Luca Vildoza Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Dumars, Nwaba, Vildoza, 2024 Draft

January 9th, 2024 at 1:38pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Last week, the Nets became the first team to get fined for resting healthy players since the NBA introduced its new player participation policy in September. Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that the rules will continue to be enforced when teams try to sit multiple players who are not legitimately injured.

“We are serious about this,” Dumars said. “We talked to people, we talked to everyone, all parties we talked to before the season started. And to not follow through with this would not be right of us. It would not be the thing to do, to not follow through. So yeah, we are very serious about this. We communicated, we overly communicated with everyone about this, and we made very clear that if your guys can play or we feel that your guys can play, they should be on the court. And it’s gone over extremely well this year.”

We have more from around the international basketball world:

The London Lions have officially signed former NBA guard David Nwaba, Sportando relays. The Lions’ interest in Nwaba was reported by BasketNews last week. Nwaba’s last NBA stint was with Houston in 2021/22. The six-year veteran appeared in 237 regular season games during his NBA career, averaging 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.
Luca Vildoza, who played seven games with Milwaukee in 2021/22, suffered a ruptured lateral meniscus in his left knee while playing for Greece’s Panathinaikos, according to Sportando’s Allesandro Maggi. The Argentinean guard will undergo surgery on Tuesday, according to the Greek club.
In his latest mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has the Pistons taking French big man Alexandre Sarr with the top pick. Wasserman compares Sarr, who’s playing in Australia with the Perth Wildcats, with Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. Point guard Nikola Topic, who recently suffered a knee injury while facing EuroLeague competition, goes at the No. 2 spot to the Spurs in Wasserman’s mock, while another European, French wing Zaccharie Risacher, comes off the board at No. 3 to the Wizards.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo (Insider link) have put out another roundup of notes on 2024 draft prospects, exploring what’s gone wrong for UCLA’s top three NBA prospects (Aday Mara, Adem Bona, and Berke Buyuktuncel) and whether recent injuries to Sarr and Topic will hurt their stock, among other topics.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Campazzo, Vildoza, Two-Ways, Rookies

January 4th, 2023 at 10:04am CST by Luke Adams

Serbian team Crvena Zvezda has been sanctioned by the EuroLeague for overdue payments to players and will be prohibited from registering new players until February 28, per BasketNews.com.

That means that former Nuggets and Mavericks point guard Facundo Campazzo, who reached a contract agreement with the team after being waived by Dallas, may not be able to suit up in EuroLeague games until March.

Crvena Zvezda issued a statement calling the sanctions “extremely severe” and announcing that they intend to fight them (link via BasketNews).

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

Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, currently a member of Crvena Zvezda, spent time with the Knicks and Bucks from 2021-22, but injuries and timing prevented him from ever getting a real chance to earn a rotation spot. While Vildoza has some good memories from his time in the NBA, including practicing with Giannis Antetokounmpo, he’s disappointed that things didn’t work out for him stateside. “It’s painful that I didn’t have the right chance,” Vildoza said (link via Eurohoops). “But I’m here now, and I try not to think about it.”
NBA teams seem more inclined this season to use their two-way contract slots to churn through back-of-the-roster players, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link), who notes that the Heat have signed five different players to seven total two-way deals since July. That trend may continue even when the 10-day contract signing period opens on Thursday, since two-way players don’t count against the cap or tax, Marks writes.
In the latest update to his rookie rankings for 2022/23, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has moved Thunder guard Jalen Williams and Hawks forward AJ Griffin into third and fourth place, respectively. Both players are providing relatively steady and efficient production as starting wings, Vecenie says, adding that Griffin’s floor spacing, in particular, has been crucial in Atlanta.

International Notes: Parker, Dorsey, Vildoza, Antetokounmpo, Doncic

January 2nd, 2023 at 8:05am CST by Arthur Hill

The EuroLeague may be the next stop for Jabari Parker, according to a Eurohoops story. Parker spent eight years in the NBA, including 12 games with the Celtics last season, but he hasn’t played since being released last January.

“Jabari is looking for overseas opportunities now,” Parker’s agent, Nuno Pedroso, said in an interview with Mozzart Sport. “He was close to signing with two NBA teams, but it didn’t work out and now we (are) checking options overseas.”

Pedroso also denied a recent report linking Parker to Partizan Belgrade, saying, “Regarding Partizan, nothing is on the table or close to it. We just inform them that he’s available. News that there are advanced talks is not true.”

Parker, 27, was the second pick in the 2014 draft, but a pair of torn knee ligaments hampered his career. After spending his first four seasons with Milwaukee, he bounced around the league with short stays in Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Sacramento and Boston. He averaged just 9.3 minutes per game with the Celtics in 2021/22 before being released in January in advance of his contract becoming guaranteed.

There’s more international news to pass along:

Tyler Dorsey, who was waived by the Mavericks last week, will see if he can land a 10-day NBA contract before considering his options overseas, sources tell Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Barkas cites three EuroLeague teams — Fenerbahce, Olympiacos and AS Monaco — that have shown interest in Dorsey, a 26-year-old wing who was averaging 24.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 17 games this season with the G League Texas Legends. Teams can begin offering 10-day contracts on Thursday.
Luca Vildoza, who appeared in seven games for the Bucks during last year’s playoffs, has earned EuroLeague Player of the Month honors for December, according to another Eurohoops story. Vildoza signed with KK Crvena Zvezda in mid-October when Milwaukee released him before the start of the regular season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic will square off in Athens, Greece, this summer before the start of the FIBA World Cup, per a Eurohoops report. Antetokounmpo’s Greek team will host Slovenia in an August 4 exhibition game that will mark the stars’ first meeting in an international competition.

And-Ones: NBA Rosters, Barkley, Vildoza, Wembanyama

October 18th, 2022 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s opening night rosters feature a total of 120 international players, including a record-setting 22 from Canada and 10 from Australia, the league announced today in a press release. All 30 teams have at least one international player, while the Raptors – the NBA’s only international team – lead the way with eight international players.

Meanwhile, the opening night rosters also include a record-setting 234 players with some G League experience, according to the NBA (Twitter link). All 30 teams are carrying at least four players with G League experience, while the Nets‘ roster features a record 12 players who have spent time in the NBAGL — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Markieff Morris, and rookie Alondes Williams are the only Brooklyn players without G League experience.

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

The four members of TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show – Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal – have agreed to new multiyear contracts, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports announced this week. Barkley’s new deal covers 10 years and will be worth well above $100MM, reports Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, though Barkley said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show that there’s “probably zero chance” he’ll stay for the entire 10 years (story via Awful Announcing).
Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza, who spent parts of the last two seasons with the Knicks and Bucks, told Mozzart Sport (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops) that he didn’t get the opportunity he had hoped for in the NBA, but that he still feels like he benefited from his time stateside. “I feel better physically and stronger,” Vildoza said as he prepares to resume playing in Europe. He appeared in seven games for Milwaukee during the 2022 postseason, but has yet to play in a regular season NBA contest.
Lakers star LeBron James isn’t the NBA’s highest-paid player in terms of salary this season, but he’ll earn the most money after accounting for endorsements, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. Baenhausen pegs James’ total 2022/23 earnings at $119.5MM, putting him ahead of Warriors guard Stephen Curry ($93.1MM) and Nets forward Kevin Durant ($91MM).
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report takes a look at which teams can realistically be expected to tank in 2022/23 for a shot to draft Victor Wembanyama next June.

Luca Vildoza Waived By Bucks, Signs With Serbian Team

October 13th, 2022 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

1:55pm: The Bucks have requested waivers on Vildoza, the team announced in a press release.

Meanwhile, as Eurohoops relays, Vildoza’s old team in Europe is unhappy with his new deal. Baskonia is threatening legal action, issuing a statement to say they still hold the guard’s rights.

9:14am: KK Crvena zvezda has signed Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza to a two-year contract, the Serbian team announced today in a press release.

Vildoza, 27, has yet to play in an NBA regular season game, but has finished each of the last two seasons on an NBA roster, first with the Knicks in 2021, then with the Bucks in 2022. He played garbage-time minutes in seven playoff games for Milwaukee this past spring.

The Bucks waived Vildoza in July, but re-signed him on a training camp deal a few days later, and he technically remains under contract — for the time being at least, Milwaukee’s official website still lists Vildoza on the roster. Clearly though, his new deal with Crvena zvezda is an indication that his days with the Bucks are numbered. We should expect him to be officially waived in the coming days.

Vildoza’s new deal in Serbia will give him an opportunity to return to the EuroLeague, where he thrived with Spanish team Baskonia from 2017-21. The veteran guard won a Liga ACB title in 2020 and was named the Finals MVP that year.

Bucks Re-Sign Luca Vildoza, Rayjon Tucker

July 9th, 2022 at 4:35pm CST by Luke Adams

After waiving both players on Tuesday, the Bucks have officially re-signed guards Luca Vildoza and Rayjon Tucker to one-year, minimum-salary contracts.

The new deals for Vildoza and Tucker are both non-guaranteed. Tucker’s contract includes Exhibit 10 language, which would allow Milwaukee to convert his deal to a two-way contract, but Vildoza’s does not.

Vildoza, 26, played internationally in Spain for several seasons prior to reaching a buyout to sign with the Knicks in May 2021. The Argentian guard was waived after he underwent foot surgery last October, but caught on with the Bucks and made seven very brief postseason appearances with the team. He has yet to make his NBA regular season debut.

Tucker has appeared in a total of 39 NBA games across three seasons for Utah, Philadelphia, Denver a nd Milwaukee, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.0 RPG in just 7.7 minutes per contest. He has been much more active in the G League during that span, having played for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Wisconsin Herd, and the Delaware Blue Coats. In 27 regular season games this past season for the Herd (the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate), the wing averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG on 53% shooting. He also chipped in 7.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG.

The Bucks now have 17 total players under contract, including 13 on guaranteed salaries and two on two-way deals. The team is also expected to make its new deal with Serge Ibaka official soon.

Bucks Waive Rayjon Tucker, Luca Vildoza

July 5th, 2022 at 5:11pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have waived Rayjon Tucker and Luca Vildoza, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

The three-year, minimum-salary deal that Tucker signed with the Bucks at the end of last season was non-guaranteed entering the offseason, as was the two-year deal that Vildoza signed, so Milwaukee won’t face any financial penalties for releasing either player. Vildoza’s contract would have been partially guaranteed for $500K had he made it to the start of the 2022/23 regular season with the Bucks.

The 24-year-old Tucker went undrafted out of Little Rock in 2019 and spent most of the 2019/20 season with the Jazz, then signed a two-way contract with the Sixers in January 2021 and got a 10-day deal from the Nuggets in December 2021. Tucker was signed by the Bucks with a couple of days left in the ’21/22 regular season and played in two games, plus eight postseason appearances at the end of lopsided games.

Tucker has appeared in a total of 39 NBA games across three seasons, averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.0 RPG in just 7.7 minutes per contest. He has been much more active in the G League during that span, having played for the Salt Lake City Stars, the Wisconsin Herd, and the Delaware Blue Coats. In 27 regular season games this past season for the Herd (the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate), the wing averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG on 53% shooting. He also chipped in 7.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG.

Vildoza, 26, played internationally in Spain for several seasons prior to reaching a buyout to sign with the Knicks in May 2021. His four-year deal with New York was non-guaranteed beyond the end of that season, and the team ended up waiving him before he underwent foot surgery last October.

The Argentinian guard is reportedly fully healthy and recovered from the surgery, but he has yet to make his regular season debut. He did, however, make seven very brief postseason appearances with the Bucks, his only official NBA action to date beyond Summer League.

After re-signing the majority of their own free agents and agreeing to a deal with Joe Ingles, the Bucks will tentatively have 14 players on their roster once first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp is signed to his rookie deal. The 15th spot could be reserved for restricted free agent Jordan Nwora, assuming the two sides can find a deal that works for both parties.

Central Notes: Bagley, Mobley, Vildoza, McConnell, Komoroski

April 7th, 2022 at 6:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marvin Bagley III is headed to free agency this summer but Pistons coach Dwane Casey hopes the front office re-signs the young power forward, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets. Detroit can make him a restricted free agent by extending a $7.3MM qualifying offer. Bagley has played well since being traded by Sacramento, averaging 14.6 PPG and 6.8 RPG in 27.2 MPG while appearing in 18 games for the Pistons.

We have more Central Division news:

Cavaliers rookie Evan Mobley is questionable to play against Brooklyn on Friday, Kelsey Russo of The Athletic tweets. Mobley hasn’t played since March 28 due to an ankle injury but he was able to do “everything” at practice in Orlando on Thursday, coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. Jarrett Allen is listed as out, although he went through an individual workout.
Guard Luca Vildoza signed a two-year, $1.8MM contract with the Bucks, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. His contract for next season is non-guaranteed and includes a $500K trigger date if he’s not waived before Milwaukee’s first regular season game. Vildoza was signed on Wednesday.
T.J. McConnell surprised a lot of people by returning to action this week, even though the Pacers are out of the playoff picture. McConnell played 15 minutes on Tuesday after missing 55 games due to a hand injury. McConnell told Joel Lorenzi of the Indianapolis Star he just “wanted to feel like a basketball player again.” “They’ve been talking about coming out here and creating that chemistry, and what better way to get that chemistry started than to come back now?” he said. “You know, I just wanted to feel like a basketball player again. It was hard sitting there.”
Cavaliers CEO Len Komoroski is stepping down from his post at the end of the season, according to a team press release. Komoroski’s career with the Cavaliers began in 2003 as a team president. He took on the CEO title in 2013. He will remain affiliated with Rock Entertainment Group.

Luca Vildoza Signs With Bucks

April 6th, 2022 at 11:11am CST by Dana Gauruder

APRIL 6: The Bucks have officially signed Vildoza, the team announced today in a press release. As we relayed on Tuesday, the two-year deal isn’t guaranteed for next season.

APRIL 4: Free agent guard Luca Vildoza is signing a two-year contract with the Bucks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports.

Vildoza has fully recovered from foot surgery and will be activated by the defending champions for the playoffs. His agent, Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports, and Bucks GM Jon Horst are expected to finalize terms of the deal this week, Wojnarowski adds.

Vildoza underwent the surgical procedure in October.

The Knicks signed him to a four-year deal last May but the contract wasn’t guaranteed beyond last season. They waived the Argentinian guard prior to his surgery.

Vildoza had negotiated a contract buyout with Baskonia of the Spanish ACB League before agreeing to the deal with the Knicks. Vildoza, 26, played for Argentina in the Olympics before joining the Knicks in the Las Vegas Summer League. He made brief appearances in two of those games, but averaged just 6.4 minutes and didn’t score any points.

Milwaukee had an open spot on its 15-man roster. The Bucks lost wing DeAndre’ Bembry to a season-ending knee injury last month and Vildoza will give them more depth at both guard spots.

Central Notes: Bickerstaff, Nembhard, P. Williams, Key, Vildoza

April 5th, 2022 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was fined $15K on Monday for his public criticism of the league’s officiating, the NBA announced in a press release. Bickerstaff griped about the foul calls on Sunday following a 112-108 loss to Philadelphia in which James Harden and Joel Embiid combined to attempt 32 free throws.

“We deserved to win that game. That game was taken from us,” Bickerstaff said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “We did a great job defensively, making their two best players have a difficult time from the field. But one thing you can’t defend is the free throw line. That’s absurd. That’s absurd. Our guys deserve way better than what they got tonight.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

RJ Nembhard‘s new contract with the Cavaliers is a straight-up conversion from his two-way deal, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Nembhard, who will earn $58,493 on the prorated minimum-salary contract, remains on track for restricted free agency this offseason.
Having returned from a wrist injury on March 21, Patrick Williams is playing increasingly well for the Bulls as the postseason nears, according to Cole Huff of The Athletic, who says the second-year forward has been “efficient and opportunistic” on offense while showcasing his usual versatility on the defensive end. Having already displayed the potential to be a long-term cornerstone in Chicago, Williams could help in the short term too and be an asset in the playoffs if he keeps progressing, Huff writes.
Braxton Key‘s new two-way contract with the Pistons is a two-year agreement, covering 2022/23 as well as the rest of this season, league sources tell our JD Shaw (Twitter link).
Luca Vildoza‘s two-year deal with the Bucks will be non-guaranteed for next season, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic.