Mike James (Lamar) Rumors

International Notes: Mexico City Game, James, Teodosic, Harper

June 14th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s Mexico City Game in 2024 will feature a pair of Southeast rivals, as the Heat and Wizards will match up in the contest on Saturday, November 2, the league announced today in a press release. It will be the NBA’s 14th regular season contest and 33rd game overall in Mexico.

The game will be the fourth in Mexico for the Wizards, who last played there in 2019, and the third for the Heat. Since Miami’s last visit in 2022, the team has added Mexican-American forward Jaime Jaquez, which likely factored into the NBA’s decision to have the team return just two years later.

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

Reigning EuroLeague MVP Mike James has a new three-year deal in place with AS Monaco Basket, the team officially announced on Friday (via Twitter). The former NBA guard was initially said to be nearing an agreement a week ago before Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reported that James was considering testing the open market. According to Urbonas (Twitter link), Monaco improved its offer to ensure that a deal got done. James previously appeared in 49 NBA games from 2017-21 with the Suns, Pelicans, and Nets.
Former NBA guard Milos Teodosic, who played for the Clippers from 2017-19, will spend another season with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia. The team announced (via Twitter) that it has signed the 37-year-old to a new one-year contract (hat tip to Sportando).
Valencia Basket and Jared Harper, who suited up for the Suns, Knicks, and Pelicans from 2019-22, have parted ways, the Spanish club announced in a press release. A former All-NBAGL first-teamer, Harper spent the past two seasons with Valencia but will be a free agent this summer.

International Notes: Theis, Birch, M. James, M. Scott

June 8th, 2024 at 2:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Clippers center Daniel Theis, who will be an unrestricted free agent, would draw significant interest from EuroLeague teams if he’s unable to find an NBA offer he likes this offseason, according to a report from TeleSport (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando).

Sources tell TeleSport that Barcelona, Fenerbahce, and Panathinaikos would be among the teams with interest in the German big man if he becomes open to the idea of returning to Europe. Theis has played in the NBA since 2017, but began his professional career in Germany from 2010-17.

After opening the 2023/24 season in Indiana, Theis agreed to a buyout with the Pacers and caught on with the Clippers, who needed a backup center after Mason Plumlee suffered a knee injury. Theis averaged 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game across 59 appearances with Los Angeles.

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

Former NBA big man Khem Birch, who is healthy again and finished this past season playing for Girona in Spain, has accepted an invitation to take part in training camp with the Canadian national team this summer, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. It’s unclear whether or not there will be a spot available for Birch on Canada’s 12-man Olympic roster. He didn’t play for the team at least year’s World Cup, with Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell serving as Canada’s primary centers. Probable first-round pick Zach Edey will also be in that mix.
According to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, sources have disputed the claim that EuroLeague MVP Mike James is on the verge of signing a new contract to remain with AS Monaco. Despite lengthy extension talks between the two sides, no deal is in place and James may explore his options on the open market, sources tell Urbonas. The veteran guard last played in the NBA in 2021 for Brooklyn.
Former NBA forward Mike Scott has parted ways with French team ASVEL and will continue his career with Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico, tweets Urbonas. The 35-year-old forward appeared in 555 regular season NBA games from 2012-21, last playing for Philadelphia.

And-Ones: Poland, Sochan, M. James, J. Porter, More

June 7th, 2024 at 5:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Polish national team has formally announced a 17-man preliminary roster for next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Valencia, Spain (hat tip to Eurohoops). Poland will be grouped with Finland and the Bahamas in that tournament and will vie with Angola, Lebanon, and Spain for the right to compete in the 12-team men’s basketball tournament at the Olympics in Paris.

Poland’s roster doesn’t feature much NBA talent, but there is one player currently active in the league: Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan was named to the 17-man squad, which will be trimmed to 12 players for the qualifying tournament Sochan previously won a gold medal with Poland at an under-16 championship in 2019 and also represented the country at the EuroBasket 2022 qualifiers.

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

On the heels of being named this season’s EuroLeague MVP, former NBA guard Mike James appears to be on the verge of signing a contract extension with AS Monaco. As Johnny Askounis relays for Eurohoops, a report from Gabriel Pantel-Jouve of BeBasket indicates that James and Monaco are set to complete a three-year deal that will increase the guard’s annual salary to three million Euros per season.
A total of four men have now been charged by federal prosecutors in the sports betting scandal related to Jontay Porter‘s lifetime ban from the NBA, reports Jennifer Peltz of The Associated Press. The defendants are being accused of profiting from prop bets based on the knowledge that Porter would exit a pair of games early. The complaint also alleges that Porter – who isn’t identified by name but fits the description of the player described – was supposed to receive a portion of the winnings.
In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks of ESPN identifies five teams who may not receive as much attention this summer as high-profile franchise like the Lakers and Sixers, but who could have eventful and important offseason ahead of them. Marks’ picks? The Bulls, Trail Blazers, Jazz, Pelicans, and Spurs.
With the Lakers reportedly in pursuit of UConn head coach Dan Hurley, Alex Andrejev of The Athletic considers the history of accomplished college coaches making the leap to the NBA and evaluates how several of the most notable names – including Billy Donovan, Larry Brown, and Rick Pitino – fared at the professional level.

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.

And-Ones: M. James, M. Howard, Tavares, Canada, Awards

May 14th, 2024 at 2:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran guard Mike James, who played for Phoenix and New Orleans in 2017/18 and Brooklyn in 2020/21, has officially been named the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player for the 2023/24 season. James has thrived overseas with AS Monaco in recent years — he made the All-EuroLeague First Team in 2022 and the Second Team in 2023.

This season, the 33-year-old ranked second in the EuroLeague in scoring (17.9 points per game) and seventh in assists (5.1 per game). He chipped in a career-high 4.1 rebounds per night and made 37.2% of his three-pointers while also becoming the EuroLeague’s all-time leading career scorer.

James led AS Monaco to a 23-11 regular season record, tied for the second-best mark in the EuroLeague. However, his club was knocked out of the EuroLeague playoffs by Fenerbahce in a hard-fought best-of-five series that included a pair of overtime losses, including a one-point defeat in the deciding game.

James is just the second U.S.-born player to win a EuroLeague MVP award, joining Anthony Parker (2005 and 2006), according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link).

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

A pair of former NBA players have agreed to contract extensions with their teams in Spain. Ex-Nuggets guard Markus Howard has signed a new deal that extends his deal with Baskonia through 2028, per a press release from the club. Meanwhile, former Cavaliers and Hawks big man Edy Tavares has reportedly agreed to a three-year extension with Real Madrid, per Ramon Alvarez de Mon of La Galerna (Twitter link). There had been some speculation that Tavares might try to return stateside this summer, but unless his new deal with Madrid falls through, it seems that won’t happen after all.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray could end up squaring off in the Western Conference Finals later this month. They may also be teammates this summer on the Canadian national team that will compete in the Paris Olympics. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca takes a look at how the formidable play of the two Western Conference stars continues to raise expectations for Team Canada ahead of its first men’s basketball Olympic appearance since 2000.
The NBA will announce its Sportsmanship Award on Thursday before revealing its All-Rookie, All-Defensive, and All-NBA teams next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, according to the league (Twitter link). While most of those announcements will happen during the day, the All-NBA teams will be unveiled on TNT on Wednesday evening’s broadcast.

International Notes: Landale, Jackson, Kaminsky, James, Loyd

August 18th, 2023 at 8:58am CST by Luke Adams

Rockets center Jock Landale confirmed on Twitter that he won’t be part of the Australian national team that will compete in the World Cup beginning next week. As we detailed on Thursday, Landale suffered an ankle injury during an exhibition game against South Sudan this week.

“Sitting here this morning knowing the Boomers are about to take off to Japan and I’m absolutely kicking myself I’m not right there beside them,” Landale wrote. “All the build up and preparation we go through as athletes just to have it yanked away 12 hours beforehand sucks.

“… Focus turns to supporting them how I can and preparing for this season with the Rockets,” Landale added.

Landale was said to be undergoing an MRI on his injured ankle on Friday. The results of that MRI and a diagnosis have yet to be reported, but hopefully the big man will be back to full health by the time the NBA season begins in October.

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

Former NBA first-round pick Justin Jackson is believed to be receiving some interest from Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv, per a Walla Sport report (hat tip to Sportando). The veteran forward, who has played for six teams since entering the NBA as a 15th overall pick in 2017, appeared in 23 games for Boston in 2022/23. He was traded to Oklahoma City and waived in February.
Having signed with the Belgrade-based team KK Partizan, veteran NBA big man Frank Kaminsky noted that he has Serbian roots on his mother’s side and said that he spoke to former Hawks teammate Bogdan Bogdanovic before he agreed to join Partizan. “I called him first when the possibility arose to move to Partizan,” Kaminsky said, per Eurohoops. “He said a lot of nice things about the club and the city, which helped me make the decision to sign the contract.”
Appearing on the URBONUS podcast with Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, former NBA guard Mike James confirmed that the plan is for him to remain with AS Monaco alongside new addition Kemba Walker for the 2023/24 season. James – who was rumored to be a Suns target early in the offseason – has one more season left on his contract with Monaco and sounds like he’s looking forward to exploring his options in 2024. “I think for this season, I’m here,” James said. “Free agency is the next summer and we’ll see what happens.”
Another former NBA guard who is playing for AS Monaco, Jordan Loyd, is expected to miss at least the next two or three months after undergoing lumbar spine surgery, tweets Urbonas.

International Notes: Embiid, Mykhailiuk, M. James, Onuaku, A. Brown

July 28th, 2023 at 9:19am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter audio link), Team USA managing director Grant Hill confirmed that he’s talked to Joel Embiid about the possibility of playing for the U.S. at the 2024 Olympics and will continue to pursue the Sixers center.

Embiid is a citizen of both the U.S. and France, in addition to Cameroon, so he has plenty of options if he determines he wants to compete internationally next summer. If he were to decide to play for France alongside young phenom Victor Wembanyama, it would further upgrade a squad that Hill already expects to be one of Team USA’s top competitors.

“France is a team that’s probably been our toughest opponent, at least in the last (few years),” Hill said. “They beat us in the opening game in the Olympics in ’21, and then in a very close, hard-fought win, we beat them in the gold medal game. And then you think about Wembanyama and the potential of others (joining the team)… It’s not easy.”

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

Free agent wing Svi Mykhailiuk is drawing interest from Greek club Panathinaikos, according to a report from SDNA.gr (hat tip to BasketNews.com). A 2018 second-round pick who has appeared in 252 regular season NBA games over the past five seasons, Mykhailiuk is reportedly focused on finding another NBA opportunity, but if none materializes, Panathinaikos figures to be among his top suitors in Europe.
Veteran guard Mike James decided not to exercise the NBA opt-out clause in his contract and will remain with AS Monaco, as Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com details. James was mentioned early in the offseason as a possible Suns target and there was speculation he may opt out after Kemba Walker joined AS Monaco, but it appears he’ll stick with the team for at least one more season.
Big man Chinanu Onuaku and forward Anthony Brown are among the former NBA players who recently signed new contract overseas. Onuaku completed a deal with Spanish club Joventut Badalona (press release), while Brown is rejoining Turkey’s Bursaspor Basketbol (Twitter link).

International Notes: James, Walker, Brown, Chealey

July 22nd, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite the impending arrival of Kemba Walker, a four-time NBA All-Star, AS Monaco has no plans to move on from former NBA point guard Mike James, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

Language in James’ contract gives him an NBA exit clause until July 25, so there was speculation that Monaco reached a deal with Walker in order to account for James’ exit. However, Urbonas suggests that Walker’s history of knee problems – which ultimately ended his All-Star prime – may be the reason the team is looking to retain James, along with perhaps the rest of its current backcourt, guards Jordan Loyd, Elie Okobo, and Matthew Strazel.

There’s more from around the international basketball world:

With Walker ending his 12-year NBA run for now, Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic examine Kemba’s decision and what it could mean for the rest of his playing career. King notes that, though Walker’s NBA run may have come to a close, his decision to continue his career abroad speaks to his love for the game. Weiss writes that the 33-year-old is joining a really solid club, which qualified for its first-ever EuroLeague Final Four earlier this year.
Former NBA and G League swingman Chaundee Brown Jr. has joined French club SIG Strasbourg, reports Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 6’5″ wing out of Michigan appeared in a grand total of five NBA contests during the 2021/22 season on a brief two-way contract with the Lakers, plus a 10-day deal with the Hawks, averaging 6.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 0.8 APG in 20.8 MPG. He spent 2022/23 with the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.
NBA veteran Joe Chealey has linked up with Israeli team Hapoel Eilat, Skerletic writes in another piece. Chealey had played on a two-way contract and some 10-day deals with the Hornets from 2018-20. The 6’1″ point guard out of the College of Charleston subsequently played with Charlotte’s G League affiliate the Greensboro Swarm, Israeli club Hapoel Gilboa Galil, and Polish team MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Western FA Rumors: D-Lo, Lakers, H. Jones, Suns, Warriors

June 30th, 2023 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

There are “strong” indications that the Lakers are trending toward a new two-year deal with free agent point guard D’Angelo Russell, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. According to Fischer, that two-year contract could be worth in the neighborhood of $40MM in total, though the second season may be a team option or non-guaranteed.

While the Lakers have interest in re-signing both Dennis Schröder and Lonnie Walker, it’s unclear which one the club is prioritizing, Fischer writes. Schröder will likely require a raise that exceeds the Non-Bird exception, so if Los Angeles uses its mid-level exception on an outside free agent, the team may have to allot its bi-annual exception to him, Fischer explains. In that scenario, it’s unclear whether the team would have enough room to re-sign Walker to a market-value deal as well while remaining below a hard cap.

Another potential path would see L.A. splits its mid-level between Schröder and a frontcourt player such as Mason Plumlee, sources tell Yahoo Sports. If Schröder doesn’t end up back with the Lakers, a reunion with Bulls coach Billy Donovan in Chicago is possible, Fischer writes. Donovan previously coached the point guard in Oklahoma City.

Finally, Fischer is one of a handful of reporters who have linked free agent forward Cam Reddish to Los Angeles. The Lakers were said to have some trade interest in Reddish – a Klutch Sports client – during each of the past two seasons. He’d be a minimum-salary target, Fischer notes.

Here are a few more free agency rumors from around the Western Conference:

Two forwards who had their team options declined by the Pelicans on Thursday figure to take very different paths this summer. According to Fischer, Herbert Jones will likely end up back in New Orleans on a four-year deal worth a little more than $50MM, which would presumably be his Early Bird maximum. Willy Hernangomez, on the other hand, is considered a good bet to accept a lucrative offer from a EuroLeague team rather than seeking another minimum-salary NBA deal, Fischer reports.
The Suns intend to bring back several of their own free agents, including Torrey Craig, Damion Lee, Jock Landale, and Josh Okogie, according to Fischer, who says agent big man Drew Eubanks is another strong candidate to end up in Phoenix. Fischer is also the latest reporter to link Yuta Watanabe and Mike James to the Suns.
The Lakers and Warriors are among the teams eyeing free agent guard Shake Milton, per Fischer. Free agent forward Dario Saric has also received “strong” interest from Golden State, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

Stein’s Latest: Middleton, Lopez, Crowder, VanVleet, Harden, Poeltl, Suns, Morris

June 28th, 2023 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks appear to be in a good position to re-sign several of their key free agents, Marc Stein writes at Substack. Stein gets the sense that Khris Middleton‘s return to Milwaukee is “all but assured,” and says Brook Lopez seems to be leaning toward remaining with the Bucks too, despite the fact that he’ll draw interest from rival suitors like the Rockets.

Interestingly, Stein hears that Milwaukee is considered increasingly likely to re-sign forward Jae Crowder as well. A trade deadline acquisition, Crowder had a forgettable postseason, scoring just seven points and missing all six of his 3-point attempts in 41 total minutes of action. However, he was effective in 18 regular season appearances for the Bucks, who gave up several second-round picks to land him.

Here’s more from Stein:

After he wrote earlier this week about the Rockets‘ interest in Fred VanVleet, Stein has been told by a “flurry of informants” that Houston is believed to be looking to sign the point guard to a two-year, maximum-salary contract. Such a deal would be worth just shy of $84MM based on the NBA’s latest cap projections.
The latest rumblings Stein has heard suggest that James Harden will likely return to the Sixers on a two- or three- year deal and that Jakob Poeltl is expected to re-sign with the Raptors for about $20MM per year, whether or not VanVleet remains in Toronto.
Veteran forward Yuta Watanabe and former NBA guard Mike James have been mentioned as potential targets for the Suns as they look to fill out their roster around their stars, says Stein. James, who has spent the past two seasons with AS Monaco, last played in the NBA in Brooklyn in 2021 and is close with Durant.
Clippers forward Marcus Morris remains on the trade block after a proposed three-team deal that would have sent him to Washington fell through last week, Stein says.