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Ibou Badji

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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Pelicans’ Missi, Rockets’ Okogie Playing In AfroBasket

August 13th, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

While it lacks the star power of the upcoming EuroBasket tournament, FIBA’s 2025 AfroBasket event, which tipped off on Tuesday, features a pair of NBA players. Second-year Pelicans center Yves Missi is suiting up for Cameroon, while veteran Rockets wing Josh Okogie is representing Nigeria.

Both players got off to strong starts on Wednesday in their teams’ first AfroBasket games. Missi contributed 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 24 minutes to help lead Cameroon to an 86-65 win over Tunisia, while Okogie had five points, five assists, four rebounds, and a +12 on/off mark in 27 minutes of action during Nigeria’s 77-59 victory over Madagascar.

Jonathan Kuminga was listed on the preliminary roster for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but isn’t suiting up for the team as his restricted free agent standoff with the Warriors extends well into the offseason.

Still, there are several other former NBA players taking part in the tournament, as the full list of rosters shows.

Bruno Fernando (Angola), Edy Tavares (Cape Verde), Matt Costello (Côte d’Ivoire), Christian Eyenga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Mamadi Diakite (Guinea), Ibou Badji (Senegal), Karim Mané (Senegal), and Wenyen Gabriel (South Sudan) are among the names that may be familiar to NBA fans, with Tavares (14 points, 19 rebounds) and Costello (12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) submitting big performances en route to victories in their first group play games.

A handful of notable former NBA players are also on the sidelines as coaches for the event, including Luol Deng for South Sudan, DeSagana Diop for Senegal, and Sam Vincent for Libya, observes Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

AfroBasket’s field is made up of 16 national teams divided into four groups of four teams apiece. Each squad faces the other clubs in its group once during the preliminary round; the top-ranked team in each group after those three games advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the eight second- and third-place teams square off in “play-in” games to earn quarterfinal berths.

Group play will continue through Sunday, with the play-in games for the knockout round held next Monday and Tuesday. The quarterfinals will take place on August 20 and 21, with the semifinals played on Aug. 23 and the final (and third-place game) on Aug. 24.

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G League’s All-Defensive, All-Rookie Teams Unveiled

April 17th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA has officially announced (via Twitter) the G League’s All-Defensive Team for the 2024/25 season. Here’s the full five-player list:

All-NBA G League Defensive Team

The top rookies of the NBAGL season were also unveiled on Thursday (Twitter link). They are as follows:

All-NBA G League Rookie Team

Key, who was recently promoted to a standard contract with Golden State, was named the NBAGL’s Defensive Player of the Year, while Alexander won Rookie of the Year. Badji, who recently signed with a Spanish club, and Nogues, who has declared for the 2025 NBA draft, finished second and third in DPOY voting, respectively. Jones Garcia was the runner-up for ROY, with Young finishing third.

As our tracker shows, Alexander, Jenkins, Young and Dennis are on two-way contracts with their respective NBA clubs.

Journeyman center Brown also earned a spot on the All-NBA G League Second Team, while Alexander made the Third Team.

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And-Ones: NBA’s European Project, Dellavedova, Badji, Cui

April 6th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver‘s interest in starting a new NBA venture in Europe goes beyond the potential financial rewards, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The biggest benefit, according to Vardon, would be direct access to a player development pipeline that has produced numerous NBA stars over the past decade.

“The European development of the kids, especially in the Yugoslavian area, especially in terms of fundamentals, is 10 times better than in the States,” said Misko Raznatovic, the former head of Mega Basket, Belgrade’s pro club, and current Serbian-based agent for Nikola Jokic. “This is the reason you are getting more and more players from Europe.”

Vardon explains that there are no school teams in Europe, so the top players join clubs run by the professional organizations. Unlike the AAU system in the United States, there’s more of an emphasis on developing skills than on playing several games in a weekend. Players who show early signs of stardom like Jokic, Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama quickly move on to the pro team, often by the time they’re ready for high school.

“At the age of 15 you get Jokic, you get Doncic, that kind of player, if you don’t teach them how to play basketball, don’t develop their skills and don’t develop their IQ, they will score zero points because based on their athleticism, their quickness, they cannot score anything (in the NBA),” Raznatovic added. “That’s the reason that the guys from this area are getting more skill and a better basketball IQ.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • EuroLeague teams will hold an internal meeting Monday in Barcelona to discuss the league’s future amid the proposed NBA project, per Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews. Sources tell Urbonas that shareholders are hoping for “full transparency” on which teams are committed to staying in the league and which might be open to other opportunities.
  • Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to a multiyear contract with the Sydney Kings after being the most sought-after free agent in Australia, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Dellavedova, 34, unites with Andrew Bogut, his longtime teammate on the Australian national team, who was recently named an assistant coach in Sydney.
  • Ibou Badji, who finished second in this year’s G League Defensive Player of the Year voting, has signed with La Laguna Tenerife in Spain for the rest of the season. Badji had been playing for the Wisconsin Herd.
  • Yongxi Cui, who was waived by the Nets in December after tearing his ACL, recently talked about returning to the NBA in a video released by the G League, according to NetsDaily. “In social media, a lot of people thought I’m done,” Cui said. “But a lot of people, like 70 to 80%, think I will get back to the NBA.”
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Warriors’ Braxton Key Named NBAGL Defensive Player Of The Year

April 2nd, 2025 at 3:43pm CST by Luke Adams

Santa Cruz Warriors forward Braxton Key, who is on a two-way contract with Golden State, has been named the NBA G League’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024/25 season, according to an official announcement (Twitter link). The award is voted on by the league’s 31 head coaches and general managers.

Key appeared in a total of 49 G League games this year in the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season for the San Diego Clippers and Santa Cruz Warriors. He averaged a league-leading 2.6 steals per game to go along with 1.1 blocks per contest.

While both San Diego and Santa Cruz finished in the middle of the pack in defensive rating, the Clippers were significantly more effective on that end of the floor when Key was playing. San Diego had a 102.5 defensive rating during his minutes and a 113.7 mark when he wasn’t on the court. Santa Cruz, which finished the season with a 111.5 defensive rating, had a 109.2 mark during Key’s minutes.

Wisconsin Herd center Ibou Badji, who anchored the defense for the Bucks‘ G League affiliate with 3.5 blocks in just 22.4 minutes per game across 50 appearances, was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.

Rip City Remix guard Isaac Nogues finished third in the G League’s DPOY voting. He averaged 2.1 steals per contest across 40 games for the Trail Blazers‘ affiliate, which had a defensive rating of 107.8 when he was on the floor and 113.5 when he wasn’t.

Neither Badji nor Nogues is under contract with an NBA team. Key will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason.

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Bucks Sign, Waive Ibou Badji

September 13th, 2024 at 8:28pm CST by Luke Adams

8:28pm: The Bucks officially signed Badji, per RealGM’s transaction log, and waived him, according to the transaction log at NBA.com.

As expected, it was an Exhibit 10 deal, Hoops Rumors can confirm, so Badji is on track to report to the Wisconsin Herd and earn a $77.5K bonus.

11:00am: The Bucks and free agent big man Ibou Badji have agreed to a contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

While Scotto doesn’t specify what kind of deal Badji is signing, it will almost certainly be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 pact. Exhibit 10 contracts don’t count against the cap and be converted to two-way deals before opening night. They also put a player in line to receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he’s waived by his NBA team and then spends at least 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate.

Badji, who will turn 22 next month, went undrafted in 2022 and signed with the Bucks shortly thereafter. He was waived by Milwaukee ahead of the 2022/23 season and joined the Wisconsin Herd in the G League before being snatched up by the Trail Blazers that November, agreeing to a two-way contract with the club.

Badji subsequently spent most of the past two seasons on separate two-way deals with Portland, eventually making his NBA debut in December 2023 and appearing in 22 games last season for the Blazers. He averaged 1.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in 10.3 minutes per contest.

In 19 total G League games last season for the Herd and the Rip City Remix, Badji posted averages of 4.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 2.7 BPG in 18.9 MPG.

The Bucks/Herd still hold Badji’s returning rights, so it appears the plan is for him to return to Milwaukee’s G League affiliate to start the 2024/25 season. The signing will give the Bucks a full 21-man offseason roster.

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Blazers Re-Sign Justin Minaya To Two-Way Contract

July 1st, 2024 at 9:49am CST by Luke Adams

Justin Minaya, who spent last season in Portland on a two-way contract, is returning to the Trail Blazers on a new two-way deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

Minaya, 25, appeared in 34 games for the Blazers last season, but played a very limited role. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per contest, shooting just 29.7% from the field and 24.5% from beyond the three-point line.

The 6’5″ forward, known more as a defender than a scorer, was more effective in the G League for the Rip City Remix, appearing in 20 Showcase Cup and regular season games and averaging 13.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 1.5 SPG with a .438/.336/.606 shooting line.

The Blazers didn’t issue Minaya a qualifying offer prior to Saturday’s deadline, but evidently still want him in the organization going forward. He’ll fill one of Portland’s three two-way slots, and Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link) says he wouldn’t be surprised if big man Ibou Badji ends up filling one of the other two-way openings.

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Northwest Notes: Smith, Conley, Blazers, Hendricks

January 2nd, 2024 at 8:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Journeyman guard Ish Smith nearly remained with the defending champion Nuggets before he signed with the Hornets but not as a player, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post reports. He was offered a front office role that he described as an apprenticeship. He would have been based out of Charlotte while making trips to Denver to learn the ropes of being a front office exec from various people in basketball operations.

“I was gonna do some consulting, and start learning the business a little bit more,” said Smith, who appeared in 43 regular season and four postseason games with the Nuggets last season. “Start transitioning to some front office. Some coaching.”

We have more from the Northwest Division:

  • Timberwolves guard Mike Conley will enter unrestricted free agency following this season. Conley has been a key figure in Minnesota’s blazing start, averaging 11.5 points and 6.2 assists, and there’s early optimism among league figures that he’ll re-sign with Minnesota, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Conley, who entered the league in 2007, will turn 37 prior to next season.
  • The Trail Blazers were late to the party but they finally have their own G League team in the Rip City Remix. Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report details how two-way player Ibou Badji and 2023 draft picks Kris Murray and Rayan Rupert have benefited from the experience they’ve gained with the G League club. “It’s so much easier to have them in the same building and have them around,” Remix coach Jim Moran said.
  • Jazz lottery pick Taylor Hendricks is also getting additional experience in the G League after appearing in 11 NBA games. Coach Will Hardy believes that will beneficial to his development, Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. “He’s gonna get way more minutes than he was when he was with us and continue to improve,” Hardy said. “The road is long for Taylor. I’m not overreacting to anything that goes on with him right now.”
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Ibou Badji Signs Two-Way Contract With Blazers

November 22nd, 2023 at 8:17pm CST by Luke Adams

8:17pm: Badji’s signing is official, the Blazers announced in a press release.

2:40pm: After waiving guard Jamaree Bouyea, the Trail Blazers are signing big man Ibou Badji to a two-way contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

A 7’1″ Senegalese center with a 7’9″ wingspan, Badji spent much of last season on a two-way contract with Portland, though he didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game. He played in Spain from 2019-22 and joined the Wisconsin Herd (the Bucks’ G League affiliate) to begin the 2022/23 campaign after going undrafted in 2022.

Badji, 21, signed with the Blazers last November and inked a second two-way deal with the team this July, but was waived at the start of the regular season last month to create a two-way opening for fellow center Duop Reath.

Badji rejoined the Herd at the start of this G League season and has appeared in six games for the team, averaging 3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in 15.3 minutes per night. Given his relatively raw skill set, the big man seems likely to continue playing primarily in the NBAGL. As long as he remains under contract with Portland, Badji will now suit up for the Rip City Remix, the Blazers’ affiliate.

Once Badji officially signs his deal, the Blazers will once again have the maximum 18 players under contract — 15 on standard deals and three on two-ways.

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Blazers Re-Sign Duop Reath To Two-Way Contract

October 23rd, 2023 at 5:14pm CST by Luke Adams

5:14pm: The Blazers have officially signed Reath and waived Badji, according to the opening night rosters announced by the NBA (Twitter link).

4:36pm: After being waived by the Trail Blazers on Saturday, center Duop Reath is returning to the team on a two-way contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Reath, 27, has played overseas since going undrafted out of LSU in 2018, spending time with teams in Serbia, Australia, China, and Lebanon over the last five years. Reath averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in five games for Portland’s Summer League team in July, then represented Australia in the 2023 World Cup, starting at center for the Boomers.

Although Reath was on a training camp contract with the Blazers this month, his deal only included Exhibit 9 language, not an Exhibit 10 clause, so he was ineligible to be converted directly to a two-way deal. Portland had to put him through waivers in order to re-sign him to a two-way contract.

According to Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report (Twitter link), another big man, Ibou Badji, will be waived to open up a two-way slot for Reath.

Badji, 21, spent much of last season on a two-way contract with Portland, though he didn’t appear in an NBA regular season game.

A 7’1″ Senegalese center with a 7’9″ wingspan, Badji played in Spain from 2019-22 and joined the Wisconsin Herd (the Bucks’ G League affiliate) to begin the 2022/23 campaign after going undrafted last year. He joined the Blazers last November and signed a second two-way contract with the team this July.

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