Sergio Scariolo Rumors | Hoops Rumors

International Notes: Valanciunas, Ibaka, Nwora, Neto

July 4th, 2025 at 9:20pm CST by Eli Cohen

While there’s still no resolution on his NBA contract situation, Jonas Valanciunas appears to be moving forward with his reported plan to sign with the EuroLeague club Panathinaikos. According to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops, Valanciunas arrived in Athens on Friday with the intent of undergoing a physical and finalizing the terms of a lucrative three-year deal.

However, Valanciunas remains under contract in the NBA and will be traded from Sacramento to Denver once the July moratorium ends. Reports have indicated that the Nuggets have long had interest in Valanciunas and envisioned a major role for him on their 2025/26 roster, so they’re hoping to convince him to honor his NBA contract.

Still, with all signs pointing to Valanciunas desiring a return to Europe, it certainly seems as if he and his new NBA team are headed for buyout discussions. In that scenario, the Nuggets would likely require him to give up most – if not all – of the $10.4MM guaranteed salary he’s owed next season. That would give Denver some spending flexibility to return to free agency or the trade market in search of a new backup center for Nikola Jokic.

We have more from around the world of international hoops:

Three-time NBA All-Defensive first-teamer Serge Ibaka is leaving Real Madrid, the Spanish team announced on Wednesday. The 35-year-old big man averaged 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 12.0 minutes per night during EuroLeague play for the eventual Liga ACB champions. This was Ibaka’s first year with Real Madrid after playing the previous season with Bayern Munich. It has now been more than two years since he was last on an NBA roster.
Veteran wing Jordan Nwora is leaving Anadolu Efes, the Turkish club announced (via Twitter). Nwora, who played four seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Bucks and Pacers, has agreed to a deal with Crvena Zvezda out of Belgrade, Serbia, per a Eurohoops report (via Twitter).
Free agent guard Raul Neto has signed with San Pablo Burgos for the upcoming season, the team announced. The 33-year-old Neto, who appeared in 435 regular season NBA games from 2015-23, played limited minutes in 2024/25 with Barcelona. San Pablo Burgos competes in Spain’s Primera FEB, which is the country’s second division league.
Sergio Scariolo has agreed to return to Real Madrid as their head coach, according to Eurohoops.net. The Italian coach, who won an NBA title as an assistant for the 2018/19 Raptors, has spent most of his career in the EuroLeague. He had a previous tenure with Real Madrid from 1999-2002, and has been coaching Virtus Bologna for the past three seasons. Scariolo, who has four EuroBasket championships and a pair of Olympic medals to his name, has agreed to a three-year deal with Real Madrid and will officially join the club after coaching the Spanish national team one last time at this year’s EuroBasket tournament.

Coaching Rumors: Knicks, Borrego, Shammgod, Magic, Mavs, More

July 2nd, 2025 at 8:49pm CST by Luke Adams

After being denied permission to speak to five NBA head coaches already under contract with rival teams, the Knicks shifted their focus to Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins, with Jenkins falling behind after “projecting less enthusiasm for the job,” writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

The team spoke to other candidates, including James Borrego and Micah Nori, and Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley did, in fact, formally interview for the job as well. However, as Begley writes, the search was always expected to result in the Knicks hiring an experienced NBA head coach.

The Knicks ultimately decided Brown was their man in large part because they believe he’ll bring “leadership and collaboration” to the organization, tweets Steve Popper of Newsday. Casey Powell (aka CP The Fanchise) of Knicks Fan TV (Twitter link) notes that the club is also confident in Brown’s ability to maximize the talent on the roster.

While Brown won’t be forced to retain any of the assistants who worked under Tom Thibodeau, the expectation is that a few will be back, according to Begley, who specifically identifies Rick Brunson, Darren Ermann, Mark Bryant, and Maurice Cheeks as strong candidates to remain in New York.

Brown is targeting Borrego for his lead assistant role, viewing him as an ideal offensive coordinator, Begley writes. However, as Marc Stein of The Stein Line notes (via Twitter), the Pelicans want to keep Borrego as their associate head coach and don’t necessarily have to let him leave for what would be a lateral move in terms of his title.

According to Stein (Twitter link), New Orleans previously denied permission to the Nuggets, who wanted to speak to Borrego about their lead assistant role under David Adelman.

Here are a few more coaching-related notes and rumors from around the NBA:

As expected, Mavericks player development coach God Shammgod has reached a deal with the Magic to become an assistant on Jamahl Mosley‘s staff, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Rumors about Orlando’s interest in Shammgod, who had been in Dallas since 2019, had circulated since mid-June.
With Shammgod departing, keep an eye on Phil Handy and Mike Penberthy as possible candidates to join the Mavericks‘ staff under Jason Kidd, according to Stein (Twitter links). Both Handy and Penberthy were part of the Lakers’ staff alongside Kidd when Frank Vogel – Dallas’ new lead assistant – was the head coach in Los Angeles.
Omar Cooper Jr., the twin brother of former NBA guard Sharife Cooper and the son of Ace Bailey‘s agent Omar Cooper, is serving as a guest coach for the Jazz during Summer League, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. Cooper Jr. is looking to get into coaching after wrapping up his college playing career at McNeese State this past season.
In announcing its 15-man roster for EuroBasket 2025, the Spanish national team confirmed that former Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo will be stepping down from his role as Spain’s head coach after the event. BasketNews.com has the story, along with Spain’s roster, which includes Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama.

Eastern Notes: Scariolo, Heat, Celtics, Ainge, Fontecchio

June 2nd, 2025 at 5:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

According to a Eurohoops.net report, the Heat have expressed interest in adding Sergio Scariolo to their coaching staff. Scariolo is currently the head coach of Spain’s national team and served as an assistant coach with the Raptors for three seasons from 2018-21. However, the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang hears from a source close to the organization that Scariolo is not a candidate for a Heat coaching position.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

The Heat might have to take a step back to move forward, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith writes in his offseason preview. Their cap sheet for next season is messy but they could reach the summer of 2026 with ample cap space, perhaps $30-40MM or even more, unless they make a major trade for a star player this summer. If they don’t make that sort of deal, it might be another down year for the franchise but the Heat will own their own first-round pick without restrictions in next year’s draft along with having salary flexibility.
The departure of Celtics assistant GM Austin Ainge transpired quickly in recent days, and the hiring of a replacement for him is not imminent, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reports. Ainge has joined the Jazz‘s front office as their president of basketball operations. “Ownership is awesome and it’s just kind of the next progression of my career,” Ainge said. “Kind of done a lot in Boston and we’ve had a lot of success over the years, and the chance to run my own team is a big part of it. And the Jazz have a lot of potential, man. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of potential.”
Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio didn’t shoot as well from beyond the arc as he had the previous season but he maintained a rotation spot due to other factors, Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois writes. Fontecchio drew praise from coach J.B. Bickerstaff due to his defensive tenacity, versatility, energy, selflessness and basketball IQ. If Fontecchio can regain his three-point form, he’ll be a very valuable rotation piece heading into his walk year, Langlois adds — he has $8.3MM remaining on his contract.

And-Ones: 2025 Draft, Withdrawals, Finals, Scariolo

May 30th, 2025 at 12:10pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline, ESPN draft experts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo have updated their big board of this year’s top 100 draft-eligible prospects.

There are no surprises at the very top of their list, with Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and V.J. Edgecombe continuing to hold the first four spots. However, there’s plenty of movement elsewhere in the first round, with Noa Essengue (No. 14 to 9), Carter Bryant (No. 20 to 12), Maxime Raynaud (No. 35 to 24) among the biggest risers since ESPN last updated its big board.

Conversely, Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 7 to 10), Derik Queen (No. 10 to 13), and Jase Richardson (No. 13 to 20) are among the prospects who were projected as lottery picks in ESPN’s previous update and have slipped a few spots this time around.

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

An ESPN panel consisting of Givony, Woo, and college basketball insider Jeff Borzello evaluates how this month’s early entrant decisions have impacted the NCAA landscape, identifying which programs benefited most or were hit hardest by the decisions made before Wednesday’s withdrawal deadline. Givony, Woo, and Borzello also single out a few players who look poised to boost their draft stock for 2026 after returning to school, including Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford and Houston’s Joseph Tugler.
If Indiana beats New York once more to win the Eastern Conference Finals, it would be the first NBA Finals since the luxury tax was implemented in which neither team is a taxpayer, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Both the Thunder and Pacers stayed below the tax this season, whereas every other NBA Finals since 2003 (with the exception of 2005, when a lack of basketball-related income resulted in no luxury taxes) has featured at least one taxpaying team.
Sergio Scariolo, a former Raptors assistant and the current head coach of the Spanish national team, is interviewing for a position with an NBA team, reports Alex Molina of Eurohoops. The identity of that NBA team is unclear, but the interview is presumably for an assistant coaching role, since the Suns are the only team with a head coaching vacancy and are already in their third round of interviews.

Olympic Notes: Greece, Fernandez, L. Brown, Hachimura

August 2nd, 2024 at 1:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nobody was cheering harder for Canada in today’s Olympic matchup than the Greek basketball team. After defeating Australia this morning, Greece needed a Canadian victory over Spain to have an opportunity to advance out of pool play. Canada improved to 3-0 with an 88-85 win, leaving three teams tied at 1-2 in Group A. Under the Olympic tie-breakers, Australia finishes second, with Greece third and Spain eliminated at fourth.

Greece’s fate still hasn’t been decided, explains Eric Nemh of The Athletic. There are several scenarios that could still work in their favor, but the easiest is for Serbia to defeat South Sudan by at least three points on Saturday in the final game of pool competition.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for Greece again today with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Although Antetokounmpo has been brilliant throughout the tournament, teammate Thomas Walkup told BasketNews that Greece shouldn’t be viewed as a one-man team.

“He [Giannis] would say the same thing — it doesn’t really matter,” Walkup said. “We win as a team, we lose as a team. You know, this Australia versus Giannis isn’t how it is for us.”

There’s more from the Olympics:

Spain’s loss ends the long international career of Rudy Fernandez, who was playing in his fifth Olympics. The 39-year-old has three Olympic medals and is a two-time FIBA World Cup champion. “Being so competitive, being so committed to this team. It was no matter his health or how his personal situation was. He was always there,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said in a separate BasketNews story. “That’s a great example for his teammates here in this team, for the ones who are coming after him and, for sure, for players from all over the world because not everybody can have the jumping ability, the skills, the talent, or the size, but everybody should try. I would say not everybody can have a talent, for sure, but at least they should try to look at this example and see that there is a kind of room for compensating different liabilities or flows with a superior mental and emotional effort.”
Spanish teammate Lorenzo Brown doesn’t consider his Olympic career to be over, even though he’ll be close to 38 by the 2028 Games, per Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (Twitter link). “No way, no way, man,” said Brown, who played five NBA seasons before continuing his career internationally. “I want to get back to the Olympics and give it another shot at it.”
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura wasn’t available for Japan’s final game on Friday due to an injured left calf, writes Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press. Hachimura left the team after an MRI confirmed an injury to his gastrocnemius muscle.

And-Ones: China, Filipowski, Williams, Mock Draft, Scariolo

February 25th, 2024 at 10:52am CST by Arthur Hill

Nets owner Joe Tsai believes the NBA is interested in resuming its relationship with China, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. In an interview Friday with CNBC, Tsai said previous tensions have thawed and preseason games may return to the country.

“I think the NBA is in a very good place with respect to its relationship with China,” Tsai said. “China is actually the NBA’s biggest fan base. So what happened before, I think it’s water under the bridge.”

China’s leaders were upset in 2019 when Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who was with the Rockets at the time, tweeted his support for anti-government protesters. Beijing responded by pulling the NBA off state-sponsored CCTV for almost two years, and commissioner Adam Silver estimated in 2021 that the dispute cost his league $400MM.

Tsai believes the NBA needs to include China as part of its appeal to a global market.

“I think just having the fans have real, in-person sort of interaction with the stars,” Tsai said. “I think that’s going to be important.”

There’s more news from around the basketball world:

Projected lottery pick Kyle Filipowski of Duke suffered a sprained ankle Saturday when Wake Forest fans stormed the court after a victory over the Blue Devils, per Aaron Beard of The Associated Press. The incident, combined with Iowa star Caitlin Clark being knocked down under similar circumstances last month, have sparked a debate about banning students from running onto the court. “Just trying to get my way off the court, and you know, you’ve got these crazy college students just doing whatever they want,” Filipowski said. “It’s got to be a little more protective when things like that happen.”
Jeremy Woo of ESPN (subscription required) examines the case for Colorado’s Cody Williams as the top pick in this year’s draft. Woo notes that the 6’8″ Williams has “viable guard skills” and often takes on a play-maker role in the Buffaloes’ offense. He’s connecting at 47.1% on three-pointers in limited attempts, and Woo sees him developing into an above average shooter. NBA scouts tell Woo that Williams would be a mid- to late-lottery pick in a stronger draft, but the absence of standout talent has him in consideration to be the first player off the board.
French center Alexandre Sarr tops the latest mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. Rounding out Wasserman’s top five are Nikola Topic, Zaccharie Risacher, Matas Buzelis and Ron Holland.
The new president of the Spanish Federation wants former Raptors assistant Sergio Scariolo to continue coaching the national team for the next four years, according to Eurohoops.

And-Ones: Scariolo, Player Participation Policy, Silver

September 19th, 2023 at 12:44pm CST by Luke Adams

At the introductory press conference for new head coach Luca Banchi on Monday, Virtus Bologna’s Massimo Zanetti – the owner of the Italian team – spoke about the decision to dismiss veteran coach Sergio Scariolo just before the 2023/24 season began.

As Orazio Cauchi of BasketNews.com relays, Zanetti’s comments suggest he felt slighted by Scariolo’s decision to interview with the Raptors and Real Madrid this offseason while under contract with Virtus Bologna. Zanetti suggested that Scariolo treated the Italian club like a “second-division” team.

It’s unclear what the next step is for Scariolo, who was a Raptors assistant from 2018-21 before returning to the EuroLeague and coaching Virtus for the last two seasons. He has compiled a long, impressive résumé overseas, having also coached Baskonia, Real Madrid, Khimki Moscow, and Olimpia Milano before making the move to the NBA five years ago.

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

Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic takes a look at the NBA’s new player participation policy, exploring whether or not it’s the right solution to address the league’s load management issue. As Krawczynski notes, the league is implementing the new rules before completing a new media deal, a signal that it wants to ensure its best product is on the court as often as possible during those negotiations.
Sarah Todd of The Deseret News and Zach Harper of The Athletic contend that the player participation policy doesn’t get to the root of the issue, which is that the regular season is too long. Harper suggests a 70-game schedule would be an improvement over the current 82-game slate, but acknowledges it’s extremely unlikely to happen, since it would require teams to sacrifice revenue.
Because the new player participation policy was the focus of Adam Silver‘s press conference last week, the commissioner wasn’t asked to address some other key issues, says Marc Stein in his latest Substack article. Specifically, Stein would’ve liked Silver to explain the specific reasoning behind James Harden‘s $100K fine and to discuss the sudden retirement of veteran referee Eric Lewis, whose connection to a burner Twitter account was being investigated by the league. The timing makes it hard not to assume Lewis agreed to resign in exchange for the NBA suppressing the details of the investigation, Stein writes.

International Notes: Parker, W. Hernangomez, Lin, Scariolo, NBL

September 15th, 2023 at 10:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Spanish club Barcelona added a couple NBA veterans this offseason in Jabari Parker and Willy Hernangomez. Parker, the former No. 2 overall pick, was out of the league last season, while Hernangomez played for the Pelicans.

Álex Biescas of AS.com has some highlights from the team’s introductory press conference (hat tip to Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops).

“It was an opportunity in every way,” Parker said. “I was talking to a couple of teams but I didn’t feel like I had to go there. Only when I arrived here did I feel the opposite. I don’t have years to wait. I want to be here and do great things.”

As for Hernangomez, he’ll be returning to his home country and the Liga ACB, Spain’s top league. He played for Sevilla and Barcelona’s longtime rival Real Madrid prior to his seven-year NBA stint.

“I knew I was coming to a great club, but I’m better than I expected,” Hernangomez said, per Biescas. “Super at ease, adapted and very happy with the reception. I noticed the enthusiasm of the fans.”

Here are a few more international notes:

Jeremy Lin is continuing his playing career with the New Taipei Kings of Taiwan’s P.League+, as Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays. Lin, who holds nine years of NBA experience, last played in the league for Toronto back in 2018/19. The 35-year-old guard has spent three of the past four seasons in China, with a G League stint in-between. Former second-rounder Tony Mitchell, who had a brief NBA stint with Detroit in 2013/14, will also be joining the Taipei Kings.
Italy’s Virtus Bologna has dismissed head coach Sergio Scariolo ahead of the upcoming season, the team announced in a press release. A Raptors assistant from 2018-21, Scariolo received two interviews this spring for Toronto’s lead coaching vacancy, which was filled by Darko Rajakovic. The EuroLeague’s head coaches board expressed support for Scariolo, who is also the head coach of the Spanish national team. Bologna has hired Luca Banchi as a replacement (Twitter link). Banchi is head coach of Latvia’s national team, winning the Best Coach award at the World Cup after a fifth-place finish. It was Latvia’s first-ever appearance at the World Cup.
The National Basketball League and the Australian Basketball Players’ Association announced the completion of a new CBA ahead of the upcoming NBL season, tweets Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Uluc passes along some details from the agreement.

Raptors Notes: Rajakovic, Scariolo, Coaching Search

June 10th, 2023 at 8:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Raptors‘ decision to hire Darko Rajakovic as their next head coach doesn’t provide any clues about what they plan to do with their roster, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. Rajakovic is versatile enough to handle either direction, Koreen states, whether it’s trying to win right away with the current core or leading a rebuilding project focused on younger players.

Toronto had a lot of individual talent this season, especially once center Jakob Poeltl was acquired at the trade deadline, but the team couldn’t put together any sustained success, which led to the dismissal of Nick Nurse after the play-in tournament. The Raptors have a decision to make on Poeltl as he enters free agency, along with Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr., who are both expected to turn down their player options and test the market. The team also must decide whether to explore potential trades involving Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby after opting to keep both of them at this year’s deadline.

Regardless of what happens with the team’s stars, Rajakovic will be counted on to develop young players who are able to contribute. Koreen notes that Nurse played his starters more than any other coach this season as draft picks such as Malachi Flynn and Dalano Banton weren’t able to earn rotation roles.

There’s more on the Raptors:

Rajakovic will be a huge loss for the Grizzlies‘ coaching staff, per Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. He spent three seasons with Memphis, and as the lead assistant, he filled in whenever Taylor Jenkins was unavailable. Rajakovic also guided the Grizzlies’ Summer League team in 2021, encouraging Desmond Bane to handle the ball more often and working to develop Ziaire Williams in his first NBA experience. “His basketball knowledge is very good, especially on the offensive end,” Williams said. “His schemes and the way he reads the game, it’s pretty different. I haven’t seen it before honestly.”
Sergio Scariolo, who was one of the coaches to receive a second interview in Toronto, tweeted a congratulatory message after news of Rajakovic’s hiring broke Saturday afternoon. “Congrats and good luck to my good friend coach @DRajakovic!” Scariolo wrote. “Good choice, it’s great to see a European coach having an opportunity to prove his value as an NBA HC ! A heartfelt thank you to the Raptors, receive this consideration from what has been my team was very meaningful!”
Many people around the league were perplexed by the length of the Raptors’ coaching search, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Toronto’s interview process was largely conducted in secret, and it took nearly two full months to choose a replacement after Nurse was fired.

Atlantic Notes: Brown, Mitchell, Raptors, Niang, Nurse

June 8th, 2023 at 8:31pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Having made the All-NBA Second Team this year, Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown is eligible for a five-year, $290MM super-max contract extension. According to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, a longtime Brown advisor, has some pointed advice for the young star.

“Take the money,” Thomas said. “He’s had a great career there, and he’s become one of the best players in the league. They’ve done well, and he’s done well there. It’s been a win-win, I think, for him and for the Celtics.”

Thomas went on to suggest that the departure of 2021/22 head coach Ime Udoka and lead assistants Will Hardy and Damon Stoudamire seems to have had an adverse influence on Brown, who had an uneven performance in the 2023 playoffs.

“Hey, I don’t care how talented your team is, when half of your coaching staff walks out of the door, that’s going to affect you,” he said. “That’s just how it goes. You lose your head coach and your top two assistants, you’re going to be impacted by that.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks may still pursue a trade for Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell at some point, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. Botte notes that New York team president Leon Rose will likely explore other options when it comes to trying to trade for a superstar this summer, but that Mitchell, a native New Yorker, could remain a target down the line. The Knicks eliminated Mitchell’s higher-seeded Cavaliers in a five-game first round playoff series.
Sixers forward Georges Niang offered up a rave review for Philadelphia’s new head coach Nick Nurse on ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube video link). “Obviously (the Sixers are) bringing in a guy that is a basketball savant,” Niang said (h/t to Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice for the transcription). “He knows how to junk up games, he knows how to draw ATOs, run offense, and then junk defenses, how to play defense, he’s done a great job. His Toronto teams were always tough to guard, and they were always tough to score against. So I was extremely pleased to see that they hired him and see they’re moving in that direction.” Niang, an unrestricted free agent this summer, clearly still seems interested in the future his current club.
The Raptors are currently the lone team still in the market for a new head coach. Per Marc Stein, Toronto nixed plans for a second face-to-face conversation with Virtus Bologna head coach Sergio Scariolo due to his team’s continued presence in the Lega Basket Serie A finals. Scariolo could be out of commission until June 23 if the series lasts seven games. The Raptors had hoped to have a new head coach in place in time for June 22’s NBA draft. According to Stein, there’s speculation in league circles that Scariolo could have something of an edge for the job, while others believe Warriors assistant coach Kenny Atkinson is the favorite. Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic is considered the third favorite, per Stein, with all three gaining separation from Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez.