Marko Guduric

Serbia, Greece Set 12-Man Rosters For Olympics

Two more nations have set their 12-man rosters for the upcoming Olympic games in Paris, with Serbia and Greece both officially announcing their squads (Twitter links).

The Serbian roster is headlined by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and includes a few more NBA players beyond the Nuggets center. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Heat forward Nikola Jovic will also represent Serbia in Paris.

Jovic’s inclusion is particularly notable, since there was some uncertainty earlier this month about whether he’d be healthy enough to play. He injured his ankle during an offseason workout in Miami in June, but has apparently received medical clearance for the Olympics.

Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Dobric, Vanja Marinkovic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, Aleksa Avramovic, Dejan Davidovac, and Uros Plavsic round out Serbia’s roster. Former NBA first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski, who finished last season with the Hornets, isn’t among the final 12.

Meanwhile, Greece has also confirmed its Olympic roster, which will be led by another former NBA MVP, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis is the only Antetokounmpo suiting up for Greece in France at this year’s event, since his brothers Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Antetokounmpo are both dealing with injuries.

While Giannis is the only active NBA player on the Greek roster, a few others have previously played in the league, including Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, and Kostas Papanikolaou. Former Stephen F. Austin standout Thomas Walkup also signed an NBA contract back in 2016, though he never appeared in a regular season game.

Dinos Mitoglou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Nikos Chougkaz, Dimitris Moraitis, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, and Vassilis Toliopoulos make up the rest of Greece’s roster.

Serbia’s first pool-play game of the Olympics will take place on Sunday vs. Team USA, while Greece’s Olympic schedule will tip off a day earlier, with a Saturday showdown vs. Canada.

Nikola Jokic Included On Serbia’s Preliminary Olympic Roster

The Serbian national team has officially unveiled its preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympics, and that group is headlined by a noteworthy name. Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is one of the 16 players on Serbia’s preliminary roster, which will be cut down to 12 players for this summer’s games in Paris.

Jokic was noncommittal when asked last month at the end of Denver’s season whether he intended to play for Serbia in the Olympics. Svetislav Pesic, the head coach of the national team, recently stated that the Nuggets star remained undecided. Jokic’s inclusion on the 16-man preliminary roster doesn’t guarantee he’ll be in Paris, but it’s a signal that he’s planning to participate.

Even without Jokic, the Serbians claimed a silver medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, falling to Germany in the final but qualifying for the Olympics based on that deep World Cup run. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Heat forward Nikola Jovic were among the key players on that team.

Bogdanovic and Jovic are also on the preliminary Olympic roster, and are joined by three more NBA players in Jokic, Hornets guard Vasilije Micic, and Hornets forward Aleksej Pokusevski. Filip Petrusev and Marko Guduric previously played in the NBA, while Nikola Milutinov, Ognjen Jaramaz, and Vanja Marinkovic were selected in past drafts but have never signed NBA contracts.

Serbia will be in Group C along with the United States at the Olympics and can secure a spot in the quarterfinals with a top-two finish in round-robin play. South Sudan and the winner of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico (Lithuania is the top-rated club in that six-team tournament) will be the other competition in Group C. Assuming Jokic plays, he could end up facing fellow Nuggets star Jamal Murray – who will suit up for Canada – at some point in the single-elimination portion of the event.

International Notes: Serbia, Bahamas, Gordon, Croatia

The Serbian national team has officially announced its 12-man roster for the 2023 World Cup, which tips off on Friday (Twitter link). The Serbians are missing star center Nikola Jokic, along with accomplished veteran guard Vasilije Micic, who made the move from the EuroLeague to the NBA this offseason.

However, the squad still features multiple current and former NBA players, starting with Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic. Heat forward Nikola Jovic, Sixers big man Filip Petrusev, and former Grizzlies guard Marko Guduric are among the notable players representing Serbia at this year’s World Cup.

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

  • The Bahmas defeated Argentina on Sunday in the final of an Olympic pre-qualifying tournament, with Suns guard Eric Gordon scoring a game-high 27 points, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Following the Bahamian victory, former NBA forward Andres Nocioni – who won an Olympic gold medal with Argentina in 2004 – questioned whether it was fair for FIBA to allow Gordon to suit up for the Bahamas despite representing Team USA earlier in his international career (Twitter link). “Let’s not lose the essence of international competitions,” Nocioni added in a follow-up tweet.
  • A Croatian team led by Warriors forward Dario Saric and Clippers center Ivica Zubac scored an upset victory over Alperen Sengun and Turkey in the final of another Olympic pre-qualifying tournament on Sunday, as Eurohoops details. Croatia, the Bahamas, Cameroon, Poland, and Bahrain won this month’s pre-qualifying tournament to secure spots in next year’s Olympic qualifiers.
  • Vangelis Papadimitriou of Eurohoops highlights a handful of non-U.S. NBA players who could be difference-makers in this year’s World Cup, including Canadian forward RJ Barrett and Dominican big man Karl-Anthony Towns.

Marko Guduric Returns To Fenerbahce

After being waived by the Grizzlies earlier this week, veteran swingman Marko Guduric wasted no time in rejoining his previous team in Turkey. Fenerbahce announced in a press release that it has formally reached an agreement with Guduric on a new three-year deal.

Guduric, 25, signed a two-year, $5.4MM contract with Memphis a year ago and appeared in 44 games with the team last season. However, the 6’6″ Serbian averaged just 3.9 PPG on .395/.301/.923 shooting in 11.0 minutes per contest, falling out of the rotation by December.

While the second year of his contract was guaranteed, Guduric was one of the odd men out for the Grizzlies, who had been carrying 17 players with guaranteed salaries after completing their offseason moves. He and Mario Hezonja were cut as the team pared its roster down to 15 guaranteed players for the regular season.

Guduric previously played for Fenerbahce from 2017-19, winning a Turkish League championship in ’18 and taking home the Turkish Cup in ’19. The team also appeared in the EuroLeague Final Four in each of those two years.

Grizzlies Waive Marko Guduric, Sign Zhaire Smith

The Grizzlies have made a series of roster moves, announcing in a press release that they’ve signed guard Zhaire Smith and forward Bennie Boatwright while waiving guards Marko Guduric and Jahlil Tripp.

The release of Guduric had been expected, as we discussed earlier today. The 25-year-old Serbian appeared in 44 games with Memphis last season, averaging 3.9 PPG on .395/.301/.923 shooting in 11.0 minutes per contest. His $2.75MM salary for 2020/21 is fully guaranteed, so the Grizzlies won’t be able to remove it from their cap.

Tripp, meanwhile, had been on an Exhibit 10 contract and seems likely to eventually join the Memphis Hustle, the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate.

Since the Grizzlies still have 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, neither of the newcomers will receive a guarantee or earn a spot on the team’s regular season roster. They both received Exhibit 10 contracts and will likely end up with the Hustle, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.

Smith, 21, was the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, but has only appeared in 13 games since then due primarily to health issues. The Sixers traded him last month to the Pistons, who subsequently released him.

As for Boatwright, the former USC star spent the 2019/20 season with the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate, but didn’t play due to a knee injury. In his last college season in 2018/19, he averaged 18.2 PPG on .474/.429/.702 shooting in 31 games (33.5 MPG) for the Trojans.

Hezonja, Guduric Won’t Be In Camp With Grizzlies

Veteran forward Mario Hezonja and guard Marko Guduric won’t be in training camp with the Grizzlies, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.

Memphis is currently carrying 17 players on guaranteed contracts and must cut that number down to 15 before the regular season begins later this month. Herrington, who previously identified Hezonja and Guduric as the probable odd men out, says this is further confirmation that they’re the favorites to be waived if the Grizzlies don’t make a trade or two to trim the roster in the next couple weeks.

Hezonja, 25, averaged 4.8 PPG and 3.5 RPG on .422/.308/.814 shooting in 53 games (16.4 MPG) for Portland last season. After he exercised his minimum-salary player option for 2020/21, he was sent to Memphis in a three-team trade that saw the Trail Blazers acquire Enes Kanter.

As for Guduric, he signed a two-year, $5.4MM contract with the Grizzles in 2019. However, he fell out of the club’s rotation early last season and ended up just averaging 11.0 minutes per contest in 44 games. The Serbian shooting guard scored 3.9 PPG on .395/.301/.923 shooting.

As Herrington notes (via Twitter), assuming the Grizzlies release both Hezonja and Guduric, they won’t have to stretch either player’s guaranteed salary across three seasons in order to stay out of luxury-tax territory. However, the team could still decide to stretch one or both cap hits to create a little extra flexibility below the tax threshold.

Southwest Rumors: Harden, Westbrook, Grizzlies, Porzingis, More

The Rockets still expect to begin the season with former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook on their roster, despite a handful of November trade rumors, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast.

Although there’s no momentum toward a trade involving either player, Charania dropped a couple interesting tidbits during his podcast discussion about the Rockets stars, mentioning that the Warriors “made a call” about Harden and that the Cavaliers talked to Houston about Westbrook. Based on Charania’s comments, it doesn’t sound like any traction was gained in either case.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • The Grizzlies are currently carrying 17 players on guaranteed contracts, meaning a couple of those players will have to be traded or released before the start of the regular season. Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian suggests that Mario Hezonja and Marko Guduric appear to be the most likely odd men out.
  • Confirming a previous report, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle reiterated today that Kristaps Porzingis (knee) won’t play until at least January, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Carlisle did say that Porzingis’ rehab is going well and that the big man is doing “light court work.”
  • Mavericks rookie guard Tyrell Terry will receive $4.6MM in guaranteed money on his four-year contract, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. While we don’t know the exact terms of Terry’s deal, it sounds like his first three seasons will be guaranteed.
  • The three-year, minimum-salary contract that second-rounder Tre Jones signed with the Spurs is fully guaranteed for the first two years, as Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports details (via Twitter).

Elfrid Payton Among Three Suspended For Knicks-Grizzlies Fight

The NBA has handed out the punishments for the fourth-quarter scuffle between the Knicks and Grizzlies brawl on Wednesday night.

According to the league, Knicks guard Elfrid Payton has been suspended one game for pushing Jae Crowder at the end of the contest. Grizzlies players Jaren Jackson Jr. and Marko Guduric have each been suspended one game for leaving the bench.

Crowder, who took the late-game three-pointer that irked the Knicks, did not get suspended but instead will receive a $25K fine. Marcus Morris has also been fined $35K for his role in escalating the fight.

The Memphis players will serve their suspensions on Friday when the team plays the Pelicans in New Orleans. Payton will miss Saturday’s contest against the Pacers.

For more details on the altercation, be sure to check out our earlier story.

Grizzlies/Knicks Fight Could Result In Suspensions

With less than a minute left in Wednesday’s Grizzlies/Knicks game and Memphis leading by 18 points, Grizzlies forward Jae Crowder stole an inbound pass and ran to the three-point line to get a shot up, drawing the ire of Knicks guard Elfrid Payton. As Crowder launched his three-pointer, Payton delivered a two-handed shove to his chest, knocking him over and instigating a scuffle between the players on the court (video link).

As Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, the altercation could lead to fines and/or suspensions for some of the players involved. Payton, Crowder, and Marcus Morris were ejected from the game, with Payton receiving a flagrant 2 foul.

Payton, who seems like the most probable candidate for a suspension, expressed no remorse for his actions after the game, suggesting that Crowder “knows better” than to do what he did with the game’s outcome already decided, per Garrett Stepien and Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

“I’d do it again,” Payton said. “Didn’t matter who took that shot. Don’t disrespect the game like that … you just don’t do that.”

Barnes points out that Grizzlies players Jaren Jackson Jr. and Marko Guduric could also be subject to league discipline, since they left the team’s bench area during the incident before eventually being pulled back by assistant coaches. The NBA’s rules call for a one-game suspension for any player that leaves the bench to enter the fray during an on-court altercation.

The Knicks don’t play again until Saturday, but the Grizzlies are in action tomorrow, so if the NBA plans on handing out suspensions, we’ll hear about them before Friday night.

Here’s more on the Grizzlies/Knicks fracas:

  • As Mike Vornukov of The Athletic details, Morris faced a backlash after the game for using sexist language while criticizing Crowder’s “unprofessional” play. He’s just — a lot of female tendencies on the court, flopping and just throwing his head back the entire game,” the Knicks’ forward said. “And like I said, it’s a man’s game and you just get tired of it, man.
  • Morris, who may face NBA punishment for his comments about Crowder, later apologized on Twitter: “I apologize for using the term ‘female tendencies.’ I have the upmost respect for women and everything they mean to us. It was a heat of the moment response and I never intended for any women to feel as though in anyway I’m disrespecting them. Again I apologize for my comments.”
  • Following the late-game altercation, fans at Madison Square Garden aimed a “Sell the team” chant at owner James Dolan for about 20 seconds, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Dolan shouted at security during the chants, and a source tells Berman that the Knicks’ owner also singled out a teenager who was the nearest chanting fan in his vicinity.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/13/20

Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:

  • The Clippers assigned rookie center Mfiondu Kabengele to the Agua Caliente Clippers, the team’s PR department tweets. Kabelgele, a late first-round pick, is averaging 16.7 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 2.0 BPG for the G League team in 15 starts.
  • The Grizzlies assigned forward Bruno Caboclo and Marko Guduric to the Memphis Hustle, the team’s PR department tweets. They will play in the Hustle’s game against the Santa Cruz Warriors on Monday. Caboclo has appeared in 22 games with the Grizzlies this season but only one this month. Guduric has appeared in 28 games but has only made two cameos since December 14.
  • The Celtics assigned rookie guard Carsen Edwards to the Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. The second-round pick has seen action in 27 NBA games.