Dante Exum Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Olympic Notes: Gabriel, Exum, K. Antetokounmpo, Galloway

July 22nd, 2024 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Veteran NBA big man Wenyen Gabriel believes South Sudan is ready to become a force in international basketball, writes Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. Before taking on the world’s best teams at the Olympics, the Bright Stars got plenty of attention by nearly upsetting Team USA in an exhibition game on Saturday.

“A lot of people around the world don’t know what South Sudan was, but today we were able to represent our country with pride, put up a good fight, and show them the potential of our country,” Gabriel said. “It was a proud moment for a lot of people. Obviously, we wanted to win, we played really well and I’m really proud of my teammates, the heart we showed, the dedication, and trying to put respect on our name, and to get our country respected.”

South Sudan has built a competitive basketball program since gaining its independence from Sudan 13 years ago. Former NBA star Luol Deng has financed the effort, but the nation is still in the process of building its first indoor basketball court. Gabriel is looking forward to seeing young South Sudanese players develop their skills as facilities become more widespread.

“There are some tall kids back in the village, I remember I came back home to South Sudan to visit them, and they didn’t have any opportunities,” he added. “Seven feet tall and they’re herding cows. Some people around the world don’t have the opportunity to play basketball for a living, to go shoot hoops, to go fish for food, do different things to survive. Today was an example and something to bring us together.”

There’s more on the Olympics:

An injured finger won’t prevent Mavericks guard Dante Exum from playing in the Olympics, according to ESPN Australia. Exum had to leave Sunday’s exhibition game against France after hurting the finger on a drive to the basket, but X-rays showed it’s a compound dislocation rather than a fracture. “Any time one of your key pieces goes down there’s some degree of concern,” Australian teammate Jock Landale said. “They’ve cleared him for play and Dante’s a pretty tough individual … he’s definitely a key piece of the puzzle for us.”
Kostas Antetokounmpo has been ruled out for Greece due to a knee injury, per a Eurohoops report. Doctors determined that the former Mavericks and Lakers forward hasn’t made enough progress in his recovery to receive medical clearance. Giannis Antetokounmpo will headline the Greek roster, but Thanasis Antetokounmpo will also be sidelined as he recovers from Achilles surgery.
Langston Galloway talked to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about his unique experience with USA Basketball. After being part of the Select Team that scrimmaged against Team USA in Las Vegas, Galloway was offered the opportunity to travel with the squad and fill a reserve spot during exhibition play. “It’s just a full-circle moment because I played against so many of these guys during my time in the NBA,” Galloway said. “Everybody knows what I can do, and I continue to showcase that. They know I can do it. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. And hey, maybe it’s a full-circle moment. Maybe I’ll be able to get back in the league at some point.”

International Notes: Olympic Qualifiers, Robinson, Australia, Canada, Hayes-Davis

July 4th, 2024 at 9:28pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of NBA superstars will match up this weekend in Greece as they look to keep their home countries’ Olympic hopes alive. The Greek national team, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, will take on Luka Doncic and the Slovenians in the semifinals of one of four ongoing Olympic qualifying tournaments (link via ESPN). The winner of Greece vs. Slovenia will go on to face the winner of Croatia vs. Dominican Republic for a spot in the men’s basketball Olympic tournament in Paris.

In total, four Olympic berths still remain up for grabs. The other semifinal matchups in Olympic qualifying tournaments around the globe are as follows:

Riga, Latvia:
- Latvia vs. Cameroon
- Brazil vs. Philippines
Valencia, Spain:
- Spain vs. Finland
- Bahamas vs. Lebanon
San Juan, Puerto Rico:
- Puerto Rico vs. Mexico
- Lithuania vs. Italy

While none of the other teams fighting for a spot in the Olympics has a perennial MVP candidate like Antetokounmpo or Doncic on its roster, there are many NBA players competing in the qualifying tournaments, including All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis for Lithuania and Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield, and Eric Gordon representing the Bahamas.

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

Former NBA lottery pick Jerome Robinson has signed with Saint-Quentin in France, the team officially announced (via Twitter). Robinson, who was drafted 13th overall in 2018, has appeared in a total of 135 NBA regular season games, including 22 with Golden State last season while on a two-way contract with the Warriors.
The Australian national team has set its 12-man roster for the Olympics, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN, who notes that eight active NBA players – Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Dante Exum, Jock Landale, Duop Reath, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, and Joe Ingles – made the cut, along with former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova. Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle is the most surprising omission, Uluc adds.
Team Canada hasn’t set its Olympic roster yet, but pared it down a little on Wednesday, with Oshae Brissett among the cuts. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links), Brissett – who is coming off a championship season as a Celtics reserve – asked to withdraw to focus on his NBA free agency. It looks like there are 10 NBA players who are safe bets to be on the Canadian squad, with two roster spots still up for grabs, as Lewenberg outlines in another tweet.
Nigel Hayes-Davis, the former NBA forward who is part of the U.S. Select Team and was rumored this spring to be drawing NBA interest, has re-upped with Fenerbahce, signing a three-year contract with the Turkish team, according to a press release.

Hawks, Bruno Fernando Agree To Push Back Guarantee Date

June 29th, 2024 at 9:36pm CST by Luke Adams

For a second straight year, the Hawks and Bruno Fernando have reached an agreement to push back his salary guarantee date, reports Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).

In 2023, Atlanta moved Fernando’s salary guarantee deadline from June 29 to July 10, then ultimately kept him on the roster, guaranteeing his full $2.58MM salary for ’23/24. The guarantee date for his $2.72MM salary for ’24/25 has been pushed from June 29 into next month, Williams says, though there are no specific details yet on the new date.

Fernando is one of several players around the league who had a June 28 or June 29 salary guarantee date on his contract for 2024/25. Here are updates on a few of the others:

T.J. McConnell‘s $9.3MM salary for 2024/25, which had been partially guaranteed for $5MM, became fully guaranteed when the Pacers guard remained under contract through Friday, as Tony East of SI.com tweets. Given McConnell’s on-court value to Indiana, he was obviously never in danger of being waived.
That’s also true of Lauri Markkanen, whose contract with the Jazz featured a salary guarantee deadline on Friday. We can safely assume the team didn’t make any effort to push that date back, so the star forward’s $18MM salary for next season is now guaranteed.
Dante Exum remains in the Mavericks‘ plans going forward, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, who notes (via Twitter) that the guard’s $3.15MM salary for 2024/25 became guaranteed when he wasn’t waived on Friday. Exum had a very successful return to the NBA last season after two years in Europe, averaging 7.8 PPG, 2.9 APG, and 2.7 RPG with a .533/.491/.779 shooting line in 55 games (19.8 MPG) for Dallas.
Josh Minott‘s $2.02MM salary with the Timberwolves for 2024/25 is now guaranteed, tweets Dane Moore of Blue Wire Podcasts. Minott’s cap hit is a little less than that of a two-year veteran’s minimum, so in addition to having the opportunity to continue developing the 2022 second-round pick, Minnesota will save a little money by carrying him in place of a minimum-salary signing.
Reporting last week suggested that the Rockets planned to keep center Jock Landale through his guarantee date on Saturday, and there have been no indications since then that the plan has changed or that his deadline has been pushed back, so we’re assuming his $8MM salary for 2024/25 is now fully guaranteed. Landale, who had an inconsistent role last season, could be used as a salary-matching piece in a Houston trade at some point during the coming league year.
Our early salary guarantee date tracker has been updated to reflect all of these updates.

Mavericks Notes: Game 4, Adjustments, Doncic, Kidd

June 15th, 2024 at 9:49am CST by Tristan Tucker

The Mavericks came away with the third-largest victory in a game in NBA Finals history on Friday, defeating Boston 122-84 to cut the Celtics’ series lead to 3-1, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com writes.

“We had to play our A game,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It was this or we go on vacation. I thought the group did a great job of not pressing, letting the game happen. We made a stand. We were desperate. We got to continue to keep playing that way. They’re trying to find a way to close the door. The hardest thing in this league is to close the door when you have a group that has nothing to lose. Tonight you saw that. They let go of the rope, you know, pretty early.”

Luka Doncic put up a strong first half with 25 points, helping the Mavericks build a big early lead that they never surrendered. Doncic had spoken after Game 3 about wanting to have fun on the court again, and it certainly seemed like that was the case in Game 4, Sefko writes.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Doncic said. “It’s first to four. And we’re going to believe until the end. So we’re just going to keep going. I have big belief in this team.”

We have more from the Mavericks:

The Mavs finally made their opponent think by making some critical adjustments, The Athletic’s Tim Cato writes. Dallas has historically done well in the playoffs after falling into a deficit under Kidd, and Game 4 was no exception. Dereck Lively II looked comfortable and Dante Exum saw more action, scoring 10 points off the bench and proving he can contribute. “We waited until Game 4 to ultimately play our best game,” Kyrie Irving said. “But we have another opportunity to extend the season. That’s all we can ask for. We handled our business tonight. But the job is still an uphill battle, and we understand that.“
Doncic showed the basketball world that he’s willing and ready to take a step with his game, Sam Amick of The Athletic writes. Doncic apologized for his Game 3 actions involving referees and then was more composed in Game 4. Amick writes that Doncic’s three steals also signal his willingness to improve as a two-way player.
Kidd defended Doncic prior to Game 4, Joe Vardon of The Athletic observes. “For whatever reason, there have been some personal attacks on him, but he will learn from them and he will be better when he comes back from it,” Kidd said ahead of Friday’s game. Kidd said Doncic deserves a break but also pointed out that some of the league’s greatest have taken this sort of criticism before finding long-term success.

Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Exum, Kidd, Cuban

June 12th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

For a third straight NBA Finals game, Luka Doncic is the only player to show up on the injury report for the Mavericks. However, after being listed as questionable heading into Game 2 due to three separate ailments, Doncic is considered probable to play on Wednesday, and his right knee sprain and left ankle soreness are no longer mentioned on the injury report, notes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).

Doncic’s thoracic contusion is now the only injury listed. As Tim MacMahon and Malika Andrews of ESPN reported on Tuesday, the All-NBA guard received a pain-killing injection to treat that issue prior to Game 2 and will likely get another injection ahead of Game 3.

Here are a few more Mavs notes as the team looks to begin erasing its 2-0 deficit:

Reserve guard Dante Exum has played just 16 minutes in the first two games of the Finals, but he knocked down his only shot of the series (a three-pointer) and has been a +11 in his limited minutes. Head coach Jason Kidd sounds open to using Exum a little more in Game 3, as Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. “I thought that Exum did a great job in Game 2,” Kidd said. “We’ll see if we can get that combination out there a little more as a third ball-handler. He’s one of the few that has made a three in this series. We’re going to need that a little bit more from him.”
After referring to Jaylen Brown as the Celtics‘ best player on Saturday, Kidd insisted to Sam Amick of The Athletic that his comments weren’t meant to generate controversy and that he wasn’t trying his hand at gamesmanship. “It wasn’t mind games,” Kidd said. “But for whatever reason, everybody took it that way. … My whole thing was that, watching the Eastern Conference (playoffs), like, he has been (the Celtics’ best player). No one ever said I was wrong. … Like, I was just giving it from a point of view of watching. There wasn’t no mind games. I was just making an observation.” Kidd also pointed out that he and Brown share an alma mater (Cal), hinting that that connection might have factored into his stance, Amick adds.
Longtime Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban, who sold a controlling stake in the franchise earlier this season, spoke to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com about the state of the NBA and the growing global popularity of the sport, among other topics. Cuban contended that the introduction of NIL deals in college basketball has actually made life easier for NBA teams. “It keeps kids in school longer, and, more importantly, they know how to manage their money,” he said.

And-Ones: Ball Lawsuit, McCollum, Australia’s Olympic Team

May 21st, 2024 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

LaMelo Ball and the Hornets are being sued by a North Carolina woman who claims Ball allegedly struck her son with his vehicle during an attempt to obtain Ball’s autograph, according to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. The alleged incident occurred in October 2023, when the Hornets hosted a fan event at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

A number of fans, including the woman’s 11-year-old son, approached Ball’s vehicle at a traffic light. According to the lawsuit, when the light turned green, Ball drove “in a grossly negligent and reckless manner in that he accelerated his vehicle forward suddenly and without warning and struck” her son, “severely injuring him.” She claimed that Ball then left the scene.

The youngster suffered foot and back injuries due to the incident, according to the lawsuit.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The Pelicans’ CJ McCollum was chosen for the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award by the Pro Basketball Writers’ Association (Twitter link). The honor is presented annually by the PBWA to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community. McCollum was honored for his extensive community work in and around New Orleans, with a focus on education, social-justice reform and efforts to provide equitable resources and opportunities for youth.
The Australian National Team recently announced a 17-man roster that will take part in the official training camp in late June, before two games against China in Melbourne on July 2 and 4. The roster will then be pared to 12 players for the Paris Olympics. ESPN’s Olgun Uluc breaks down the roster player by player to determine who will make the cut. Josh Giddey, Jock Landale, Josh Green and Dante Exum are among the NBA players Uluc considers locks to make the squad.
Kendrick Nunn is thriving overseas but he has not ruled out an NBA return. Get the details here.

Mavericks Notes: Irving, Doncic, Gafford, Hardy, Kleber

May 18th, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

After the Game 5 win at Oklahoma City, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving called the matchup with the Thunder “one of the hardest series I’ve ever played,” according to a Dallas Morning News article (subscription required). It’s a significant statement for a player who holds a championship ring and has made three trips to the NBA Finals, but Irving explained why OKC has been an especially difficult opponent.

“It’s just really just the pace and just the physicality,” he said. “And last series was physical too, and the pace was a little different. But I think just this series, it’s challenged me physically, mentally, emotionally. I’ve accepted that and I’ve focused on the things that I can control and focused on getting my guys going early. And however the game plays out, it’s going to play out. But I’m really laying my hat on the defensive end and giving a lot of effort and and just trying to make the right plays offensively. They’re putting three on the ball at times for me and I could obviously take a lot of tough shots and I think that’s coming in the near future when it’s needed. But for right now just reading the game and allowing the basketball gods to shower me with a lot of love when you’re playing the right way.”

Irving also discussed the increased focus that Luka Doncic brought to Game 5. Doncic told his teammates before the contest that he wasn’t going to complain to the officials and was focusing on playing basketball and having fun.

“I think he’s just being smart and taking advice from the guys that have been in situations like this before and trusting that we have his back,” Irving said. “Some of the times when he’s going to the refs, he really feels like that’s an individual thing, and I think he could speak on it, too. He’s just in the moment and he’s very emotional as we all are as competitors. But the bigger picture is what matters. And him focusing his energy on the right places and specifically focusing on his shots and also doing the little things for us on the defensive end, getting rebounds like he’s doing and he’s been doing all season, it works well for us.”

There’s more from Dallas:

The Mavericks have virtually remade their roster over the past 20 months, surrounding Doncic with a much better defensive team, observes Zach Lowe of ESPN (subscription required). Lowe suggests that the Thunder might be regretting the role they played in helping the Mavs acquire Daniel Gafford, who has provided an interior anchor for the defense. OKC traded a 2024 first-round pick to Dallas in February in exchange for the right to swap first-rounders in 2028. The Mavericks sent that pick to Washington as part of the Gafford deal.
Second-year shooting guard Jaden Hardy appears to have replaced Dante Exum in the Mavericks’ playoff rotation, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Hardy played nearly 15 minutes in Game 5 and although he shot just 1-of-5 from the field, coach Jason Kidd was impressed by his overall game.
Kidd indicated that injured big man Maxi Kleber has a chance to return if Dallas reaches the conference finals, Townsend adds in a full story. Kleber suffered a right shoulder AC joint separation in a May 3 game and was scheduled to be reevaluated after three weeks. He was able to do some light shooting during Friday’s practice, Townsend adds.

Olympic Notes: France, Australia, Germany, Brazil

May 17th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the host nation has announced its preliminary 19-man roster (Twitter link). As Eurohoops relays, the headliners on France’s squad are big men Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, the top two finishers in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year vote.

However, there are several more notable NBA names on the list, including Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Bilal Coulibaly, and Ousmane Dieng. Other recent NBAers who didn’t finish the 2023/24 season on a roster include Killian Hayes, Frank Ntilikina, and Theo Maledon.

One player not on France’s roster is veteran guard Mike James. The 2023/24 EuroLeague MVP is an American, but according to a report from L’Equipe (hat tip to BasketNews.com), the French Basketball Federation explored the possibility of getting a French passport for James, who has played for AS Monaco in France’s LNB Pro A since 2021. That effort didn’t make any real headway, however.

“We do not have the culture of other nations which use naturalized players in a systematic way,” an unnamed executive told L’Equipe. “But we have a duty to explore all possibilities. In this case, we were asked, we looked at it and quickly established that it was not a question.”

The French national team will have to make seven cuts and set a 12-man roster for this July’s event.

Here are a few more updates related to the 2024 Olympics:

The Australian national team has trimmed its preliminary Olympic roster from 22 players to 17, the Boomers announced in a press release. None of the NBA players on the roster – including Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Matisse Thybulle, and Dyson Daniels, among others – were among the cuts, but potential 2024 first-round pick Johnny Furphy was. The plan is for those 17 Australian players to attend training camp this summer before setting the final 12-man roster.
The German national team announced this week that head coach Gordon Herbert won’t continue on in that role after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics (hat tip to Sportando). The two sides are going their separate ways after a fruitful partnership that included a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Brazilian national team has announced its preliminary roster for this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Latvia. The notable names include veteran point guard Raul Neto, former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo, Warriors rookie Gui Santos, and former NBA guard Didi Louzada. The Brazilians will need to win the six-team qualifier to earn a spot in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.

Southwest Notes: Doncic, Exum, Zion, Wembanyama

May 1st, 2024 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

At this morning’s shootaround, Mavericks star Luka Doncic was still feeling the effects of a right knee sprain he suffered in Game 3, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Dallas had two days off after Sunday’s Game 4 loss, but the extra time may not be enough to make a difference for Doncic. Townsend observed that he did limited running at the shootaround, and the knee seemed to stiffen up whenever he tried to do anything more than jog.

“Nothing, honestly,” Doncic said when asked what he did during the session. “Just treatment, a lot of treatments. Fitness. But basketball, I just shot. Nothing explosive.”

Doncic was noticeably slowed by the knee in Sunday’s game, even though he scored 29 points and posted a triple-double. He shot just 10-of-24 from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range as Kyrie Irving led a comeback after the Mavs fell behind by 31 points.

On top of the knee issue, Doncic is dealing with an upper-respiratory illness. He admitted that he probably wouldn’t try to play tonight if it were a regular season game, but that’s not an option in the playoffs.

“I’ve been in this situation a lot, been playing through injuries a lot, so nothing,” Doncic said. “Just go out there, have fun and do everything you can do for your team to win.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

After resurrecting his NBA career with the Mavericks this season, Dante Exum has struggled in the first four games of the playoffs, notes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. A 49% shooter from beyond the arc during the regular season, Exum has missed all five of his three-point attempts during the series and is shooting just 1-of-11 overall. His playing time has been cut to 8.5 minutes per game as coach Jason Kidd has tightened his rotation, but Exum is determined to help any way he can. “No matter if it’s one minute, two minutes, it’s trying to provide that energy,” he said. “If I can make an impact in the time I get, that’s the goal. Hopefully it can just grow off that and I continue to get more minutes.”
Zion Williamson has made the Pelicans more confident that he can be the cornerstone of their future, multiple team sources tell William Guillory of The Athletic. Injury and conditioning concerns hung over Williamson during his first four NBA seasons, but he was much more durable this year, appearing in 70 games and logging 31.5 minutes per night. In addition to his on-court production, Williamson also became a more vocal leader.
Nick Moyle of The San Antonio Express-News examines how the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama was able to incorporate a step-back jumper into his arsenal during his rookie year.

And-Ones: Australia, McLemore, York, Jerebko, Calipari, Klutch

April 11th, 2024 at 8:15am CST by Luke Adams

The Australian national team has revealed its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, announcing a list of 22 players that are in the mix to play in Paris. That group will have to be cut down to 12 players ahead of this summer’s tournament.

Australia’s preliminary roster includes several NBAers, including Thunder guard Josh Giddey, Mavericks guard Dante Exum, Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle and big man Duop Reath, Mavericks wing Josh Green, Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels, Magic forward Joe Ingles, Heat guard Patty Mills, Rockets center Jock Landale, and Grizzlies forward Jack White.

As Olgun Uluc of ESPN notes, the newest addition to the Boomers’ roster is 19-year-old Johnny Furphy, who played for the Kansas Jayhawks in 2023/24 and is projected by ESPN to be a potential first-round pick in this year’s draft.

The most notable absence is Ben Simmons, as the Nets guard underwent back surgery last month that will sideline him for the Olympics. Simmons doesn’t have much history with the Australian national team, so it’s unclear if he would’ve been part of the Boomers’ roster in Paris even if he’d been healthy.

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

Former NBA guard Ben McLemore was arrested and jailed this week in Oregon and faces multiple felony sexual assault charges, reports Baxter Holmes of ESPN. The charges, which include first-degree rape, stem from an alleged incident in 2021, when McLemore was a member of the Trail Blazers.
Former NBA guard Gabe York, who appeared in five games for the Pacers across two seasons from 2021-23, has signed with Basquet Girona, the Spanish team announced this week in a press release. York played for the G League Ignite earlier this season.
Following a two-year hiatus from basketball, Swedish forward Jonas Jerebko is making a comeback, having signed with Puerto Rican team Santeros de Aguada, according to Eurohoops. Jerebko, who turned 37 last month, appeared in 635 NBA regular season games for four teams from 2009-19. He last played professionally for CSKA Moscow in 2022.
Shams Charania and Kyle Tucker of The Athletic take an in-depth look at John Calipari‘s decision to leave Kentucky for Arkansas after 15 years with the Wildcats, detailing how Calipari’s deal with the Razorbacks came about.
One Legacy Sports Management, led by veteran agent Mike George, is becoming part of Klutch Sports, CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Jamal Murray, Dillon Brooks, and Shaedon Sharpe are among George’s clients, per RealGM.