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More Conflicting Reports On Sasha Vezenkov’s Future

June 29th, 2024 at 12:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Sasha Vezenkov officially has a new NBA team, having been traded from the Kings to the Raptors on Friday. However, that hasn’t quieted whispers from the rumor mill about what his future holds.

Alessandro Maggi of Sportando reported earlier today that Vezenkov is expected to return to the EuroLeague, where he earned MVP honors in 2023. According to Maggi, Vezenkov is close to finalizing a four-year contract with his former team in Greece, Olympiacos.

However, Toronto-based reporter Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca disputed that claim, noting that the Raptors have Vezenkov and his guaranteed $6.66MM salary on their books for the 2024/25 season and have no plans to waive him. The expectation from the team is that he’ll be in training camp this fall, Grange adds.

This isn’t the first time this offseason that there have been conflicting reports about Vezenkov’s future. Earlier in June, an Italian reporter claimed Vezenkov was told he was no longer in Sacramento’s plans and the team would look to trade him, while Eurohoops said that Vezenkov told the Kings he wasn’t going to return for a second season and that he was undecided on whether he would stay in the NBA or return to Europe.

A follow-up report stated that Vezenkov intended to honor his contract and indicated there was “no truth” to the rumor that the forward was considering an NBA exit. His agent subsequently said on the record that staying in the NBA was the priority, though he added that Panathinaikos and Olympiacos had interest in his client.

Given all that context, it seems likely that Vezenkov will continue on his current contract if the Raptors are interested in bringing him to camp, but this could be a situation worth keeping an eye on as the offseason progresses.

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USA Basketball Announces 15-Man Select Team

June 28th, 2024 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced in a press release that a 15-man Select Team will train with the U.S. Olympic squad as it prepares for the upcoming Olympics. The Select Team, which is made up mostly of younger players and some who have previous Team USA experience, will work out with the men’s national team in Las Vegas from July 6-8.

The members of the Select Team are as follows:

Perhaps the most notable name on the list is Flagg, who has committed to Duke and will begin his first college basketball season in the fall. He’s viewed as a strong candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Duren, Galloway, Murphy, Murray, and Pritchard were part of the U.S. Select Team that trained with the national team ahead of the 2023 World Cup.

It’s possible some of these players will use their Select Team experience as a springboard to represent Team USA in international competitions down the road. Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton are among the players on this year’s Olympic team that were members of a Select Team earlier in their respective careers.

The select team will be coached by Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, who will be joined by assistants Jim Boylen and Matt Painter. Boylen, a former Bulls head coach and current Pacers assistant, was Team USA’s head coach during the qualifying contests. Painter has been the longtime head coach at Purdue.

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Admiral Schofield Signs With French Team

June 28th, 2024 at 10:40am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent forward Admiral Schofield has signed a contract with ASVEL Basket, which competes in France’s top basketball division (LNB Elite), the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).

The 42nd pick of the 2019 draft after spending four college seasons at Tennessee, Schofield has appeared in a total of 131 NBA games with the Wizards and Magic, holding modest career averages of 3.3 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 10.5 MPG.

The 27-year-old combo forward has spent the majority of the past three seasons with Orlando, primarily on two-way contracts. He made 23 appearances for the Magic in 2023/24 for a total of 84 minutes (3.7 MPG).

Schofield’s two-way eligibility expired after he completed his fourth NBA season in ’23/24, meaning he is now only eligible for standard contracts. Evidently he didn’t find any suitable NBA offers, as he’ll be heading overseas for the first time in his professional career.

ASVEL went 25-9 last regular season in the LNB Elite, good for third place. The club was eliminated in the semifinals of the playoffs by Paris Basketball.

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International Notes: Gallinari, Melli, Sabonis, Belinelli

June 24th, 2024 at 9:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Danilo Gallinari played his first game with the Italian national team since suffering an ACL tear two years ago, writes Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. The 35-year-old forward was named MVP of the Trentino Basketball Cup after scoring 13 points in a win over Georgia, the team he was facing when he injured his knee.

“It’s a special return for me, especially after what happened two years ago, against the same team. It’s beautiful to come back on the court with these guys,” Gallinari said. “Playing next to these people it’s always a peculiar emotion. It seems like a cliché, but it’s always the same emotion as when I started with the national team at 17-18. Always the same beautiful emotions that everybody expects every summer to get back to it. Unfortunately, I had to wait two years, but it’s great.”

The injury occurred just weeks after Gallinari signed a two-year deal with the Celtics, and it changed the course of his NBA career. Instead of getting a chance to compete for a championship in Boston, Gallinari had to sit out the entire 2022/23 season. He was traded to Washington last summer and then to Detroit in January before being waived by the Pistons a month later and finishing the season with Milwaukee.

Before he tests the free agent market again, Gallinari will take part in an Olympic qualifying tournament from July 2-7 in Puerto Rico. Italy, Bahrain and the host team are in Group B, with Lithuania, Mexico and Ivory Coast making up Group A.

There’s more international news to pass along:

  • Another member of the Italian team, former NBA big man Nicolo Melli, has signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahce, according to Bugra Uzar of Eurohoops. During his previous time with Fenerbahce, Melli was part of teams that captured the 2018 Turkish League title, the 2017 President Cup and the 2019 Turkish Cup. Melli recently parted ways with Olimpia Milano in Italy, saying he wasn’t part of coach Ettore Messina‘s plans for next season. “I wasn’t thinking about leaving Milan,” Melli said. “I accept the legitimate decision by the club. I feel bad that it’s being written and said that I was the one to leave Milan.”
  • Kings center Domantas Sabonis will be part of the Lithuanian squad at the OQT in Puerto Rico, per Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. With Jonas Valanciunas skipping the tournament because of his upcoming free agency, Sabonis will be Lithuania’s only active NBA player.
  • Marco Belinelli has reached an agreement in principle for a new contract with Virtus Bologna at age 38, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. The veteran swingman played 13 NBA seasons before returning to Europe in 2020.
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Celtics Notes: Horford, Brissett, Holiday, Lundberg

June 23rd, 2024 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Al Horford could have gone out on top, but that’s not on his agenda. The veteran Celtics big man says he wants to keep playing next season and beyond, as he told Jared Weiss of The Athletic (video link).

“I’m coming back. That’s the plan. … I’ll start training in a couple weeks again,” he said.

Horford, 38, has one year left on his contract and will make $9.5MM next season. If all goes well, he might be seeking another contract next offseason.

“I feel good, I want to keep it going,” he said.

We have more Celtics news:

  • Oshae Brissett will reportedly decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s leaving, Brian Robb of MassLive.com writes. The Celtics still have the option to bring back Brissett on a veteran’s minimum deal or with Non-Bird rights. However, Brissett might prefer to find a bigger role in another organization. If he signs elsewhere, Jordan Walsh could move up the depth chart.
  • Mike Guevera, Jrue Holiday‘s longtime performance coach, marvels at how much time and effort Holiday puts into his workouts, “I’ve been doing this for 16 years. In my career, he’s approached the off-court stuff probably more intensely than the on-court stuff better than anybody I’ve worked with across the board in the NFL and the NBA,” Guevera told Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina.
  • Forward Gabriel Lundberg, who played four games for Phoenix in 2021/22, indicated that he turned down an offer from the Celtics, according to Thomas Picture of TV2 Sport. It apparently would have been a training camp invite, rather than a guaranteed contract. “Boston (was) very honest and transparent in their approach to me. I would have become something like the 15th man on the team and really only a training player,” he said. “So nothing with guaranteed playing time or opportunities. It doesn’t work for me anymore.” Lundberg has instead signed a two-year contract with the Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.
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And-Ones: Italy, Melli, Biggest Need, NBA, France, Paul

June 23rd, 2024 at 10:05am CST by Rory Maher

The Italian national team has trimmed its roster down to 13 players ahead of next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Italy will have to cut one more player to finalize its 12-man roster.

Veteran forward Danilo Gallinari, who spent last season with Wizards, Pistons and Bucks, is the only current NBA player on Italy’s roster. The 35-year-old’s contract with Milwaukee expires at the end of June, making him an unrestricted free agent. The current 13-man roster also features former NBA players Nico Mannion and Nicolo Melli. Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio, another Italian player, will not be participating with the national team after undergoing toe surgery last month.

In order to advance to the Olympics in late July, Italy will have to win the six-team tournament, which also features Bahrain, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Lithuania and Mexico.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Melli, who played two seasons with New Orleans and Detroit from 2019-21, has spent most of his career with Olimpia Milano in Italy. However, the team decided to part ways with its captain, leaving his future unclear, as Eurohoops relays. “Two or three days ago, I received a 45-second phone call in which (coach) Ettore (Messina) told me the club decided to part ways with me. I repeat: it’s a legitimate choice, but I wasn’t told if the reason behind it was a technical matter or something else,” Melli said.
  • Zulfi Sheikh of Sportsnet.ca lists the biggest need for each of the NBA’s 30 teams ahead of free agency. According to Sheikh, the last-place Pistons need a wing who can space the floor, while the title-winning Celtics could use an eventual replacement for Al Horford. The 38-year-old, who is under contract through 2024/25, recently suggested he doesn’t plan to retire this summer.
  • The NBA and the LNB (France’s top basketball league) are working to finalize a development program to improve the domestic options of talented young players in France, per Théo Quintard of Le Monde (hat tip to Askounis of Eurohoops). “This program will allow a certain number of players to be supported and highlighted in order to magnify an already excellent French team,” Fabrice Jouhaud, the general director of the LNB, told Le Monde. According to Quintard, the NBA could pay the salaries of certain draft prospects to help the LNB remain competitive with other organizations, such as Australia’s NBL and the NCAA. “The clubs will also benefit from logistical and financial assistance to encourage them to trust young people,” Jouhaud said.
  • Rich Paul of Klutch Sports spoke to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer about his strategy of trying to steer draft-eligible clients to preferred destinations. Paul was candid last week about which teams he believes are interested in Bronny James.
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Draft Workouts: Spurs, Suns, Pacers, Blazers, Lakers, Wolves, Thomas

June 20th, 2024 at 9:25pm CST by Luke Adams

The Spurs, who are widely expected to draft at least one guard next Wednesday, recently worked out both Stephon Castle of UConn and Devin Carter of Providence, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

As we relayed on Wednesday, recent mock drafts from ESPN and Bleacher Report both have San Antonio drafting Castle at No. 4, and the team is said to be high on Carter as well. Iko confirms as much, writing that the Spurs have “strong interest” in Carter, Castle, and Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard, with Carter’s private workout “resonating” among the team’s decision-makers.

Here’s more pre-draft workout news from around the NBA:

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International Notes: Giannis, Team Canada, Hezonja, Clarkson, Vildoza, Ataman, Team China

June 20th, 2024 at 9:11am CST by Dana Gauruder

Giannis Antetokounmpo is looking forward to participating in Greece’s training camp, though he’s still dealing with the injury that short-circuited the Bucks’ playoff run. Milwaukee’s superstar will look to help Greece advance out of the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Piraeus early next month.

“I have not practiced yet, but I feel better. I cannot wait to join the training camp,” he told Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net and other reporters.

Antetokounmpo suffered a calf strain late in the NBA regular season. The announcement that he would play for Greece was made at the beginning of this month.

We have more international basketball news:

  • Canada’s preliminary Olympic roster is loaded with NBA players and there will be tough decisions ahead to pare it to 12 players, Josh Lewenberg of TSN notes. Kings forward Trey Lyles, former NBA bigs Khem Birch and Mfiondu Kabengele and two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey are some of the players who, on paper, will be fighting for the last two spots on the roster, writes Lewenberg.
  • Former NBA forward Mario Hezonja announced on social media that he’s re-signing with Real Madrid, Sportando relays. “Real Madrid believed in me when many didn’t, cared for me and my family since the first day I arrived and made us feel at home. My only intention was to stay so I am happy to communicate to you that I will continue my journey at MY HOME, MY REAL MADRID for a long time!” he wrote. There had been speculation he might look at NBA opportunities.
  • Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson was not on the Philippines’ 12-man roster for the FIBA Olympic qualifier. Coach Tim Cone opted for continuity, according to executive director Erika Dy. Cone decided to go with the same group that participated in an Asia Cup qualifier over the winter. “Premise of coach Tim, we have the same roster every time. The shorter training periods will accumulate, and the players will build chemistry,” Dy said, per BasketNews.
  • Virtus Bologna is reportedly interested in former NBA guard Luca Vildoza, who is leaving Greece’s Panathinaikos, according to another Sportando report. Vildoza had a seven-game stint with the Bucks in 2021/22.
  • After leading Panathinaikos to a Euroleague title, Ergin Ataman is eager to get a shot at coaching in the NBA. But he told the Spanish outlet AS that he only wants to make the jump if he’s offered a head coaching job. “Before it was my dream, now it’s not, but if you want a star coach from Europe, here I am. Why would I be afraid of training NBA stars?” he said, per Eurohoops.net.
  • The Chinese national team will participate in the California Classic in Sacramento next month, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee reports. They’ll be grouped against Summer League teams from the Kings, Hornets, and Spurs. Squads from the Warriors, Lakers and Heat will play against each other in San Francisco.
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International Notes: Brooks, Rodriguez, Cousins, Howard, Cook, Canaan

June 19th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran free agent guard Armoni Brooks has signed a two-year contract with Olimpia Milano, the Italian team announced today in a press release.

Brooks was in the NBA as recently as this year, having appeared in 10 games for the Nets on a two-way contract before being waived in January. The 26-year-old, who has also suited up for the Rockets and Raptors since making his NBA debut in 2021, spent the rest of the 2023/24 season with the Clippers’ G League affiliate.

Brooks will join an Olimpia Milano team that has won three straight Italian League titles but struggled in EuroLeague competition this past season, finishing just 15-19 and missing the playoffs.

Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:

  • Former NBA guard Sergio Rodriguez has called it a career, formally announcing his retirement on social media (Twitter link). A first-round pick in 2006, Rodriguez spent four seasons in the NBA with Portland, Sacramento, and New York from 2006-10 before returning for the 2016/17 season with Philadelphia. However, the 38-year-old spent most of his career overseas, winning three EuroLeague titles, a EuroLeague MVP award (in 2014), and several other domestic championships in Europe. He was also a mainstay on Spain’s national team, winning a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and bronze in 2016, as well as a gold medal at the 2006 World Cup.
  • DeMarcus Cousins, Dwight Howard, and Quinn Cook – three members of the 2019/20 Lakers – are reuniting as with the Taiwan Mustags for the Asian Tournament this July, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Cousins and Howard have been out of the NBA since 2022, while Cook last played in the league in 2021.
  • Former NBA guard Isaiah Canaan has signed a two-year deal with Crvena Zvezda, according to a press release from the Serbian team. Canaan has 235 total regular season NBA games under his belt, though he hasn’t been in the league since 2019.
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And-Ones: Barkley, Nunn, Ibaka, Africa

June 17th, 2024 at 1:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently said he’s going to retire from TV at the conclusion of 2024/25, which could be the final season TNT holds the media rights to NBA games. Barkley has been an analyst on Inside the NBA since 2000.

While his comments certainly seemed genuine, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic believes Barkley will cover the NBA again in some fashion after next season ends, noting the 61-year-old has frequently talked about retirement in the past but he just signed a highly lucrative 10-year contract a couple years ago.

That long-term deal with TNT could complicate matters, but potential new (or returning) media rights holders like Amazon and NBC would love to have Barkley and the entire Inside the NBA crew on board, Marchand writes. A “more plausible” scenario, according to Marchand, would be ESPN giving Barkley a “sweetheart deal” he can’t refuse, perhaps offering to let him work less frequently while still covering the most important games, such as the NBA Finals.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA guard Kendrick Nunn, who helped lead Panathinaikos to a EuroLeague championship in ’23/24, was arrested less than a day after helping his Greek club win a domestic title, according to Eurohoops. Nunn was detained after a verbal exchange with his wife, who declined to press charges, and has subsequently been released. The 28-year-old signed a two-year contract extension with Panathinaikos last month, but he hasn’t ruled out an NBA return, as his deal contains out clauses. Nunn last played for the Lakers and Wizards in ’22/23.
  • Big man Serge Ibaka, who played 14 NBA seasons from 2009-2023, says he’s undecided on what he’s going to do next season after spending the ’23/24 campaign with Bayern Munich in Germany, per Eurohoops. Ibaka was rumored to be signing a one-year deal with Real Madrid, but he denied that’s the case.
  • Tania Ganguli of The New York Times takes an in-depth look at the NBA’s investment in Africa, which includes the Basketball Africa League. The NBA has long believed the continent could be a key way to grow the popularity of the sport and add young talent to the league’s player pool, but commissioner Adam Silver wonders if enough money is being spent to support growth. “As much as we are investing in Africa, the opportunity is so enormous I worry that we’re under-investing,” Silver said in an interview. “There’s so much opportunity, but it’s not always easy to know how to deploy capital, which government you should be dealing with, who the honest brokers are. And so we’re learning as we go.”
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