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Portugal, Sweden Qualify For EuroBasket Knockout Round

September 3rd, 2025 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The group-play stage of EuroBasket wrapped up for the teams in Group A and Group B on Wednesday. Those clubs concluded their initial five-game schedules as the two round-of-16 spots still up for grabs in Groups A and B were claimed by Portgual and Sweden, respectively.

Portugal eked out a 68-65 victory over Estonia in a win-or-go-home matchup in Group A, eliminating the Estonians. Point guard Rafael Lisboa (17 points, five assists) and Celtics big man Neemias Queta (15 points) led the way for Portugal, though Queta was ejected with 4:34 left in the third quarter after picking up his second technical foul, as Brian Robb of MassLive.com details. The Portuguese team lost its slim lead following Queta’s exit, but managed to pull back in front during a back-and-forth fourth quarter.

In Group B, Montenegro missed its chance to qualify for the round of 16 by falling to Great Britain, resulting in both teams finishing the group stage with an 1-4 record. Sweden, which lost a tight 74-71 contest to Lithuania on Wednesday, also went 1-4, but earned the tiebreaker over Montenegro and Great Britain by virtue of their point differential. Heat forward Pelle Larsson has been the standout for Sweden so far, averaging a team-high 19.8 points per game across four outings.

[RELATED: Nikola Vucevic Retires From Montenegrin National Team]

The final standings for Groups A and B are now set, which means the first four matchups in the single-elimination stage are set too. The top team in Group A will play the fourth-place team in Group B, the second-place Group A team faces the third-place Group B squad, and so on.

As a result of Turkey knocking off Serbia to claim the top spot in Group A, the round-of-16 matchups played on Saturday will be as follows:

  • Turkey (A1) vs. Sweden (B4)
  • Serbia (A2) vs. Finland (B3)
  • Latvia (A3) vs. Lithuania (B2)
  • Portugal (A4) vs. Germany (B1)

FIBA has announced Saturday tip-off times for all four matchups.

Groups C and D will wrap up their group-stage schedule on Thursday. Two spots in the round of 16 are still available in Group C, where only Greece (3-1) and Italy (3-1) have qualified so far. Spain (2-2) would advance with a win over Greece, while the winner of the Georgia (2-2) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2) will also clinch a spot in the knockout round.

If Greece wins on Thursday, the Spaniards would need a Georgia victory in order to advance — in that scenario, both Spain and Bosnia and Herzeogvina would be 2-3, and Spain would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Georgia holds the tiebreaker edge over Spain.

All four teams who will advance out of Group D are already known: Israel (3-1), Poland (3-1), France (3-1), and Slovenia (2-2) have clinched their spots. However, seeding remains in flux, with Thursday’s Israel vs. Slovenia showdown looming as a crucial matchup.

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Eastern Notes: Nets, Celtics, Bulls, Jovic

September 1st, 2025 at 7:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets still have roughly $16MM in cap space left, according to New York Post’s Brian Lewis, and could still explore ways to add more draft assets from a team looking to dump salary. The Nets have already absorbed the contracts of Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann and Haywood Highsmith while picking up a 2025 first-round pick (Drake Powell was taken in that spot), the Nuggets’ unprotected 2032 first-round pick and the Heat’s 2032 second-rounder. They are actively looking for more of those opportunities, Lewis reports.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Now that the Celtics ownership has changed hands, will there be a change of venue? The Boston Globe’s Shirley Leung explores that possibility, noting that the new owners are keeping their options open. Currently, the Celtics share TD Garden with the NHL Bruins and rent from Garden owner Delaware North, Leung points out. It might more sense for the franchise to play in a new basketball arena flanked by real estate development in the surrounding area.
  • The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley has offered plenty of criticism regarding the Bulls’ front office in recent years. However, Cowley believes that there are other front offices more dysfunctional that the one led by executive VP Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley, placing the Pelicans, Knicks and Suns in that category.
  • Nikola Jovic suffered what appeared to be a minor hand injury in Serbia’s 82-60 EuroBasket victory over the Czech Republic, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. The Heat forward had 10 points and six rebounds for Serbia, which has already had clinched a spot in the round of 16.
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EuroBasket Notes: Fontecchio, Avdija, Sarr, Vucevic, Sengun

September 1st, 2025 at 1:36pm CST by Earnest Marshall

After shooting a rough 23.8% from the field in Italy’s first two EuroBasket games, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio rebounded in a big way on Sunday. As The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang (Twitter link) relays, Fontecchio poured in 39 points while shooting 65.0% from the field and 70.0% from three in a win against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also added eight rebounds and three assists across 37 minutes.

The Italian forward broke his country’s all-time single-game scoring record, surpassing Andrea Bargnani‘s 36 points in 2011. The only other modern player in Italy’s all-time top five is Danilo Gallinari‘s 33 points in 2015.

Fontecchio’s breakout EuroBasket game, which included seven three-pointers, is an encouraging sign for the Heat. Fontecchio arrived in Miami in the trade that sent the Heat’s all-time leader in three-pointers, Duncan Robinson, to the Pistons.

We have more from EuroBasket:

  • Israel pulled off an upset in Group D with a 80-69 win over France behind a 23-point, eight-rebound, five-steal performance from Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, per Eurohoops.net. According to the official French National Team page (Twitter link), Wizards center Alex Sarr missed the game to rest a minor right calf injury.
  • Bulls center Nikola Vucevic helped deliver Montenegro a huge win over Sweden in Group B, recording 23 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. As BasketNews details, Vucevic’s performance was one of his best in a national team jersey. “It felt great, great team effort, proud of all the guys, really competed, really left it all on the floor,” Vucevic said. “Anybody that came into the game played, had huge impact at different points right throughout the game and that’s what we needed.”
  • Alperen Sengun notched 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Estonia and has led Turkey to a 4-0 record in Group A. According to Eurohoops.net, the Rockets center became the first player in the last 30 years to record at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in three straight EuroBasket games.
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Southeast Notes: Badji, Young, Riley, Arison

August 30th, 2025 at 12:38pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Hornets’ G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, has traded for the rights to center Ibou Badji in a deal with the Bucks’ NBAGL squad, the Wisconsin Herd, Greensboro announced via Twitter.

In the exchange, Wisconsin acquired the No. 31 pick in the 2025 G League draft and the rights to center Jeremiah Tilmon and guard Lindell Wigginton.

Badji, 22, led the G League in blocks in 2024/25, and was named to the G League All-Defensive Team for his play with Wisconsin. The big man inked a two-way deal with the Blazers in 2023/24, appearing in 22 contests (one start). He averaged 1.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 10.3 MPG.

Across 34 games for the Herd in 2024/25, Badji averaged 6.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 3.4 BPG. He joined the Spanish squad La Laguna Tenerife in April.

Wigginton last played in the Chinese Basketball Association, while Tilman has been with clubs in Kuwait, the Dominican Republic, and Korea since 2024.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Hawks guard Trae Young is eligible for a standard veteran extension and could decline his 2026/27 player option to begin a new deal sooner rather than later. Keith Smith of Spotrac previews what a possible contract might look like for Young, though he observes that Atlanta appears to be waiting to see how the four-time All-Star performs with the team’s new-look roster before committing to a lengthy extension. Young, an undersized guard, would need to make an All-NBA in 2026 to qualify for a super-max contract, worth up to 35% of the cap’s max in the first season.
  • Heat owner Micky Arison is headed to the Hall of Fame this week as a contributor. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel examines why Pat Riley, who has made the Hall of Fame before as a coach, has yet to make the cut as a contributor. Riley is one of the great modern executives, having overseen three very different rosters en route to seven NBA Finals appearances since 2005/06, winning three championships.
  • In case you missed it, Miami opted not to waive and stretch the $26.7MM contract of guard Terry Rozier ahead of this season. The deadline to do so was Friday.
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Heat Notes: Stretch Provision, Rozier, Jovic, Fontecchio, Larsson

August 30th, 2025 at 10:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Heat could have created more flexibility below the luxury tax line for the upcoming season by using the waive-and-stretch provision, but they passed on that option prior to Friday’s deadline, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald notes.

The most obvious candidate would have been Terry Rozier, as his contract carries a $26.7MM cap hit. The Heat could have stretched that to $8.9MM over each the next three seasons. However, there was no real urgency to take that route once they traded Haywood Highsmith to the Nets.

Miami is approximately $1.7MM under the luxury tax threshold and around $7.2MM below the first apron. The Heat have 15 players signed to standard deals, including one training camp contract, but only 12 have fully guaranteed salaries, as our roster counts display.

Here’s more on the Heat:

  • Speaking of Rozier, it’s unlikely he’ll be part of the rotation if he remains on the roster, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. The Heat will likely go with younger players like Pelle Larsson, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and/or rookie Kasparas Jakucionis off the bench, rather than Rozier. The veteran could find his way into the mix if one of their wing scorers gets injured, suggests Winderman.
  • Nikola Jovic had another solid outing in the EuroBasket tournament on Friday. He made all six of his field goal attempts while scoring 18 points during Serbia’s win over Portugal, Chiang tweets. Jovic added six rebounds in 31 minutes.
  • Simone Fontecchio, acquired from Detroit in the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade, continued to struggle for Italy in its win over Georgia on Saturday. Fontecchio scored four points on 1-for-11 shooting in Italy’s opening game in EuroBasket. In Italy’s second tournament game, Fontecchio scored 14 points but missed all five of his three-point attempts and committed six turnovers, Chiang relays (Twitter link).
  • Larsson missed Sweden’s second EuroBasket game on Friday due to an illness but quickly bounced back. Larsson had 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and two steals with five turnovers in a 78-59 victory over Great Britain on Saturday, Winderman tweets.
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Heat Notes: Jovic, Larsson, Fontecchio, Dragic

August 28th, 2025 at 5:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Heat forward Nikola Jovic got off to an excellent start at the EuroBasket tournament in Latvia on Wednesday, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Jovic was Serbia’s leading scorer – with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting – and was an eye-popping plus-36 in just 16 minutes of action in a blowout victory over Estonia.

As impressive as Jovic was a scorer and shooter (3-of-4 on three-pointers), his passing was perhaps even more noteworthy — he racked up six assists while committing just one turnover. The 22-year-old has averaged 2.2 assists per game in 107 regular season outings through three NBA seasons.

A pair of Jovic’s Heat teammates who are also competing at EuroBasket weren’t as productive in their respective 2025 debuts. Pelle Larsson battled foul trouble and scored just 10 points while missing all four of his three-point tries in Sweden’s loss to Finland on Wednesday. On Thursday, Simone Fontecchio made just 1-of-11 shots from the field and was a minus-11 across 34 minutes in Italy’s nine-point loss to Greece.

We have more on the Heat:

  • In a mailbag for The Sun Sentinel, Winderman explores the Heat’s expectations and projected roles for Jovic and Larsson in 2025/26, suggesting that Jovic will likely be a top frontcourt reserve while Larsson would be doing well to show he can be a “quality ninth man.”
  • Although former Heat point guard Goran Dragic may one day take on a more formal role with the club, there’s no indication that he’s joining Erik Spoelstra‘s coaching staff at this point, despite social media posts that showed him in attendance at practice, Winderman writes for The Sun Sentinel. For now, it appears Dragic is just informally “looking to pass on knowledge to the next generation,” including rookie point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, Winderman explains.
  • With the deadline for teams to use the stretch provision on 2025/26 salaries now less than 24 hours away, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald hears from a league source that the Heat are “leaning against” stretching anyone’s salary on Thursday or Friday. A waive-and-stretch move likely would’ve received more serious consideration if Miami hadn’t moved under the luxury tax line by trading Haywood Highsmith to Brooklyn earlier this month.
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Fischer’s Latest: Beasley, Warriors, Brogdon, Highsmith, More

August 28th, 2025 at 2:35pm CST by Rory Maher

The status of free agent wing Malik Beasley is somewhat murky at the moment, writes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

While Beasley’s lawyers told ESPN their client is no longer the “target” of a federal gambling probe, a subsequent report said he was still a “subject” and could still face legal challenges. Beasley is also expected to be investigated by the NBA, Fischer reports.

According to Fischer, the Cavaliers, Knicks, Timberwolves and Pistons are the main teams to touch base with Beasley’s camp in the hope that he’ll eventually be able to play in 2025/26. However, Fischer hears none of those teams have actually discussed signing Beasley with his future seemingly still up in the air.

If Beasley is ultimately cleared of any legal wrongdoing and by the NBA, the 28-year-old will be seeking more than the veteran’s minimum on his next contract, sources tell Fischer. It’s worth noting that of the four suitors, Detroit — his incumbent team — can offer Beasley the highest starting salary ($7.2MM). Cleveland and New York would be limited to minimum-salary deals, while Minnesota could offer a little above the minimum.

Here are a few more rumors from Fischer’s latest story:

  • Jonathan Kuminga‘s uncertain contract status has had a ripple effect on several free agents still on the market, Fischer notes, including Malcolm Brogdon. Fischer says the Warriors are expected to sign Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II and No. 56 overall pick Will Richard once Kuminga’s situation is resolved and have expressed a level of interest in Brogdon as well. The Knicks and Timberwolves have also been keeping an eye on Brogdon, Fischer adds.
  • While Fischer’s breakdown of prospective Warriors signees includes Richard, he doesn’t mention No. 52 overall pick Alex Toohey at all. That could point to the Australian wing ending up on a two-way contract or as a draft-and-stash prospect rather than being a candidate for the 15-man roster.
  • Fischer hears that the Timberwolves are “actively trying to work through the financial details” in a new contract for Bones Hyland. That suggests Hyland, who is no longer eligible for a two-way deal, may receive a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contract.
  • The Heat are still trying to trade Terry Rozier but there’s “scant” interest in the veteran guard, who is also being investigated as part of a federal gambling probe. Miami is also believed to be interested in a buyout, Fischer reports, though nothing is imminent on that front.
  • Fischer expects new Nets forward Haywood Highsmith to be back on the trade block at some point. Brooklyn has “no plans” to be competitive in 2025/26 and will continue to look to stockpile assets in trades, Fischer adds. The Nets recently acquired Highsmith, who is recovering from knee surgery, from Miami along with a second-round pick. Assuming he’s back to full health, Highsmith should have a chance to rebuild his trade value, and his expiring $5.6MM contract would fit into a team’s mid-level exception.
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28 Current NBA Players Competing In FIBA EuroBasket 2025

August 27th, 2025 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024, the 2025 NBA offseason doesn’t feature a major international tournament in which the United States’ top stars are competing.

However, several of the league’s biggest names – including three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and five-time All-NBA first-teamer Luka Doncic – are taking part in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, which tipped off on Wednesday.

The tournament, also known as the European Basketball Championship, takes place every four years and features 24 European countries vying for a gold medal. The 24 teams who qualified for EuroBasket are split up into four groups and will face the other teams in their group across five games from August 27 to September 4.

At the end of group play, the top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout round, which is a single-elimination tournament featuring the remaining 16 countries.

By our count, 28 active NBA players are taking part in EuroBasket 2025, along with 30 former NBA players and several more who were selected in an NBA draft but have yet to play in the league.

Here’s the full list of current and former NBA players set to compete in EuroBasket, sorted by group and country:

Group A

Czechia (Czech Republic)

  • Current NBA players: Vit Krejci (Hawks)
  • Former NBA players: None

Estonia

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: Henri Drell

Latvia

Portugal

  • Current NBA players: Neemias Queta (Celtics)
  • Former NBA players: None

Serbia

Serbia’s roster also includes Nikola Milutinov and Vanja Marinkovic, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.

Turkey

Group B

Finland

Germany

Great Britain

Lithuania

Lithuania’s roster also includes Rokas Jokubaitis, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league, and Azuolas Tubelis, who was on a two-way contract with the Sixers during the 2023 offseason but was waived before the season began.

Montenegro

Sweden

  • Current NBA players: Pelle Larsson (Heat)
  • Former NBA players: None

Group C

Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Current NBA players: Jusuf Nurkic (Jazz)
  • Former NBA players: None

Cyprus

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

Georgia

Greece

Italy

Italy’s roster also includes Matteo Spagnolo, Gabriele Procida, and Saliou Niang, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.

Spain

Group D

Belgium

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

France

France’s roster also includes Isaia Cordinier, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.

Iceland

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

Israel

  • Current NBA players: Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers)
  • Former NBA players: None

Israel’s roster also includes Yam Madar, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.

Poland

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: Jordan Loyd

Slovenia

  • Current NBA players: Luka Doncic (Lakers)
  • Former NBA players: None
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EuroBasket Notes: Cyprus, Players To Watch, Celtics, Heat, Top Matchups

August 26th, 2025 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Cyprus, which will be competing in EuroBasket for the first time ever this year, announced its 12-man roster for the event on Monday, as FIBA relays. Cyprus’ national team doesn’t feature any current or former NBA players, but the group includes former Wichita State big man Darral Willis, up-and-coming point guard Filippos Tigkas, and sharpshooter Konstantinos Simitzis, who was the squad’s leading scorer in the qualifiers.

Competing in Group C, Cyprus will begin its group-play games on Thursday against Bosnia and Herzegovina before taking on Greece, Spain, Georgia, and Italy.

Here’s more on EuroBasket 2025, which will tip off on Wednesday:

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Southeast Notes: Spoelstra, Jovic, Labissiere, Coulibaly, Holmes

August 25th, 2025 at 4:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra visited Europe last week to watch some of his players in exhibition games prior to the EuroBasket tournament.

That didn’t go unnoticed by forward Nikola Jovic, as Spoelstra went to Belgrade to watch Jovic play for the Serbian national team in an exhibition against Slovenia.

“I was definitely motivated [by Spoelstra watching], he’s one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best,” Jovic said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “He went the extra mile to come see me, I definitely wanted to show that I’ve improved and that I’ll be even better next season.”

Spoelstra believes Jovic will benefit from the experience.

“I love it when he spends time with the national team. Every time he comes back to us, he comes back more mature,” he said in a TV interview. “I think being around a group that knows how to win, that really cares about winning, the team is so connected also. So I think it makes a big impression on him. We’re looking forward to some great things ahead for him with us.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

  • Skal Labissiere‘s NBA G League rights were acquired by the Capital City G0-Go from the Stockton Kings in a four-team swap, James Ham of The Kings Beat tweets. That clears the way for Labissiere to join the Wizards‘ affiliate if he’s waived during training camp. Washington agreed to sign the veteran big man to a training camp deal earlier this month. Labissiere, 29, has appeared in 152 NBA games after getting drafted late in the first round in 2016. He was out of the league for four seasons until he appeared in four games with the Kings last season.
  • Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly says he’ll miss big man Richaun Holmes, who signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos, the 2024 EuroLeague champions. The unrestricted free agent played 48 games with the Wizards over the past two seasons. “I love him, I love Rich. He’s probably the hardest player I’ve played with,” Coulibaly told Giorgos Kyriakidis of Basketnews.com. “I’d love to be with him on the court. I think he’s going to fit well with this team. So, good luck to him.”
  • In case you missed it, the Magic signed Colin Castleton to a training camp contract. Get the details here.
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