International Notes: Snell, Galloway, Andrews, 2028 Olympics
Veteran NBA wing Tony Snell is heading to Europe for the first time in his lengthy professional career, having signed a contract with Boulazac Basket Dordogne, the French team announced in a press release.
“A renowned shooter and defender in the NBA for nine seasons, Tony Snell arrives with the firm intention of passing on to his teammates his love for the game and his thirst for victory,” head coach Alexandre Menard said (hat tip to Eurohoops).
As Boulazac’s coach noted, Snell spent nine years in the NBA, averaging 6.1 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 39.4% from three-point range in 601 regular season contests, including 310 starts (21.8 minutes per game). The 33-year-old guard/forward last suited up for New Orleans during the 2021/22 campaign.
Snell has spent the past three seasons in the NBA G League playing for the Maine Celtics and the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s affiliate. He also represented Team USA for a pair of FIBA AmeriCup qualifying games last fall.
Boulazac, also known as BBD, was promoted to France’s top domestic league (LNB Élite) for 2025/26 after finishing in first place during the LNB Pro B’s regular season in ’24/25.
Here are a few more international notes:
- After winning a gold medal with Australia during the FIBA Asia Cup, former Bucks two-way guard/forward Jaylin Galloway is hoping his strong play during the tournament — he was named MVP — will help him get back to the league, writes Olgun Uluc of ESPN.com. The 22-year-old wing, who plays for the NBL’s Sydney Kings, missed extended time last season due to a shoulder injury, but he averaged 15.7 PPG while shooting a remarkable 18-of-28 (64.3%) from long distance in six Asia Cup games. “I’m hoping the next step is getting back to the NBA,” Galloway told ESPN. “It was a tough little rough patch for me, but it’s been good to come back and get my mind right. [Sydney head coach Brian Goorjian] has been helping me a lot, we’ve been working really hard in the offseason. So, the next step is getting back to the NBA.”
- Former G League guard Andrew Andrews, who has spent the past several seasons playing in Europe, replaced Elijah Pemberton on Team USA’s roster for the AmeriCup tournament, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Pemberton withdrew from the roster after signing an international contract, Reynolds notes. The 12-team tournament began yesterday in Managua, Nicaragua.
- Basketball at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is scheduled to tip off on July 12, 2028, two days before the opening ceremony, FIBA recently announced. The Associated Press has the story.
Tony Parker Working Toward NBA Coaching Job
Tony Parker is hoping to find his way back to the NBA, this time as a coach, writes David Loriot for L’Equipe. This involves enrolling in a coaching course, according to Kevin Martorano of Sportando.
Parker, the 18-year NBA veteran, four-time champion, and 2007 NBA Finals MVP, has been president of the French team ASVEL since 2014. In that time, the team has rostered NBA players such as Guerschon Yabusele and eventual NBA No. 1 overall picks Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher.
Now, though, Parker says he wants to step away from his front office position and familiarize himself with the rigors of coaching life.
“My dream is to coach in the NBA,” Parker said in an interview with L’Equipe.
To do so, Parker is working to obtain his DESJEPS degree, or Higher State Diploma of Youth, Popular Education and Sport, along with a secondary degree, the DEPB or Professional Basketball Coach Diploma, which he will likely receive in May 2026.
After Parker was a surprise guest for the ASVEL under-15 team on Thursday, running the team through training, he spoke about what that experience meant to him.
“It confirms what I’ve been feeling since last year: I missed the court,” he said. “The adrenaline, the daily grind, I missed all of that. I think it’s the right timing for me. I’ve been retired from sport for six years and I feel it inside me.”
In the lead-up to this decision, Parker said he spoke with his former coach Gregg Popovich, as well as French sports legends Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, all of whom imparted advice.
“Last October, after my first discussion with Pop, I felt this strong desire. I asked him for advice, the Spurs opened the doors to me in January, February, March, where I was able to observe everything over seven or 10 days,” he said, before adding that Zidane and Henry helped convince him to obtain his coaching degree.
“I don’t need it to coach in the NBA,” Parker said with a smile. “But I said to myself, why not go back to school?”
Parker added that he has been approached by several clubs (presumably NBA teams), but that he preferred to get his diploma, and then to pursue a path that could eventually end with him being the head coach of an NBA team. He also wouldn’t rule out the idea of one day coaching the French national team.
“Everyone knows that I’m friends with [French national team coach Freddy Fauthoux], I love him, he’s my guy! But in the very long term, why not,” Parker mused. “It’s clear that if you embark on this career, one day, you’ll want to coach the French team, that’s for sure. But before that, I have so many things to do.”
Czechia’s Tomas Satoransky To Miss EuroBasket With Back Injury
Former NBA guard Tomas Satoransky will miss EuroBasket 2025 due to a lingering back injury, he announced today on social media (Instagram link). The tournament begins next week.
“I had to make a very difficult decision today,” Satoransky wrote, per Sportando. “Those who know me understand what it means for me to play for the national team and how much I wanted to take part in my fifth European Championship in national colors. However, due to my current health condition, I cannot help the guys the way I would like and as expected of me. Therefore, I must apologize for withdrawing.
“ … Before the summer, I didn’t know if this would be my ‘last dance’ with the national team, but now I know for sure that I want to say goodbye on the court! I believe we will all see each other soon in the arena, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed from afar in Riga for the guys, hoping they can add another valuable result for Czech basketball.”
The 32nd pick of the 2012 draft, Satoransky spent several years in Spain before coming to North America, where he appeared in 388 NBA regular season games — including 182 starts — from 2016-22. He holds career averages of 6.9 points, 4.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds on .468/.354/.820 shooting in 22.2 minutes per game.
Since he returned to Europe in the summer of 2022, Satoransky has been a valuable role player for the Spanish EuroLeague club Barcelona. He turns 34 years old in a couple months.
Ex-NBA big man Jan Vesely, Satoransky’s teammate with Barca, will also miss the EuroBasket tournament for Czechia as he continues to rehab from injuries which plagued him in the second half of 2024/25.
Czechia’s official 12-man roster is headlined by Hawks guard Vit Krejci, according to FIBA. The other 11 players are Richard Balint, Jaromir Bohacik, Vojtech Hruban, Adam Kejval, Martin Kriz, Petr Krivanek, Tomas Kyzlink, Martin Peterka, Ondrej Sehnal, Martin Svoboda and Jak Zidek.
Miles Norris Signs With Barcelona
Less than two weeks after being waived by the Celtics, forward Miles Norris has lined up his next team, having agreed to a one-year deal with Barcelona, the Spanish club announced in a press release.
Norris, who went undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara in 2023, spent time on two-way contracts in each of his first two professional seasons, first with Atlanta during the first half of the 2023/24 season, then with Boston during the final month-plus of ’24/25. His deal with the Celtics covered two seasons, but he was cut earlier this month in order to open up a two-way slot for rookie Amari Williams.
Norris played sparingly in three total appearances for Boston at the NBA level, but was effective in the G League last season. The 6’9″ forward averaged 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 30.5 minutes per game across 44 total outings for the Memphis Hustle and Maine Celtics, with a shooting line of .464/.388/.791.
Norris is joining a Barcelona squad that finished fifth in both Spain’s Liga ACB and the EuroLeague last season, posting a 21-13 mark in domestic play and a 20-14 record in the EuroLeague. The team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of both leagues’ playoffs.
Barcelona’s roster also features former NBA players like Jan Vesely, Willy Hernangomez, Tornike Shengelia, and Tomas Satoransky. The club’s interest in Norris was reported earlier this week.
International Notes: Norris, Samuels, Toupane, Arms
As forward Miles Norris seeks his next opportunity after being waived by the Celtics earlier this month, he’s reportedly drawing interest from across the Atlantic Ocean. Barcelona has its eye on the 25-year-old, according to Oscar Herreros of La Xarxa (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando).
Norris went undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara in 2023, but has spent time on a two-way contract in each of the past two seasons, first with Atlanta during the first half of the ’23/24 season, then with Boston during the final month-plus of ’24/25. He has played sparingly in three total appearances at the NBA level, but was effective at the G League level last season, averaging 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 30.5 minutes per game across 44 total outings for the Grizzlies’ and Celtics’ affiliates.
We have more free agency news from around the international basketball world:
- Free agent forward Jermaine Samuels, a former Villanova standout, has signed with San Pablo Burgos for the 2025/26 season, the Spanish club announced in a press release. It will be the first time Samuels has competed overseas — he has been in the NBA and G League since going undrafted in 2022, including spending the 2023/24 season on a two-way contract with the Rockets.
- Former NBA forward Axel Toupane, who was part of the Milwaukee team that won a title in 2021, has signed with FC Porto in Portugal, the team officially announced (via Twitter; hat tip to Eurohoops). The 33-year-old has bounced around since playing for the Bucks four years ago, spending time in France, Lebanon, and Taiwan since then.
- Former Texas Tech standout Adonis Arms will continue his career in Greece, having signed with AEK Athens, per a press release from the team (hat tip to Eurohoops). While Arms has never appeared in an NBA regular season game, the 6’6″ wing has been a G League mainstay in recent years and has signed Exhibit 10 contracts with four teams since 2022, including (most recently) New Orleans last October.
EuroBasket Notes: Bogdanovic, Bona, Bertans, Avdija
Serbia is among the favorites as EuroBasket gets ready to open next week, and captain Bogdan Bogdanovic recognizes the expectations for his star-filled team, according to Eurohoops. Serbia hasn’t won the event in 24 years, and it has been placed in a challenging Group A along with Turkey, Czechia, Portugal, Estonia and host Latvia.
“We are aware of it, but our focus should be on the upcoming tournament,” Bogdanovic said of the long drought. “Do we feel it? Yes. But that’s part of the game. You have to embrace it and push through.”
Bogdanovic has the advantage of playing alongside one of game’s elite talents in Nikola Jokic, and he said Jokic has a “front vision” that allows him to remain a few steps ahead of the action. He also discussed some of the tournament’s other stars, including Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Slovenia’s Luka Doncic.
“Giannis is pure athleticism,” Bogdanovic said. “You can’t make mistakes against him because he punishes them all the time. His defense is incredible, and running in transition makes him unstoppable. (Doncic) can kill anyone in a tournament. He can go for 50, 60 points … that’s what makes him special.”
There’s more from EuroBasket:
- Sources tell BasketNews that Turkish big man Adem Bona is expected to be fine after limping off the court in Wednesday’s win over Lithuania (Twitter video link). Bona, who’s coming off a promising rookie season with the Sixers, played just seven minutes before the injury.
- Former NBA forward Davis Bertans credits coach Luca Banchi with helping to make Latvia a legitimate contender on the international stage, per Giorgos Kyriakidis of BasketNews. EuroBasket will be Banchi’s final tournament with the national team. “Few coaches have left such a visible imprint in such a short span,” Bertans said. “Under his leadership, Latvia not only shed its underdog label but also carved out a new identity — one built on collective confidence, tactical sharpness, and the belief that no opponent was beyond reach.”
- Deni Avdija leads Israel’s final 12-man roster for EuroBasket, according to BasketNews. He’s the only player with NBA experience for the Israelis, who went 3-2 in exhibition play and will be in Group D along with Belgium, France, Iceland, Slovenia and host Poland.
Kristaps Porzingis Discusses Possibility Of Eventual Return To Europe
After Wednesday’s Latvia-Greece matchup in the opener of the Acropolis tournament, Kristaps Porzingis‘ post-game press conference included a question about a possible return to Europe to finish out his career, writes Giorgos Kyriakidis of BasketNews. The Hawks‘ big man, who began playing professionally with Sevilla in 2012, seems open to the idea.
“Sure, sure, why not?” Porzingis responded. “I mean, I haven’t really given it too much thought, but just seeing some of the clubs here in Greece, you know, the atmosphere here for the games and stuff would be a really, really unbelievable atmosphere to play in.”
Pressed about the idea of signing in Greece, he said, “Possibly, possibly, but I would have to look at everything and … and who knows, who knows. I love the fans here and I love the rivalry they have here, so who knows.”
Porziginis didn’t have a great showing in Wednesday’s tune-up for EuroBasket, as he was limited to seven points and four rebounds in a little more than 19 minutes. Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated the matchup with 25 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes in a 104-86 victory.
“It was tough. It was a tough game for us,” Porzingis admitted. “Giannis had an unbelievable first half. We could have done a better job with him, to be fair, but today was just a tough day for us, and we look forward to bouncing back tomorrow (against Italy).”
It’s significant that Porzingis is back on the court after a dealing with a mysterious illness – later described as post-viral syndrome – that plagued him from February through the second round of the playoffs. He stated in a July interview that he took time to rest after Boston was eliminated and he was back to feeling “fantastic.”
Any talk of playing in Europe is probably a few years away, as Porzingis is only 30 and remains a very effective NBA player when healthy. He’s expected to have a huge role with Atlanta this season before entering free agency next summer.
Kyriakidis notes that because of Porzingis’ long injury history, this marks the first time he’s been able to take part in a major international competition since leading Latvia to a fifth-place finish in EuroBasket 2017. He talked today about the similarities between FIBA tournaments and the NBA playoffs.
“Playoffs is pretty similar because every game is life or death, and even now in the preparation you can feel the intensity. It’s going to ramp up even more once we actually start the tournament,” Porzingis said. “So I think these kind of games are fun, not just for the players but for the fans, for the atmosphere, and there’s gonna be no better place to play these kind of games than at home in Latvia. So we look forward to it.”
EuroBasket Notes: Doncic, Player Rankings, Valanciunas, Smailagic
Any concerns about Luka Doncic‘s health were eased on Tuesday when the Lakers superstar guard scored 28 points and dished out 10 assists for Slovenia in a 93-81 exhibition win over Great Britain, Eurohoops.net relays.
Doncic had an injury scare on Saturday when a Slovenian teammate fell on his right leg during an exhibition game against Latvia. It was later diagnosed as a right knee contusion.
Here’s more on the upcoming EuroBasket tournament:
- Doncic ranks third among the NBA players participating in the tournament, according to Neil Paine of ESPN. Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) rank first and second, with Franz Wagner (Germany) and Alperen Sengun (Turkey) rounding out the top five.
- Jonas Valanciunas is the lone NBA player on the Lithuanian squad but he feels his national team can make some noise, according to Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops.net. “I think every team is capable. We have some big names coming. Serbia, Turkey, Germany, we have Slovenia with Luka and, Greece with Giannis,” he said. “… We have a lot of a lot of a lot of big names, but that feel like every team is capable and every team can make some shake.”
- Former Warriors forward Alen Smailagic won’t play for Serbia in the tourney, according to Sportando. Injuries prevented him from participating in prep games. Euro star Dzanan Musa will also miss the event for Bosnia and Herzegovina due to health issues, Basketnews.com relays.
Nikola Vucevic Talks Status With Bulls, Goals, EuroBasket
Despite being the subject of trade and buyout speculation this summer, Nikola Vucevic has “almost no doubt” that he’ll open the 2025/26 season with the Bulls, he told Theo Quintard of Basket USA (hat tip to Eurohoops).
On a Bleacher Report live stream last month, NBA insider Jake Fischer responded to a question from a Bulls fan about Vucevic by noting that there has been no real trade market for the big man this offseason and speculating that a mid-season buyout could be more likely than a trade.
According to Vucevic, Bulls general manager Marc Eversley got in touch with him around that time to tell him to dismiss the rumors swirling about his future.
“There are always rumors,” Vuceveic said to Basket USA (text translated from French). “Most of them are wrong. It’s a little bit of anything. For example, the buyout (rumor) was misinterpreted in Europe. The reporter said that if there was no trade during the season, there might be a buyout option before the deadline. I know how business works. In the final year of the contract, there is always speculation. Since I can’t control anything, I’m trying not to take the lead.”
Here are a few more of the most notable remarks that Vucevic made during the interview:
- The Bulls’ starting center said he was happy with his individual performance in 2024/25, but acknowledged it was “frustrating” to once again be eliminated in the play-in tournament. He added that he’d like to have the chance to compete for a championship before his NBA career is over. “In Europe, it’s easier to join a big team,” Vucevic said. “But in the NBA, it is complicated because of rules and trades.”
- Vucevic believes this year’s EuroBasket tournament may be the last time he plays for Montenegro in an international offseason event. “Perhaps I will change my mind, but for the time being, I believe that this will be my last,” he said. “The next (major tournament) is only two years away. I’ll be 36, 37. I would also like to focus more on my career in the NBA. With age, I have to think about my body and recovery, before I re-attack the season. During the year, I am often absent because of travel, training and matches. Summer is an opportunity to make up for lost time with my three children and enjoy it. At the moment, that’s my biggest priority.”
- After finishing 13th at EuroBasket 2022, Montenegro will have a challenging path to the round of 16 in the 2025 tournament, Vucevic admitted. The Montenegrin national team is in a group with Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, and Sweden. “If (we get) through the first round, it will be a huge success,” he said. “We have absent players, injuries, so it will be quite difficult as it stands, but I think we still have a small chance to do that.”
Luka Doncic Cleared To Return Following Injury Scare
August 18: Doncic has been cleared to play for Slovenia on Tuesday vs. Great Britain, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line.
August 17: After a teammate fell into his leg during the third quarter of an exhibition game against Latvia on Saturday (Twitter video link via Dan Woike of The Athletic), Slovenian captain and Lakers star Luka Doncic reportedly suffered a right knee contusion that was not believed to be serious and would not impact his status for EuroBasket 2025, which tips off later this month.
This morning, Slovenia’s basketball federation announced (via Twitter) that Doncic would practice on Monday, officially putting to rest any lingering concerns about the injury. Slovenia will face Great Britain in another exhibition contest on Tuesday.
Doncic signed a three-year, maximum-salary extension with the Lakers earlier this month on the first day he was eligible to do so. The deal features a player option for the 2028/29 season.
The NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and a five-time All-NBA first-teamer from 2020-24, Doncic battled a calf issue last season that limited him to a career-low 50 games (22 for Dallas and 28 for L.A.). The 26-year-old put up his usual superlative numbers when he was available, averaging 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.8 steals per game with a .450/.368/.782 shooting line.