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Jahlil Okafor Officially Signs With Spanish Club

July 17th, 2023 at 3:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent center Jahlil Okafor, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2015 draft, has officially signed with Casademont Zaragoza of Spain’s Liga ACB, the team announced (via Twitter). According to Eurohoops.net, Okafor inked a one-year contract.

Olga Lorent of Onda Regional was the first to report that Zaragoza was trying to close a deal with Okafor.

A college star at Duke who helped lead the Blue Devils to the NCAA Championship in 2014/15, Okafor was drafted by the 76ers, spending his first two-plus seasons with the club. The 27-year-old bounced around the NBA for the next handful of seasons, playing for the Nets, Pelicans and Pistons from 2017-21.

Known as a strong post scorer who is limited defensively, Okafor’s last season in the league came back in 2020/21 with Detroit. In six NBA seasons, he holds career averages of 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 247 regular season games (116 starts, 19.5 minutes).

Okafor signed a training camp deal with Atlanta ahead of ’21/22, but was released before the season started. He wound up playing for the Zhejiang Lions in China. Last season, the veteran big man played for the Mexico City Capitanes of the NBA G League, averaging 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds in 16 games (27.0 minutes).

This will be the first European stint for Okafor, who suited up for Team Nigeria during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Zaragoza finished 12-22 during the ’22/23 regular season, 13th out of 18 Liga ACB teams.

And-Ones: Kaminsky, Okafor, Jones, Las Vegas

July 16th, 2023 at 8:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Frank Kaminsky is reportedly drawing interest from Maccabi Tel Aviv, Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops.net relays. Kaminsky has been in the NBA since 2015 with 413 regular-season games under his belt. An unrestricted free agent this summer, the veteran forward/center appeared in a total of 36 games last season for the Hawks and Rockets. He’s averaged 8.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in 19.8 minutes during his career.

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Jahlil Okafor is another veteran NBA big man who might be signing a contract overseas. Eurohoops.net relays a report by Olga Lorent from Onda Regional (Twitter link) that Spain’s Casademont Zaragoza is close to signing the 2015 lottery pick. Okafor hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since he played 27 games for the Pistons during the 2020/21 season. The former No. 3 overall pick signed a contract with the Hawks the subsequent offseason but was waived in October 2021.
Mason Jones has signed with the Turkish team Darussafaka, according to Sportando. Jones has appeared in a total of 36 NBA games, most recently a four-game stint with the Lakers during the 2020/21 season.
The Las Vegas Summer League has turned into a major event and the city will host the semifinals and final of the new in-season tournament. Mark Medina of TheSportingTribune.com takes a look at how Vegas has become an NBA hot spot.

Shaquille Harrison Drawing EuroLeague Interest

July 15th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard Shaquille Harrison is drawing “strong interest” from EuroLeague teams, according to a report from Eurohoops.net.

Harrison had eight brief playoff cameos for the Lakers in 2022/23. He signed with L.A. on the last day of the regular season following a 10-day hardship deal with the Trail Blazers.

The 29-year-old was waived by the Lakers at the end of last month before his non-guaranteed contract became fully guaranteed. He has yet to catch on with a new club, and could be heading to Europe for the first time.

Harrison went undrafted in 2016 after four college seasons at Tulsa. He spent his first two pro seasons playing in the NBA G League for the Northern Arizona Suns, Phoenix’s former affiliate team.

He was eventually promoted by the Suns, making his NBA debut as a rookie in 2017/18. In total, Harrison has appeared in 180 regular season games across six seasons with Phoenix, Chicago, Utah, Denver, Brooklyn and Portland, holding career averages of 5.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.0 SPG on .435/.281/.718 shooting in 15.4 MPG.

Harrison also had a 10-day hardship deal with Memphis last year, though he never played a game for the Grizzlies.

Known as strong defender, Harrison spent the majority of the past two seasons in the G League, winning NBAGL Defensive Player of the Year in ’21/22 and finishing third last season.

And-Ones: Waiters, Wade, Hernangomez, C. Brown

July 14th, 2023 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report after a workout for teams in Las Vegas this week, veteran guard Dion Waiters openly discussed the reasons he has been out of the NBA for the last three seasons and what he feels he needs to do to earn another shot. According to Waiters, he took his time in the NBA for granted, so his exit from the league has been a learning experience that he has been able to pass along to his son.

“I told him, ‘Bro, your dad is not [out of] the league because of talent. It was my attitude, my character, and not understanding that it’s bigger than me,'” Waiters said. “I feel like I had to go through this so I could explain that to my son, and that’s the dead truth.”

A former fourth overall pick, Waiters has appeared in 419 regular season games, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2020. Still just 31, the former Syracuse standout tells Haynes that he feels like he still has “a lot left in the tank” and that he believes he can be a positive leader in the locker room in addition to helping a team on the court.

“I’m healthy. I just want that opportunity just to show I’m not who I once was. And I know a lot of people talk about that, but for me, I think it’s more about showing that I’ve changed,” Waiters said. “That’s why I’m here, man. I still got that love. I still got that itch.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Dwyane Wade, a 13-time NBA All-Star who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in August, has invested in the WNBA’s Chicago Sky and will become part of the team’s ownership group, writes Alexa Philippou of ESPN.com. “It’s a great opportunity to be a part of the league in its very early stages,” Wade said. “… Growth is going to happen, and so I want to be a part of the growth of this league.”
While there have been rumblings that Juancho Hernangomez may join brother Willy Hernangomez in signing with FC Barcelona, Juancho said in a conversation with Spanish outlet Marca that “speculation is just speculation” and stressed that he remains focused on finding another NBA job, as Alessandro Maggi of Sportando relays.
Free agent guard Charlie Brown Jr. has been a standout for the Knicks at the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 17.3 PPG and 6.0 RPG in three games (28.4 MPG). Zach Braziller of The New York Post takes a closer look at the play of Brown, who is hoping that his performance in Vegas will inspire a team to sign him for training camp.
In an entertaining article for The Athletic, John Hollinger discusses the eight “nerdiest” things that happened in free agency, digging into the details of the Rockets’ sign-and-trade for Dillon Brooks, Paul Reed‘s offer sheet, and Oklahoma City becoming a dumping ground for unwanted contracts, among other moves.

Willy Hernangomez Signs Three-Year Deal With Barcelona

July 12th, 2023 at 7:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Willy Hernangomez has officially signed a three-year contract with FC Barcelona of Spain’s ACB league, per a team press release. The news was anticipated, with Barcelona inking the free agent big man to an offer sheet, which his former Spanish club Real Madrid (prior to his NBA stint) chose not to match.

Hernangomez, 29, has spent the past seven seasons in the NBA with the Knicks, Hornets and most recently the Pelicans. He was the 35th pick of the 2015 draft and made his debut with New York a year later.

A backup center, Hernangomez appeared in 135 games across three seasons with New Orleans, averaging 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per contest. The Pelicans declined their $2.6MM team option for the 2023/24 season on Hernangomez’s contract last month, putting him on track to return to Europe.

Hernangomez has also starred for the Spanish national team, winning MVP of last year’s EuroBasket tournament while leading Spain to a gold medal.

It’s possible Hernangomez will reunite with his brother Juancho Hernangomez in Barcelona, as the the team reportedly made an offer to Juancho. The free agent forward, who also holds seven years of NBA experience, spent part of last season with the Raptors before being waived in February.

And-Ones: Howard, Team USA, F. Jackson, Zikarsky

July 7th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA center Dwight Howard was out of the league during the 2022/23 season, which he spent in Taiwan. However, he still believes he can be a productive player in an NBA rotation, he said during a wide-ranging interview with Zion Olojede of Complex.com.

“I know that there’s at least 15 to 20 teams that I could play for,” Howard said. “And I know there’s teams that got great starting centers, but I know I could be a great backup center. I know I can provide a team with 25 minutes of dominant basketball. And that’s not even scoring, that’s just playing defense, locking people up, protecting the paint, rebounding, and finishing around the basket. I’ve had my fun in the game. I just want to go out like a champ like I’m supposed to.”

Referencing a June interview in which Howard said he’d love to join the Kings, Olojede asked the three-time Defensive Player of the Year which five teams he believes would be good matches for him.

“Okay, you got Miami Heat. You got obviously, the Lakers. The Warriors,” Howard said. “The Kings. But the Kings, I would say the Kings got a couple centers so they probably wouldn’t. But the Kings. The Hawks. I’m from Atlanta, go back home with the Hawks.”

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Discussing his roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup for the first time on Friday, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said he plans to lean heavily on Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Nets forward Mikal Bridges. As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, Kerr envisions Brunson having “a pretty big role” and intends to rely on Bridges defensively to match up against opponents’ high-scoring wings.
Veteran NBA guard Frank Jackson, who had a brief stint with the Jazz this past season, will continue his career overseas, having signed a deal with French team ASVEL, per a press release. Jackson had appeared in 214 career regular season NBA games since being drafted in 2017.
Rocco Zikarsky, a 7’3″ Australian big man, has decided to forgo a move to the NCAA in favor of joining the Brisbane Bullets as part of the National Basketball League’s Next Stars program, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Zikarsky, who will turn 17 next week, won’t be draft-eligible until at least 2025, but is considered one of the world’s best basketball prospects, per Givony.
John Hollinger of The Athletic doesn’t want to go so far as to call them the “losers” of free agency, but has questions about the offseason moves made so far by the Raptors, Pelicans, Kings, Trail Blazers, and Nuggets.

Willy Hernangomez Expected To Join Barcelona

July 7th, 2023 at 9:39am CST by Luke Adams

After spending the last seven seasons in the NBA, Willy Hernangomez is expected to head back home to continue his playing career. FC Barcelona has submitted an offer sheet for the Spanish big man, per a press release from Spain’s ACB league.

Although Real Madrid – Hernangomez’s former team before he arrived in the NBA – has the right to match Barcelona’s offer, Madrid doesn’t intend to take advantage of its opportunity to do so, reports Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. That will clear a path for Hernangomez to end up in Barcelona.

The 35th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Hernangomez arrived in the NBA with the Knicks in 2016. He spent a season-and-a-half in New York before moving onto Charlotte and then New Orleans, where he has played for the last three seasons.

A backup center for the Pelicans, Hernangomez appeared in 135 games across three seasons, averaging 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per contest. New Orleans declined its $2.6MM team option for the 2023/24 season on the 29-year-old’s contract last month, putting him on track to return to Europe.

It’s possible Hernangomez will reunite with his brother Juancho Hernangomez in Barcelona. According to Barbarousis, the team has made an offer to Juancho, who spent part of last season with the Raptors before being waived in February.

And-Ones: Flopping, Coach’s Challenge, Grant, Luxury Tax Payments

July 4th, 2023 at 10:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA will be testing out a proposed in-game penalty for flopping during summer league contests, according to ESPN. A flop, which will be determined by in-game referees, will be penalized by awarding the opposing team a free throw. The player who commits the flop will be assessed a unsportsmanlike technical foul, which won’t count toward personal fouls or lead to an ejection.

The league’s Board of Governors will vote on July 11 regarding the implementation of the flopping penalty for next season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The Board will also vote on a second coach’s challenge to be awarded if the first challenge is successful.

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Panathinaikos Athens is interested in signing 2023 EuroCup MVP Jerian Grant, Eurohoops’ Stavros Barbarousis reports. The Greek club is looking at Grant as a key reserve. Grant appeared in 279 NBA games from 2016-20. In 18 regular season EuroCup games last season, Grant averaged 14.6 points per game on 57.1% shooting. He also contributed 6.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per contest.
Teams below the 2022/23 luxury tax line received $15.1MM apiece, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The biggest taxpayers, the Warriors and Clippers, contributed a combined $300MM to the pool.
Have you heard about the new second round exception in the CBA? Get the details here.

International Notes: Fernandez, Canada, Paris, Almansa, More

June 28th, 2023 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez will replace Nick Nurse of the Sixers as the head coach of the Canadian national team, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Canada Basketball has officially confirmed the news, indicating in a press release that the leadership change will take place immediately. Nurse, who coached the Raptors – Canada’s only NBA team – for five seasons before being dismissed this spring, subsequently stepped down from his position with the national team. Fernandez will take the reins for the 2023 World Cup, which begins in less than two months.

Fernandez, who was born in Spain, was an assistant coach on the Nuggets’ staff from 2016-22 before joining the Kings under Mike Brown last year. He’s considered a rising head coaching candidate, having interviewed for the coaching vacancies in Phoenix and Toronto earlier in the offseason.

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

After playing a regular season game in France in 2020 and again in 2023, the NBA is on track to return to Paris in 2024, according to a report from L’Equipe, which states that the Nets and Cavaliers are the teams expected to compete in that game. There’s hope that French phenom Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs will play a game in Paris as soon as 2025, per L’Equipe.
Izan Almansa, a 6’10” Spanish big man who spent the last two years with Overtime Elite and projects to be a first-round pick in 2024, has signed with the G League Ignite, reports Jonathan Givony of ESPN. Almansa, the last prospect to join the Ignite for 2023/24, will be part of a star-studded group that includes potential top-five picks Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis.
Gianni Petrucci, the president of the Italian Basketball Federation, wasn’t thrilled by Paolo Banchero‘s decision to play for the United States instead of Italy at the upcoming World Cup, telling La Gazzetta dello Sport that the Magic forward “fooled us.” However, Petrucci clarified that he was more upset about a lack of communication from Banchero rather than the decision itself. “It was a legitimate decision, but he could have made a call to communicate that to us,” Petrucci said, per BasketNews.com. “Instead, we learned about his decision from the newspapers.”
German forward Louis Olinde, who has spent the past three seasons with Alba Berlin, is hoping to make the move to the NBA this offseason, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. According to Urbonas, Olinde has worked out for the Warriors and Thunder and has a session lined up with the Trail Blazers too. The 25-year-old is also expected to play for the Suns at the Las Vegas Summer League.

And-Ones: Mannion, Qualifying Offers, 2024 Draft, D-Lo, Hayward

June 25th, 2023 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Warriors guard Nico Mannion is signing with Baskonia in Spain, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets, calling it a done deal. Mannion played the last two seasons in his home country of Italy with Virtus Segafredo Bologna. He played 30 games with Golden State during the 2020/21 season after being drafted in the second round.

Because the Warriors issued a two-way qualifying offer to Mannion in 2021 and again in 2022, they still control his RFA rights in the event that he decides to return to the NBA. That would change if they decide not to extend that QO this year or in a future season.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

Good news for restricted free agents in future seasons — there’s a 10% increase in qualifying offers that teams must make to those players or else they become unrestricted. However, according to Mike Vornukov of The Athletic (Twitter link), it doesn’t apply to restricted free agents this summer — instead, the stipulation in the new CBA begins with this year’s rookie class. In another tweak, offer sheets for future restricted free agents will have a new deadline. If a team that has to make a decision on whether to match an offer sheet receives it before noon ET, that team has until 11:59 p.m. ET the next day to match. If it’s received after 12 p.m. ET, that team has until 11:59 pm ET two days later.
Now that the 2023 draft is behind us, what might the 2024 draft look like? ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo provide an early glimpse of next year’s draft class, doing a mock draft that includes both rounds. They predict G League Ignite guards Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis will be the first players off the board.
With the Lakers drafting Jalen Hood-Schifino, it may decrease the possibility they will try to re-sign free agent D’Angelo Russell, Cydney Henderson of USA Today writes. Gordon Hayward‘s future with the Hornets is very much in doubt with the addition of forward and No. 2 pick Brandon Miller, Henderson also notes.