Moussa Diabate Declines To Rejoin French National Team
Hornets big man Moussa Diabate was cut from the French national team on August 8 ahead of EuroBasket 2025. After a knee issue forced Vincent Poirier to withdraw from the tournament, France’s head coach, Frederic Fauthoux, reached out to Diabate about the possibility of rejoining Les Bleus, according to Arthur Puybertier of BeBasket.
However, after consulting with his camp, Diabate declined the offer in order to “focus on his upcoming NBA season” (hat tip to Eurohoops).
2025/26 is a big season for the 6’11” center, whose minimum-salary contract with Charlotte is non-guaranteed. Diabate emerged as a rotation regular in ’24/25, averaging 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 59.6% from the field in 71 appearances (17.5 minutes per game).
While the Hornets could be facing a roster crunch this fall, head coach Charles Lee recently praised Diabate, so it would be somewhat surprising if the 23-year-old ends up being released.
The French national team announced on Sunday (via Twitter) that it has finalized its 12-man group for EuroBasket, with Poirier and Paris Basketball guard Nadir Hifi the final two players cut. According to Eurohoops, France’s roster will likely consist of Theo Maledon, Sylvain Francisco, Elie Okobo, Isaia Cordinier, Matthew Strazel, Zaccharie Risacher, Bilal Coulibaly, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Guerschon Yabusele, Jaylen Hoard, Alex Sarr and Mouhammadou Jaiteh.
Risacher (Hawks), Coulibaly (Wizards), Yabusele (Knicks) and Sarr (Wizards) are current NBA players, while Maledon, Okobo, Luwawu-Cabarrot and Hoard previously spent time in the league. Cordinier is a former second-round pick (44th overall in 2016), but the 28-year-old has only played in Europe to this point in his career.
EuroBasket Notes: Gallinari, Poirier, Musa, Bogdanovic
In an interview with Giuseppe Nigro of Gazzetta dello Sport, f0rmer NBA forward Danilo Gallinari said this year’s EuroBasket will be the final international competition of his long career. Gallinari, 37, played for eight teams during a 16-year NBA career that wrapped up in 2023/24. He’s currently with the Vaqueros de Bayamón in Puerto Rico.
“Yes, it will be my last summer with the national team,” Gallinari said. “Knowing this gives an extra boost. These are feelings that a club does not give you. I have been part of many different groups: at the beginning I was the little one and I played with my idols, now I am the veteran and I see the young guys who have created a special group, they are strong and talented. They keep you young.”
Gallinari is coming off a major victory this week in Puerto Rico, leading the Vaqueros to their 17th league title while being named Finals MVP. He hopes to duplicate that success with Italy to provide a memorable ending to his international career.
“I’m missing a medal with the national team and then I can be happy,” he said. “It is also difficult to quantify what could have been and was not: I started in the Azzurri when I was 17-18 years old when there was still the group of the 2004 Olympics, and of all the possible summers since then I have missed eight. There are many. It makes me think if I had played those eight what could have happened, better not to think about it. Every summer anything can happen, even this one.”
There’s more EuroBasket news to pass along:
- French center Vincent Poirier had to withdraw from EuroBasket due to injury concerns involving his right knee, writes Yann Ohnona of L’Equipe. France is already missing Victor Wembanyama, Mathias Lessort and Rudy Gobert, so the team will be undersized in the tournament.
- Dzanan Musa of Bosnia and Herzegovina may also have to miss the tournament after undergoing emergency surgery due to pain in his abdominal area, according to Eurohoops. “Dzanan expressed his desire to do everything possible to ensure his recovery and to leave room for a possible appearance at the upcoming EuroBasket, in line with his great desire to be with the team in Cyprus,” a representative of Musa told Radio Sarajevo. “In this situation, his appearance is certainly uncertain.”
- Serbia remained unbeaten in exhibition play with a 29-point win over the Czech Republic on Saturday, and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who led the way with 20 points, believes his team is ready to make a strong run at the EuroBasket title, per Basket News. “We approached with respect and played with it. I think we could be a bit better, especially on defense, but that’s why we play friendly games,” he said.
Doncic Gets Injury Scare During Slovenian Exhibition Game
2:23pm: Doncic has a right knee contusion, Marc Stein tweets. He’ll remain with the Slovenian national team and compete in EuroBasket, Woike tweets.
1:30pm: Lakers superstar Luka Doncic apparently avoided a serious injury after a Slovenian teammate landed on his right leg during an exhibition game on Saturday, Dan Woike of The Athletic tweets.
Early in the second half, Gregor Hrovat fell on Doncic’s knee during a defensive play, according to Eurohoops.net. Doncic was able to head to the locker room on his own power but did not return to the game. Doncic, who scored 26 points against Latvia during the first half, did return to the bench to watch his Slovenian teammates collect a 100-88 victory.
It remains to be seen how this will impact Doncic’s status for the EuroBasket tournament. Slovenia is scheduled to play its tourney opener against Poland on Aug. 28. They’ll also face France, Belgium, Iceland and Israel.
Doncic signed a three-year max extension with the Lakers earlier this month.
Juan Toscano-Anderson Signs With Italian Team
Veteran NBA forward Juan Toscano-Anderson has officially signed with Pallacanestro Trieste, according to a press release from the Italian team (hat tip to Sportando). Although it isn’t explicitly stated, the announcement suggests the 32-year-old signed a one-year deal.
“Bringing a player of the caliber of Juan Toscano-Anderson to Trieste is much more than a market operation; it is a milestone in the history of our club,” president and owner Paul Matiasic said as part of a larger statement. “His personal and professional path testifies to an extraordinary resilience, the ability to overcome immense obstacles, to bet on himself and to win at the highest level. These are not just details of a biography; they are the founding values — hard work, perseverance, and an unwavering work ethic — that we want to instill in the DNA of our team.”
Italian outlet Il Piccolo reported a coupled days ago that Toscano-Anderson would be signing with Trieste, which competes in Italy’s top domestic league, Lega Basket Serie A.
After going undrafted out of Marquette in 2015, Toscano-Anderson spent multiple seasons playing in Mexico before landing a training camp deal with Golden State in 2019. The Oakland native impressed the Warriors with his energy, defense and versatility, and wound up spending parts of three seasons with the club, winning a championship as a role player in 2022.
The 6’6″ wing split the 2022/23 season with the Lakers and Jazz and spent about a month of ’23/24 with the Kings. Overall, he has appeared in 202 regular season games over parts of five NBA seasons, averaging 4.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists on .502/.329/.646 shooting in 15.5 minutes per contest.
Toscano-Anderson suited up for the Mexico City Capitanes — the NBA G League’s only independent team — during the ’24/25 campaign, averaging 16.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.7 SPG and 0.9 BPG in 42 appearances (34.8 MPG). His shooting line was .422/.316/.845.
Pallacanestro Trieste, which also signed former NBA guard Jahmi’us Ramsey this offseason, entered the Serie A playoffs as the No. 6 seed in ’24/25 after finishing with a 18-12 record during the regular season. The team lost its first-round matchup with No. 3 Brescia, the league’s eventual runner-up.
Greek Coach Confirms Giannis Antetokounmpo’s EuroBasket Status
It has been confirmed for several weeks that Giannis Antetokounmpo would represent Team Greece in this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, but to this point, the Greek star has been unable to be present for the team’s exhibition games or activities as he reportedly awaits the Bucks‘ written sign-off on his participation.
However, there was some good news on that front yesterday, as the Eurohoops team reported that Greek national team head coach Vassilis Spanoulis had confirmed that Antetokounmpo’s work with the team will begin this weekend.
“He already had a training session with contact with some guys from our team. On Saturday, he will start training normally,” Spanoulis said.
Antetokounmpo had reportedly been required to obtain Milwaukee’s permission due to the size of his NBA contract exceeding FIBA’s insurance policy.
Because of that delay, he missed each of the team’s first four warm-up games, which caused some disappointment among rival coaches. Greece went 2-2 in those contests, beating Belgium and Montenegro while losing to Israel and Serbia.
The team will host Latvia, Italy, and France at the Acropolis Tournament in Athens, which runs from August 20-24 before the group stage of EuroBasket begins for Greece on August 28.
Isaac Nogues Agrees To Two-Year Deal With Valencia
Free agent guard Isaac Nogues has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with Valencia Basket in his home country of Spain, the club announced in a press release.
Nogues, 21, spent the 2024/25 season in the NBA G League with the Rip City Remix, Portland’s affiliate. He made a total of 40 appearances for the Trail Blazers’ NBAGL team, averaging 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals in 21.1 minutes per game, before going undrafted in June.
While his offensive contributions were limited, the 6’5″ guard (who has a 6’10” wingspan) was named to the NBAGL’s All-Defensive team and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
We typically wouldn’t dedicate a full story to an undrafted player without any NBA experience signing with a EuroLeague team, but Nogues’ agreement is notable because reporting in June indicated that he had agreed to sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the NBA’s Kings and would be competing for a two-way deal in Sacramento this fall.
That signing never became official, and it seems it won’t happen now that Nogues has found a more appealing offer overseas. He’ll have a clearer path to playing time with Valencia and will be located just a few hours down the coast from Badalona, where he was born and where he began his professional basketball career.
International Notes: Harrison, Lauvergne, Silva, Toscano-Anderson
Seven-year NBA veteran Shaquille Harrison has signed a one-year contract extension with ASVEL Basket, the French team announced in a press release.
Known for his defense, Harrison appeared in 183 regular season contests with seven different NBA teams, last suiting up for Memphis on a 10-day deal during the 2023/24 campaign. The 31-year-old guard played in 63 total games with ASVEL last season, averaging 5.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 17.0 minutes per contest.
ASVEL competes in France’s top domestic league — the LNB Élite — as well as the EuroLeague. The club went 23-7 during the LNB Élite regular season, losing in the semifinals of the playoffs, but just 13-21 in EuroLeague action.
Here are a few more international notes:
- Harrison was one of several former NBA players on ASVEL Basket’s roster in ’24/25. Another was center Joffrey Lauvergne, who has spent the past three seasons with the team in his native France. Although he’s coming off a productive season, ASVEL recently announced that Lauvergne will not return in ’25/26 (link to press release). The 33-year-old was a second-round pick back in 2013 and spent four seasons in the NBA, last playing for San Antonio in ’17/18.
- Chris Silva has signed a one-year deal with Greece’s AEK BC, per the team. The African big man is a four-year NBA veteran who spent last season in Israel with Bnei Herzliya. Former Nets second-rounder RaiQuan Gray will also return to AEK in ’25/26, Eurohoops notes.
- Italian team Pallacanestro Trieste has reportedly reached an agreement with free agent wing Juan Toscano-Anderson, according to Kevin Martorano of Sportando, who cites a report from Il Piccolo. Toscano-Anderson, 32, won a title with Golden State in 2022 and last played in the NBA for Sacramento in ’23/24. He spent all of last season in the NBA G League with the Mexico City Capitanes.
Killian Hayes Focused On Remaining In NBA
Former lottery pick Killian Hayes has drawn interest from teams in Europe this offseason, but is focused on earning another NBA opportunity, according to a report from Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of BeBasket (hat tip to Eurohoops).
ASVEL Basket in France made Hayes a strong offer, per Pantel-Jouve, who says Real Madrid in Spain and Anadolu Efes in Turkey also registered some interest in the free agent point guard. All three clubs compete in the EuroLeague.
However, Hayes is hoping to stick in the NBA after appearing in 216 regular season games across the past five seasons. The seventh overall pick in the 2020 draft, he struggled to adjust to the NBA game in Detroit, where he made just 38.2% of his field goal attempts and 27.7% of his outside shots across four seasons from 2020-24.
Still, Hayes is just 24 years old and played well in a very small sample with Brooklyn last season, averaging 9.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game and making 38.1% of his three-point tries in six appearances (five starts). The 6’5″ Frenchman spent most of 2024/25 playing for the Long Island Nets in the G League, where he put up 17.3 PPG, 7.4 APG, and 5.4 RPG on .463/.371/.689 shooting in 33 outings (32.9 MPG).
Hayes is no longer eligible for a two-way contract, so if he hopes to make an NBA roster this fall, he’d have to do it by earning a standard 15-man spot.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Still Awaiting Bucks’ Approval For EuroBasket
Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t taken part in any team activities as Greece prepares for EuroBasket because he’s still waiting for the Bucks to provide written permission for him to participate, according to Aris Barkas and Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.
While most players don’t need permission from their NBA clubs to play in international tournaments, Antetokounmpo is an exception due to the size of his contract, sources tell the authors. They explain that the FIBA insurance policy, which is covered by the Greek federation, doesn’t pay enough to cover Antetokounmpo’s NBA contract in case he suffers a serious injury. Because there’s a cap on the insurance payout, he can’t proceed without authorization from the Bucks.
Barkas and Barbarousis note that Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Lakers guard Luka Doncic are also affected by that stipulation, but they are both practicing and participating in exhibition games with their EuroBasket teams.
The FIBA-NBA agreement permits NBA players to join their national team’s training camp 28 days before the start of a major FIBA competition. Greece’s first EuroBasket game will take place on August 28, so Antetokounmpo would have been permitted to start training at the beginning of the month if not for the insurance snag.
Antetokounmpo has already missed three Greek exhibition contests, and he isn’t expected to play against Montenegro on Thursday. The authors state that Greece will participate in the Acropolis tournament before wrapping up exhibition play August 24 against France, but it’s still uncertain whether Antetokounmpo will be cleared to suit up for any of those contests.
The issue comes amid continuing uncertainty over Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee. Trade speculation was rekindled earlier this month when Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the two-time MVP remains uncertain that he can achieve his goal of winning at least one more NBA title while playing for the Bucks.
Pelicans’ Missi, Rockets’ Okogie Playing In AfroBasket
While it lacks the star power of the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, FIBA’s 2025 AfroBasket event, which tipped off on Tuesday, features a pair of NBA players. Second-year Pelicans center Yves Missi is suiting up for Cameroon, while veteran Rockets wing Josh Okogie is representing Nigeria.
Both players got off to strong starts on Wednesday in their teams’ first AfroBasket games. Missi contributed 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 24 minutes to help lead Cameroon to an 86-65 win over Tunisia, while Okogie had five points, five assists, four rebounds, and a +12 on/off mark in 27 minutes of action during Nigeria’s 77-59 victory over Madagascar.
Jonathan Kuminga was listed on the preliminary roster for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but isn’t suiting up for the team as his restricted free agent standoff with the Warriors extends well into the offseason.
Still, there are several other former NBA players taking part in the tournament, as the full list of rosters shows.
Bruno Fernando (Angola), Edy Tavares (Cape Verde), Matt Costello (Côte d’Ivoire), Christian Eyenga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Mamadi Diakite (Guinea), Ibou Badji (Senegal), Karim Mané (Senegal), and Wenyen Gabriel (South Sudan) are among the names that may be familiar to NBA fans, with Tavares (14 points, 19 rebounds) and Costello (12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) submitting big performances en route to victories in their first group play games.
A handful of notable former NBA players are also on the sidelines as coaches for the event, including Luol Deng for South Sudan, DeSagana Diop for Senegal, and Sam Vincent for Libya, observes Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).
AfroBasket’s field is made up of 16 national teams divided into four groups of four teams apiece. Each squad faces the other clubs in its group once during the preliminary round; the top-ranked team in each group after those three games advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the eight second- and third-place teams square off in “play-in” games to earn quarterfinal berths.
Group play will continue through Sunday, with the play-in games for the knockout round held next Monday and Tuesday. The quarterfinals will take place on August 20 and 21, with the semifinals played on Aug. 23 and the final (and third-place game) on Aug. 24.