And-Ones: Youth Academy, Prigioni, Pelicans
The NBA will team with Basketball Australia to create a youth academy in Canberra, according to A.J. Neuhart-Keusch of USA Today. Known as NBA Global Academy, the facility will be an elite training center for young players. Located at the Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport, the academy is designed to be a “global hub” for international prospects. The NBA has three similar facilities in China. “NBA Global Academy will allow top prospects from around the world to train with and compete against their peers in a structured environment under the supervision of NBA-trained coaches and in collaboration with BA’s internationally recognized coaches,” said Brooks Meek, NBA vice president of international basketball operations.
- Barcelona has confirmed its interest in 39-year-old point guard Pablo Prigioni, relays Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Head coach Georgios Bartzokas said the team has its eye on Prigioni, who was waived by the Rockets last month, but cautioned that it’s far from a done deal. “Every guard in the market with European passport interests us,” Bartzokas said. “Prigioni, with his great career and potential is one of them. But the most important thing is to bring a player that fits into our system. It’s not just about the potential, quality or level of the player. It’s about whether he fits with us and whether he’s able to play well with our players.”
- The Pelicans top a list of teams that should be very worried by their slow starts, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. New Orleans has an 0-8 record and is hampered by injuries to Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter and Lance Stephenson, who was waived over the weekend. The Pelicans are also without starting point guard Jrue Holiday, who remains on a leave of absence to care for his ailing wife. Bontemps says there are whispers that coach Alvin Gentry may be fired if the team doesn’t start winning soon. The other teams on Bontemps’ list are the Wizards, Knicks, Mavericks and Timberwolves.
- Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is the latest player to incorporate strobe lights into his training, according to Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com. The flashing lights, which simulate photographers’ flashes, were first incorporated by Michael Jordan in the 1990s.
Josh Smith To Play In China
Longtime NBA forward Josh Smith will be heading overseas for the coming season, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Smith is joining the Sichuan Whales, the reigning champs in the Chinese Basketball Association. A source tells Pick that the short-term deal will be worth $1.5MM+.
For Smith, it’s a change of direction, as he had reportedly turned down a lucrative offer to play in China earlier this year. Back in September, the 30-year-old said that his “main goal” was to continue playing in the NBA, and that if he had “jumped to leave [his] NBA chances behind, it would’ve been an act of desperation.” A month and a half later, apparently with no appealing NBA opportunities available, Smith is heading to China after all.
A 17th overall pick back in 2004, Smith has already spent 12 seasons in the NBA, despite the fact that he won’t turn 31 for another month. In 891 career regular season contests for the Hawks, Pistons, Rockets, and Clippers, the veteran forward has averaged 14.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.9 BPG, and 1.2 SPG. He has also appeared in 73 career postseason games.
In Sichuan, Smith will be joining a team coming off a championship win earlier this year. Former NBA players Mike Harris and Hamed Haddadi are among the leading scorers for the Blue Whales.
Chinese Team Interested In Josh Smith
Josh Smith may be nearing a deal to play in China, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. The Sichuan Whales are interested in the 30-year-old forward, who spent 12 years in the NBA.
Smith divided last year between the Clippers and Rockets, playing 55 total games and averaging 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per night. He also spent nine years in Atlanta and a season and a half with Detroit.
Smith, who wasn’t invited to any training camp, gave an interview in September where he said he understood that he needed to change his mindset to continue his NBA career. He also claimed the perception of him around the league changed when he was released by the Pistons after signing a four-year, $58MM deal. Smith agreed to a buyout with Detroit, so he will earn $5,331,729 annually through the 2019/20 season.
Ex-Piston Lorenzo Brown Headed To Russia
Point guard Lorenzo Brown will sign with Russia’s Unics Kazan in the Euroleague, league sources informed Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter links).
Brown was forced to consider other options after being a late training camp cut by the Pistons. He battled Ray McCallum for the third point guard spot behind Reggie Jackson and Ish Smith, a competition that McCallum won. It turned out to be a moot point when coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy opted to claim Beno Udrih off waivers from the Heat just before the season opener and waive McCallum.
Detroit signed Brown to a 10-day contract late last season and then decided to keep him during the postseason, when it was swept in the opening round by the Cavaliers. Brown, who had a non-guaranteed deal, never appeared in a game with the Pistons.
Brown’s last NBA action came in January, when he was on two 10-days with the Suns. He averaged 2.5 points, 1.4 assists and 1.1 turnovers in 7.6 minutes per game across eight appearances with Phoenix.
Brown spent much of the season with Detroit’s D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids, averaging 18.3 points, 5.8 assists and 2.9 turnovers in 33.3 minutes per game. The relationship between the Pistons and the former N.C. State standout, who was the 52nd pick in the 2013 draft, dates to the 2014 preseason, when Brown was on Detroit’s training camp roster.
Brown, 26, appeared in 29 games with the Timberwolves in 2014/15, including seven starts, and played 26 games for the Sixers in his rookie year.
Jorge Gutierrez To Play In Turkey
Free agent guard Jorge Gutierrez will head overseas after being cut last month by the Nets, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Gutierrez is signing with Turkish team Trabzonspor.
An undrafted point guard out of the University of California, Gutierrez has appeared in 47 total NBA games since 2014, debuting for the Nets and also spending time with the Bucks and Hornets. For his career, he has averaged 2.9 PPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.1 RPG, while shooting 50.0% from the field. Gutierrez has spent more time over the past several seasons in the D-League, playing 122 contests for the Canton Charge.
Gutierrez was one of a handful of players waived by the Nets during preseason roster cutdowns, joining Chase Budinger and a few other teammates on the waiver wire. Like Budinger, he’ll play professional ball internationally rather than heading to Brooklyn’s D-League affiliate with Beau Beech, Yogi Ferrell, and Egidijus Mockevicius.
The timing of the move is interesting, as the Nets may be in need of point guard help, having announced today that Jeremy Lin will miss at least the next two weeks with a strained hamstring. With Greivis Vasquez and Caris LeVert also ailing, the Nets’ backcourt is thin and Gutierrez is a player with whom the club is familiar.
Still, Brooklyn has 15 guaranteed contracts on its books, so the team is unlikely to make a roster move for a short-term fix. And in any case, it seems Gutierrez wouldn’t be an option, now that he has committed to Trabzonspor.
And-Ones: Budinger, Allen, World Peace, O. Johnson
After being waived by the Nets last month, Chase Budinger has headed to Spain to join Baskonia. As Eurohoops.net details, Budinger says he’s excited to follow in the footsteps of former Baskonia big man Luis Scola, whom Budinger describes as a “mentor.” There will be no shortage of former Nets on the roster this season for Baskonia, as the team also features Andrea Bargnani, Shane Larkin, and Tornike Shengelia.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Now that Ray Allen has formally announced his retirement, what’s next for the future Hall-of-Famer? Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders explores that subject, recalling that when he spoke to Allen back in 2014, the veteran sharpshooter expressed interest in eventually getting into coaching.
- The Lakers were in Indiana last night to play the Pacers, and veteran forward Metta World Peace took the opportunity to express some remorse about his time in Indiana earlier in his career, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. According to World Peace, he can “never forgive” himself for letting so many people in the Pacers organization down.
- Former second-round pick Orlando Johnson, who appeared in regular-season games with the Suns and Pelicans last season, has signed a three-month deal with Russian team UNICS Kazan, as relayed by Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Johnson was in camp with the Bucks this fall, but didn’t make Milwaukee’s regular season roster.
And-Ones: Prigioni, Teague, Evans, Hummel
Pablo Prigioni, who was waived by Houston on Monday, is drawing interest from a team in Spain, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The 39-year-old point guard has an offer from Barcelona that he is reportedly considering. Prigioni played for the Knicks, Clippers and Rockets in four NBA seasons.
There’s more NBA-related news tonight:
- Former NBA guard Marquis Teague has been released by his Israeli team, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. The younger brother of Pacers guard Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague played 88 games for the Bulls and Nets but has been out of the league for the past two seasons.
- Ex-NBA players Jeremy Evans and Robbie Hummel have signed with Khimki Moscow, Pick reports (Twitter link). Evans, who was waived by the Pacers last week, had a guaranteed $1,227,286 contract. Hummel had a $150K guarantee from the Nuggets, who released him last week.
- Three recently waived players were part of a D-League trade today, reports Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). The Northern Arizona Suns dealt Xavier Munford, Cory Jefferson and Alec Brown to the Greensboro Swarm in exchange for three draft picks. Munford, a 24-year-old shooting guard, was released by the Clippers, Jefferson was cut by the Cavaliers and Brown was waived by the Suns.
NBA Vet Chase Budinger Headed To Europe
Forward Chase Budinger, the final training-camp cut by the Nets, has signed with Baskonia of Spain, international journalist David Pick tweets. The news was also reported by Sportando and Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Budinger will join two other former NBA players who previously signed with Baskonia in the Euroleague, center Andrea Bargnani and point guard Shane Larkin.
Budinger signed a non-guaranteed contract with Brooklyn just prior to camp. The 6’7” Budinger, who was originally drafted in 2009 by the Pistons and then immediately shipped to the Rockets, has bounced around the league in recent years. After playing three seasons in Houston, he was a reserve for the Timberwolves for three consecutive campaigns.
He appeared in 49 games with the Pacers last season before he was waived in early March. He was quickly snapped up by the Suns and came off the bench in 17 games for them as the season wound down.
Budinger averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 rebounds in 19.7 minutes over 407 NBA games. A career 35.2% shooter from 3-point range, Budinger shot under 30% from beyond the arc last year for both Indiana and Phoenix, which cooled interest in him on the free-agent market. It’s possible now that Budinger, 28, has played his last NBA game.
Markel Brown To Play In Russia
After being waived by the Cavaliers last week, Markel Brown has lined up another job. Brown will head overseas, having agreed to a deal with Russian team Khimki Moscow, according to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link).
Brown, 24, spent the last two seasons in Brooklyn, averaging 5.3 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 1.2 APG in his 109 total contests with the club. He played sparingly during the 2015/16 season until Lionel Hollins was dismissed as the Nets’ head coach — he saw his minutes – and his production – increase down the stretch. In his final 30 games of the season, Brown averaged 9.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.1 APG, and shot .438/.358/.758, a significant improvement on his career marks.
Despite his solid performance last spring, Brown ultimately wasn’t in the Nets’ plans. After initially tendering him a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, Brooklyn rescinded that QO near the end of the July moratorium. The OSU alum signed a camp deal with the Cavs, but didn’t receive any guaranteed money from the team and was one of Cleveland’s cuts leading up to the season.
Southwest Notes: Holiday, Demps, Beverley
Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday remains on a leave of absence to care for his wife and newborn daughter, and his representatives have provided an update on the family. In a statement posted on the team’s website, Glushon Management says Lauren Holiday had surgery to remove a brain tumor earlier this month at Duke University Hospital. The couple’s daughter, who was born in September, is “healthy and at home with her family.” The Pelicans have given Holiday permission to remain away from the team for as long as necessary to take care of his family.
There’s more news from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans GM Dell Demps will probably get some time to see if his 11 offseason roster additions can be successful, writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Demps kept his job after the 2014/15 season when the organization fired Monty Williams as head coach, and Duncan doesn’t see this as a make-or-break year. The only exceptions could be if the Pelicans get off to a disastrous start like they did in 2015/16 or if Demps’ contract, the details of which haven’t been made public, expires at the end of the season. New Orleans hired former Hawks GM Danny Ferry as a special advisor over the summer.
- The Rockets are preparing to start the season without point guard Patrick Beverley and power forward Donatas Motiejunas, posts Calvin Watkins on ESPN Now. Beverley will have surgery Tuesday on his injured left knee and is expected to be out of action four to six weeks. Motiejunas is a restricted free agent and remains unsigned three days before the team’s opener. “Taking two guys who can play 60 minutes, 30 each, who aren’t here, it’s going to have an impact,” said Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.
- Small forward Troy Williams appears on the verge of earning a roster spot with the Grizzlies, writes Michael Wallace of NBA.com. After going undrafted out of Indiana, Williams signed a two-year deal with Memphis in late July with a $150K guarantee. He was the top preseason scorer among rookies at 13.2 points per game and led the Grizzlies in scoring three times.
- D.J. Stephens, who was waived by the Grizzlies Saturday, may opt to play overseas instead of playing for the team’s D-League affiliate, Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link).