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And-Ones: Boylen, Buyout Market, I. Cousins, Murry

March 3rd, 2022 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Jim Boylen‘s stint as the Bulls’ head coach was short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful, as he led the team to a record of just 39-84 (.317) from 2018-20. After his tumultuous tenure in Chicago, Boylen was extremely appreciative to get the chance to coach Team USA’s qualifying team for the 2023 World Cup, as he tells Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

“This opportunity, you kind of get your sea legs back. I got my voice back,” Boylen said. “It was a godsend to come and do this, and also, this is the biggest challenge I’ve ever had.”

Boylen has led Team USA to a 3-1 record in the qualifiers to date, picking up wins in February over Puerto Rico and Mexico. There are four more qualifying windows to come, with the next one scheduled for June.

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

  • When many of the top players available on the 2021 buyout market joined the Nets or Lakers, some league observers and fans pushed for changes that would prevent big-market teams from scooping up veteran talent essentially for free. However, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (video link) argues within a recap of 2022’s relatively quiet buyout market that the impact of buyout signings is generally overstated — none of last year’s moves were difference-makers and it’s unlikely that any of this year’s will be either, says Marks.
  • Former Oklahoma guard Isaiah Cousins has signed an NBA G League contract and is joining the Maine Celtics, according to our JD Shaw (Twitter link). Cousins was a second-round pick in the 2016 draft, but has yet to appear in a regular season NBA game, having spent most of his professional career in Europe.
  • One of the former NBA players who had been playing in Ukraine this season, Toure’ Murry spoke to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today about his stressful experience leaving the country following Russia’s invasion last month. “There was risk of going to the Poland border and getting sent back. There were no guarantees. So we took a leap of faith going through Romania,” said Murray, explaining that he was eventually able to get a train to Bucharest, a flight to Amsterdam, and then a flight home to Houston. “It worked out in terms of getting across the border. But going through the situation, we had no idea if we would get out.”
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Joe Johnson, Langston Galloway Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

February 15th, 2022 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced its 12-man roster for the next two qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team, coached by Jim Boylen, will be made up of G League players and current free agents. Here’s the roster:

With the exception of Ryan, all of the players on Team USA have some NBA experience, though some are certainly more accomplished than others. Johnson has earned seven All-Star berths and has appeared in 1,277 career regular season games. Bell, Black, and Galloway have also each played in more than 160 career regular season contests.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia next August and September. Teams play 12 qualifying games before then — those contests take place across six windows, with World Cup hopefuls playing twice during each window.

Team USA went 1-1 in its first two qualifying games in November, defeating Cuba but losing to Mexico. Boylen coached that team and Bowen played for it, but the other 11 roster spots have since been turned over, with Isaiah Thomas among the players who aren’t back this time around. The new-look squad will face Puerto Rico on February 24 and Mexico again on February 27.

After this month’s games, the remaining four qualifying windows are scheduled for June, August, November, and next February. While the next two windows fall outside of the NBA season, the expectation is that USA Basketball will continue using G-Leaguers for the qualifiers before recruiting NBA stars for the event itself next summer.

As our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter), forward DaQuan Jeffries had been expected to be part of Team USA’s roster for this month’s qualifiers, but had to de-commit due to an injury.

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And-Ones: Team USA, Faried, Bennett, All-Star Voting

December 25th, 2021 at 6:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

New Team USA coach Steve Kerr may not hold a training camp involving players during the summer, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Kerr, who officially took over the position earlier this week, has talked to managing director Grant Hill about conducting a coaches camp instead, which would represent a new approach for the national team.

The next World Cup won’t take place until the 2023 offseason, and the next Olympics are two-and-a-half years away. Team USA will be hoping to get a two-year commitment from its players to participate in both events. The Americans have won the last four Olympic gold medals, but finished seventh at the 2019 World Cup.

“I’m in touch with Grant all the time and we’re discussing those things,” Kerr said. “Obviously there is COVID complications as well, but with the World Cup not being until the following summer, there’s not a huge sense of urgency to get a bunch of players together. It’s more about getting the coaches together and really starting to put a foundation together.”

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Kenneth Faried has received an offer to play in the G League, tweets Marc Stein of Substack. The 32-year-old big man played eight NBA seasons, but hasn’t been in the league since finishing the 2018/19 season with the Rockets. Faried has played overseas since then, but ended his arrangement with CSKA Moscow last week.
  • Anthony Bennett has parted ways with Hapoel Jerusalem, tweets Israeli basketball writer Roi Cohen. Bennett, the first selection in the 2013 draft, averaged 7.0 points per game while playing in the Winner League and the Basketball Champions League. Bennett has been out of the NBA since the 2016/17 season and has played both in the G League and overseas.
  • Fan voting for the NBA’s All-Star Game began today and will continue through January 22, the league announced (via Twitter). Votes can be submitted at NBA.com, through the NBA app or on Twitter. Votes will count double today, as well as January 13, 17 and 20.
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Team USA Names Steve Kerr Head Coach

December 20th, 2021 at 11:13am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 20: USA Basketball has made it official, announcing that Kerr has taken over as the head coach of the men’s national team, with Williams, Spoelstra, and Few joining him as assistants.

DECEMBER 10: Steve Kerr will be the next head coach for USA basketball, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. A deal is currently being finalized, and a formal announcement is expected soon.

Kerr, who served as an assistant to Gregg Popovich on this year’s gold-medal winning team in Tokyo, will take over for the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024 (Twitter link). His staff will include Suns head coach Monty Williams, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.

Kerr, 56, has been among the NBA’s most successful head coaches since being hired by the Warriors in 2014. He has led Golden State to three titles and five appearances in the NBA Finals.

The decision on Kerr represents Grant Hill‘s first major move since taking over as managing director of USA Basketball, Wojnarowski notes (Twitter link), adding that Hill spent several months meeting with candidates and assembled a coaching team that has experienced success in the NBA, college and internationally.

Marc Stein first reported in September that Kerr was viewed as the frontrunner to be Popovich’s successor for USA Basketball.

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And-Ones: Stephenson, Popovich, Thibodeau, Africa League, Samuel

December 9th, 2021 at 5:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lance Stephenson is currently playing for the Nuggets’ G league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. He ultimately hopes to get another chance to play in the NBA, as he told Bob Kravitz of The Athletic.

“I want to show everybody I’m a different guy and I’ll do anything I can to contribute to a team,’” he said. “My whole mindset is getting back to the NBA. I feel like I belong there. That’s my destination. And I’ll never quit trying.”

Stephenson, who is averaging 19.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG for the Gold, hasn’t appeared in the NBA game since the 2018/19 season, when he played in 63 regular-season games for the Lakers.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • A successor for Gregg Popovich as Team USA’s head coach has yet to be named. Popovich said that Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau would make an excellent choice, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. “Oh sure, there are a lot of guys up here that would be fantastic and he’s one of them,” Popovich said. “I think that experience is great and the people that they’re looking at, they’re all great candidates and I think everybody is going to be happy with the final selection for sure. He also was really helpful and supportive during my last four or five years with this, talking to him about how it all goes, giving advice.”
  • The Basketball Africa League will have an expanded second season, according to an NBA press release. The season will begin on March 5, 2022, in Dakar, Senegal, and will include stops in Cairo, Egypt, and Kigali, Rwanda.  The BAL will once again feature the to 12 club teams from 12 African countries and will expand to a total of 38 games over three months.
  • Seton Hall big man Tyrese Samuel has caught the eye of NBA scouts, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com writes. According to Zagoria, 25 NBA scouts from 17 teams will be in attendance on Thursday when the Pirates play Texas.  There’s a chance Samuel could enter the draft after this season, depending on the feedback he gets.
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And-Ones: Okobo, I. Thomas, Team USA, Trade Deadline

November 24th, 2021 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Suns point guard Elie Okobo, who was the No. 31 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has been out of the NBA since the 2019/20 season and is playing in France this year. However, the 24-year-old tells Dionysis Aravantinos of HoopsHype that he envisions himself returning stateside at some point — he’s just not sure when.

“I didn’t really set goals about a return timetable, a deadline, or whatever,” Okobo said.” I want to improve, be ready, and I want to make sure I’m not going back to the NBA as a rookie, I want to set a certain standard, I want to come back with a status of a great EuroLeague player. I obviously want to have a long NBA career, but right now I’m focusing on the team and myself.”

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

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And-Ones: Highsmith, Johnson, USA Basketball, Parsons

November 20th, 2021 at 12:43pm CST by JD Shaw

USA Basketball has added former Sixers two-way player Haywood Highsmith to its initial qualifying team for the 2023 World Cup, agent Jerry Dianis confirmed. Highsmith will join the team in time for group training, which is set to take place from Nov. 20-25.

Highsmith signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia this past fall, later joining the team’s G League affiliate in Delaware. In four games with the club, he’s averaging 16 points, six rebounds and two steals, while shooting 57% from the floor and 50% from deep.

USA Basketball also recently added former NBA players Isaiah Thomas and Justin Anderson to its roster. The team’s first game is against Cuba on Nov. 28, playing in a bubble format in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Speaking of USA Basketball, former No. 8 pick Stanley Johnson received interest to play with the team for the first window of the World Cup qualifiers, according to Marc Stein of Substack. Johnson decided not to play with the group, choosing to join the Lakers’ G League affiliate in South Bay instead. Johnson is working to fast-track a return to the NBA, according to Stein. The 25-year-old holds 371 games of NBA experience and played with Toronto last year.
  • Former NBA player Chandler Parsons is still recovering from the serious injuries he sustained during a car crash in 2020, he told TMZ Sports. Parsons, who suffered a brain injury, disc herniation and torn labrum, was allegedly hit by a drunk driver in the collision. “We’ll see,” Parsons said about a potential NBA comeback. “Working out, staying in shape, but trying to still recover from the car crash last year, so we’ll see.” Parsons last played with the Hawks during the 2019/20 season.
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And-Ones: Thomas, Anderson, Team USA, Offseason Moves, More

November 19th, 2021 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

Since USA Basketball announced its 12-man roster earlier this week for the first qualifying games for the 2023 World Cup, two players have been removed from the squad — DaQuan Jeffries withdrew due to an injury, and Frank Mason wasn’t cleared to participate.

NBA veterans Isaiah Thomas and Justin Anderson will replace Jeffries and Mason on the Team USA roster, according to a press release. Thomas, who continues to pursue an NBA roster spot, represented the U.S. in the AmeriCup qualifiers back in January, so he’s no stranger to international competition.

The same is true of Anderson — the veteran swingman, who has appeared in 226 NBA games, played for Team USA in the AmeriCup qualifiers in 2020 and was part of the Select Team that scrimmaged against the U.S. team prior to the 2019 World Cup.

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

  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks identifies some of the offseason moves that been the most impactful during the first month of the 2021/22 NBA season, including the Cavaliers‘ acquisition of Ricky Rubio and Tommy Sheppard‘s reshaping of the Wizards‘ roster.
  • The NBA plans to increase COVID-19 testing during the Thanksgiving holidays next week, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. As Wojnarowski explains, the league is trying to avoid risking any team-wide breakouts after players participate in family celebrations.
  • Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) breaks down the pros and cons of the various pathways to the NBA for top prospects, taking an in-depth look at the G League, Overtime Elite, National Basketball League (Australia), and college basketball. As Givony writes, the NCAA remains “the most bankable path to the NBA” for top prospects, but those players have more options than ever to choose from.
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Jordan Bell, Shaq Harrison Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

November 15th, 2021 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball has announced its roster for a pair of upcoming qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The squad, which will be coached by former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen, is comprised of G-Leaguers, nearly all of whom have prior NBA experience. Here’s the list:

Of the 12 players on the roster, 11 have appeared in at least one NBA regular season game, led by Harrison (173 career games) and Bell (160 games). Simpson is the only player without any NBA experience under his belt.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia two years from now, while the first qualifying matches will take place later this month. The U.S. team will face Cuba on November 28 and Mexico on November 29. After November’s games, the next round of qualifiers will take place in February.

Although NBA players make up Team USA’s roster in the World Cup itself, the qualifiers take place during the NBA season, so USA Basketball generally opts to build a roster made up of G League veterans. A group led by Jeff Van Gundy put up a 10-2 record in qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup from 2017-19. Mason and Randle participated in a handful of those contests.

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And-Ones: Team USA, Koufos, Ignite, Noah

October 30th, 2021 at 11:56am CST by Dana Gauruder

An announcement on Gregg Popovich’s replacement regarding Team USA’s head coaching vacancy probably won’t come until closer to the end of the calendar year, Marc Stein of Substack reports. Previously, the opening was expected to be filled by the start of the NBA season. The timeline for completing the search has been pushed back for procedural reasons, according to Stein, who previously reported that Steve Kerr is the most likely successor.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • In the same post from Stein, he notes that former NBA center Kosta Koufos will still play for the G League’s Ignite team but his arrival has been delayed due to the birth of his first child. Koufos is joining the Ignite after playing two seasons in the EuroLeague. Amir Johnson and Pooh Jeter are among the other veterans on the team, which allows top prospects to get a taste of professional basketball to prepare for next year’s draft.
  • The Ignite team – which trains in Walnut Creek, California – will play eight home games in Las Vegas, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. The first two of those games will be a back-to-back next month against the Clippers’ Agua Caliente squad.
  • The Bulls have named Joakim Noah as a team ambassador and the 36-yard-old Noah has no regrets about retiring, he told Sam Smith of the team’s website. “Obviously, I miss the competition and I miss the locker room,” Noah said. “But when your body tells you it’s time to go, it’s time to go. So you have to be honest with yourself. I shot every bullet in my gun and I have no regrets. I gave it everything I got.”
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