 9:44am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA swingman Wesley Johnson will head overseas for the 2019/20 season. Greek club Panathinaikos issued a press release today announcing that it has signed Johnson to a one-year contract.

The fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft, Johnson didn’t develop into the sort of impact player that his draft position may have portended, but he has been a reliable rotation piece over the course of his nine-year NBA career.

In 609 career games for the Timberwolves, Suns, Lakers, Clippers, Pelicans, and Wizards, Johnson has averaged 7.0 PPG and 3.2 RPG with a .404/.337/.741 shooting line.

The 32-year-old was traded twice during the 2018/19 league year, playing limited minutes in 26 games for New Orleans and 12 for Washington before the Wizards released him during the final week of the regular season.

In Greece, Johnson will team up with another former lottery pick — the 10th overall selection in the 2011 draft, Jimmer Fredette also signed with Panathinaikos last week.

Suns’ George King Will Play In Italy

July 21st, 2019 at 10:20am CST by Arthur Hill

George King, a two-way player with the Suns last year, will join Dolomiti Energia Trentino for the upcoming season, relays Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The Italian team made the announcement on Twitter this morning.

The 59th player selected in the 2018 draft, King agreed to a two-way contract with Phoenix last summer. The small forward appeared in just one NBA game, scoring no points and collecting one rebound in six minutes. He posted a 15.5/5.3/2.5 line in 41 G League contests with Northern Arizona.

The Suns will look elsewhere to fill their remaining two-way slot for 2019/20. They signed rookie guard Jared Harper to a two-way deal this week.

Kosta Koufos To Join CSKA Moscow

July 19th, 2019 at 10:40am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA center Kosta Koufos has reached a contract agreement with defending EuroLeague champions CSKA Moscow, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Haynes, the deal will make Koufos the highest-paid American player in Europe next season.

Sources tell Haynes (Twitter link) that Koufos’ new deal will be worth $6MM over two years. It will also have an NBA out, in the event that the big man decides to return stateside for the 2020/21 season.

Koufos, 30, spent the last four seasons with the Kings, who were said to have some interest in re-signing him. However, after averaging about 19-20 minutes per game in his first three years in Sacramento, the former first-round pick saw his role cut back in 2018/19 as the club focused on developing younger players.

In 42 games (12.0 MPG) last season, Koufos recorded 3.7 PPG and 4.2 RPG. He has posted career marks of 5.7 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 686 total regular season contests for the Jazz, Timberwolves, Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Kings.

CSKA Moscow was also rumored to be nearing a deal with former No. 4 overall pick Dragan Bender earlier this week. It’s not clear if the team’s new deal with Koufos will have any impact on Bender’s situation, or if both players will ultimately join the Russian club.

Dragan Bender Likely To Sign With CSKA Moscow

July 17th, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Former No. 4 overall pick Dragan Bender has reached a verbal agreement with EuroLeague powerhouse CSKA Moscow, a source tells Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops (Twitter link). According to Varlas, Bender is expected to join CSKA Moscow unless he gets an offer from an NBA team at the 11th hour.

Keith Smith of RealGM files a similar report, tweeting that Bender’s agreement with CSKA Moscow will allow him to continue seeking out NBA deals for a little while longer. If nothing materializes, the power forward will head to Russia for the 2019/20 season.

Bender, 21, spent the last three seasons with the Suns after being selected fourth overall in 2016. However, he failed to develop into a regular NBA rotation player, averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .394/.321/.647 shooting line in 171 games in Phoenix.

A report earlier this week indicated that the Cavaliers and Raptors had inquired on Bender, though their level of interest was unclear. That report also linked the young forward to EuroLeague teams Fenerbahce and CSKA Moscow.

If he finalizes his deal with CSKA Moscow, Bender will join former NBA players such as Joel Bolomboy and Darrun Hilliard on the Russian club.

Wade Baldwin Signs With Olympiacos

July 17th, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Wade Baldwin has officially joined Greek club Olympiacos, having signed a two-year contract, the team announced today in a press release. Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops first reported that Baldwin and the EuroLeague squad were finalizing a two-year deal.

Baldwin, 23, was the 17th overall pick in the 2016 draft. However, he only lasted one season in Memphis before being waived by the Grizzlies. He later signed a two-way contract with Portland and was eventually promoted to the Trail Blazers’ 15-man roster, but was traded from the Blazers to the Cavaliers to the Rockets to the Pacers before last season’s trade deadline. Indiana ultimately waived him.

Baldwin, who averaged 3.1 PPG and 1.4 APG in 56 career NBA games, finished the 2018/19 season in the G League, telling Blake Murphy of The Athletic in March that he hoped to prove he was capable of being an NBA rotation player.

Instead of returning to the NBA though, Baldwin will head overseas for the first time in his professional career. He’ll join other former NBA players like Brandon Paul and Kostas Papanikolaou on the Olympiacos roster.

NBA, EuroLeague Teams Eyeing Dragan Bender?

July 16th, 2019 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers and Raptors are among the teams that have inquired on free agent power forward Dragan Bender, tweets international reporter Orazio Cauchi. According to Cauchi, EuroLeague clubs like CSKA Moscow and Fenerbahce are also keeping an eye on Bender and have “some level of interest.”

Bender, 21, was the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and spent the last three seasons with the Suns. However, he has failed to develop into a regular rotation player, averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a .394/.321/.647 shooting line in 171 games in Phoenix.

A source tells Cauchi (Twitter link) that there some NBA teams still believe Bender’s potential could be worth a roll of the dice. At this point though, the young big man seems unlikely to receive more than minimum-salary offers, and even then, it’s not clear he’d get any sort of guarantees.

If Bender had played out his rookie contract, he would have been on track to earn a $5.9MM salary in 2019/20. The Suns turned down their fourth-year team option though, allowing the Croatian to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Jimmer Fredette Signs With Panathinaikos

July 15th, 2019 at 8:15am CST by clarkcrum

JULY 15: Fredette has officially signed with Panathinaikos, the Greek team announced today in a press release. Fredette published an Instagram post confirming his move to Greece and thanking fans for their support.

JULY 10: According to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops, sharpshooting guard Jimmer Fredette has reached a two-year deal with Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague.

As Varlas notes, this will be the first European team Fredette plays for in his professional career. He also played in China from 2016 to 2019, becoming somewhat of a Chinese sensation before signing a two-year contract with the Suns back in March. The second year had a team option, which Phoenix declined back in June.

After his option was declined, Fredette briefly played with the Warriors’ summer league team, but left the team early so as not to get injured while he contemplated his overseas options in response to several foreign teams contacting his representatives about his availability.

A six-year NBA veteran, Fredette holds career averages of 6.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per game after being drafted No. 10 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. His best season was probably as a rookie, when he averaged a career-high 7.6 PPG and 18.6 MPG.

Turkey Next Stop For Derrick Williams

July 14th, 2019 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Derrick Williams, the No. 2 pick in the 2011 draft, will join defending Turkish Cup champion Fenerbahce, relays Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Williams has reached agreement on a one-year contract.

It will be the third overseas team for Williams, who was never able to find a long-term NBA home. He signed with China’s Tianjin Gold Lions in 2017 and spent this season in Germany with Bayern Munich.

The 28-year-old forward was ticketed for stardom after two stellar years at Arizona, but lasted a little more than two seasons in Minnesota before being traded. He played for six teams in seven seasons, and his last NBA experience came in a 10-day contract with the Lakers in March of 2018.