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Stein’s Latest: Banton, Love, Warriors, NBA Europe, Bonga

September 15th, 2025 at 5:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent guard Dalano Banton has received interest from teams overseas but continues to seek an NBA opportunity after spending the past season-and-a-half in Portland, Marc Stein writes for The Stein Line (Substack link).

According to Stein, Banton has recently auditioned for multiple NBA teams, including the Warriors and Pacers, though Indiana decided to pass on him.

Banton, who was traded from the Celtics to the Trail Blazers at the 2024 deadline, has since appeared in 97 games for Portland, averaging 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 20.6 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .399/.319/.751. He has been an unrestricted free agent since his contract expired on June 30.

Here’s more from Stein:

  • The Jazz and Kevin Love have yet to engage in serious discussions about a buyout, per Stein. While it’s “widely known” that Love would like to play for a team closer to contention, it doesn’t sound as if he has a post-buyout spot lined up yet, Stein explains, so there has been no urgency to get out of his contract with Utah.
  • Stein reiterates that the expectation around the NBA is that veteran free agents Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II will sign with the Warriors once Jonathan Kuminga‘s situation is resolved. According to Stein, the latest round of negotiations between the Warriors and Kuminga has “sparked some fresh optimism” that both he and those other vets will be signed prior to the team’s media day on September 29.
  • After FIBA Europe president Jorge Garbajosa predicted that the NBA’s new European league could tip off in 2027, Stein says his own reporting suggests Garbajosa’s timetable may not be exact but also isn’t far off.
  • Although Isaac Bonga‘s NBA exit clause for 2025 expired, he drew interest from a few teams earlier in the summer, according to Stein, who says Bonga committed to spending the coming season with Partizan Belgrade after not getting a concrete offer from any of those clubs. Stein anticipates Bonga will receive more serious NBA interest next offseason.
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Greece Defeats Finland For EuroBasket Bronze Medal

September 14th, 2025 at 11:24am CST by Rory Maher

Greece survived a late rally by Finland in the third-place game of EuroBasket 2025, winning by a final score of 92-89 to claim the tournament’s bronze medal.

Greece led for nearly 38 minutes of the 40-minute contest and never trailed. While they were up by double-digits for the majority of the game, including a 17-point lead with four minutes left, Finland nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback, getting to within one possession in the closing seconds before coming up short.

The Greek national team was led by Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished with 30 points, 17 rebounds, six assists (seven turnovers), one steal and two blocks in just under 31 minutes. He converted two free throws in the clutch to help seal the victory.

Ex-NBA guard Tyler Dorsey, a Greek nationalized citizen, also had a big game, going 5-of-9 from three-point range en route to 20 points. Guard Vasileios Toliopoulos, who went scoreless in Greece’s semifinal loss to Turkey, had 15 points.

It’s the first time Antetokounmpo has won a medal with Greece and the first time the country has finished in the top three at EuroBasket since 2009, when it also won bronze.

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen had team highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds for Finland, which also received strong contributions from Elias Valtonen (18 points, five rebounds, three steals), Mikael Jantunen (13 points, six rebounds, seven assists) and Olivier Nkamhoua (15 points, five rebounds).

Despite the loss, the Finnish national team had an excellent run in the tournament, including knocking off medal favorite Serbia in the round of 16. Finland, which finished in fourth place, had already secured its best result in EuroBasket history by making the semifinals.

The final between Germany and Turkey will take place later on Sunday.

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Western Notes: Gobert, Abdelfattah, Sengun, Durant

September 13th, 2025 at 3:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Timberwolves paid a hefty price to the Jazz to acquire Rudy Gobert. Minnesota was heavily criticized for giving up five players and a package of first-rounders for the defensive stalwart after Gobert’s first season in the organization. However, the trade can now be considered a resounding win for the Timberwolves, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic opines.

Krawczynski cites Gobert’s impact over the past two seasons and suggests the team’s success during that stretch have changed the culture in Minnesota. The organization has become a place players want to play with heightened expectations and Gobert has been a big part of that change.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • The Timberwolves have officially hired Mahmoud Abdelfattah as head coach of the Iowa Wolves, the club’s NBA G League affiliate, according to a team press release. The Wolves’ decision to hire him was reported last month. Most recently, Abdelfattah spent the 2023/24 season as the head coach of the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League. Prior to his time with the NBL’s Kings, the Chicago native spent four seasons (2019-2023) in the Rockets organization.
  • Alperen Sengun has been one of the stars of the EuroBasket tournament, which comes as no surprise to Rockets coach Ime Udoka, according to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. That’s what Udoka advised his starting center when he visited Turkey this summer. “It was really, ‘Be aggressive and get back to dominating as you have throughout your career,’ basically,” Udoka said. “For him, we wanted to work on specific things and the way they guard him over in Europe, in EuroBasket. And he’s doing a great job, obviously, getting high assist numbers, being very efficient, but doing all the things and trying to be well rounded. So it wasn’t just about scoring the ball.”
  • Speaking of Udoka, the Rockets coach received this message from Kevin Durant — use me in any way necessary. Durant would rather fit in than have their young core become passive. “He wants to kind of be implemented into the group, and people not take a back seat to him,” Udoka told Lerner. “That’s his message to a lot of the young guys: Be who you are, continue to grow in those areas, and I’ll fit in where we see necessary.”
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Germany Into EuroBasket Final With Win Over Finland

September 12th, 2025 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Germany will compete in the gold medal game at EuroBasket for the first time since 2005 after defeating Finland by a score of 98-86 in the first of the tournament’s semifinals on Friday.

Germany piled up 61 first-half points and withstood a third-quarter surge from the Finnish team to hang onto its lead. A trio of NBA players were the team’s top scorers, with Dennis Schröder leading the way. The Kings point guard totaled 26 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds, and was a +22 in his 31-plus minutes on the court.

Franz Wagner (22 points, five rebounds) and Tristan Da Silva (13 points, four rebounds) of the Magic also played key roles for the Germans, who got contributions from former NBA players like Daniel Theis (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Isaac Bonga (10 points, five rebounds) as well.

Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen was Finland’s star player over the course of the tournament but struggled to make an impact on Friday. Although he scored 16 points, Markkanen needed 17 field goal attempts to earn those points and was a -24 in 28 minutes of action.

It will still be a historic finish for Finland, which made the EuroBasket final four for the first time ever. Markkanen and the Finnish team will compete in the third-place game on Sunday in the hopes of claiming a bronze medal.

As for Germany, EuroBasket 2025 represents the latest deep run for a national team that has been one of the world’s best in recent years. The Germans finished third at EuroBasket 2022, won the 2023 World Cup, and placed fourth at the 2024 Olympics.

Greece and Turkey will square off this afternoon for the right to face Germany in Sunday’s final, with the loser taking on Finland in the third-place game.

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Markkanen, Finland Advance To EuroBasket Semifinals

September 10th, 2025 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

The Finnish national team will compete in the EuroBasket semifinals for the first time in the history of the competition after defeating Georgia by a score of 93-79 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Finland, which unexpectedly knocked off Serbia in the round of 16, is led by Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, the only current or former NBA player on the roster. Markkanen was a key contributor on Wednesday, registering 17 points, six rebounds, and a pair of assists in 27 minutes of action, though it was Fenerbahce forward Mikael Jantunen who led the team in scoring against Georgia with 19 points.

The Finnish team made the quarterfinals at EuroBasket 2022 and lost to Spain, the eventual champions. However, that was the first time the country had advanced as far as the quarterfinals in a EuroBasket tournament since 1967 — Finland hosted that year’s competition and finished sixth.

Greece will take on Turkey on one side of the bracket on Friday, while Finland will face the winner of today’s Slovenia/Germany game in the other semifinal. No matter what happens on Friday, it will be the best EuroBasket result ever for Finland.

It was also the best EuroBasket finish ever for Georgia, which participated in the quarterfinals for the first time. The team came up short on Wednesday despite strong efforts from Raptors big man Sandro Mamukelashvili (22 points), former NBA forward Tornike Shengelia (18 points, five assists), and Magic center Goga Bitadze (14 points, six rebounds).

Bitadze was ejected from the game due to an unsportsmanlike foul with 6:55 left in the fourth quarter, notes Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter), while Shengelia was ejected a few minutes later after being charged with unsportsmanlike and technical fouls.

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Kevin Love Reportedly Unlikely To Open Season With Jazz

September 7th, 2025 at 7:24pm CST by Rory Maher

On July 7, veteran forward/center Kevin Love was traded to the Jazz in the three-team deal that sent Norman Powell to the Heat and John Collins to the Clippers.

About a month later, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported that Love was “actively exploring potential pathways out of Utah,” including a buyout. However, Stein didn’t list any possible suitors for Love, who remains on the Jazz’s roster a few weeks before training camps are set to open.

Love is on an expiring contract, which will pay him $4.15MM this season.

Within a story about the types of skill sets the Nuggets might consider targeting with their 15th standard roster spot, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reports that Love is “widely expected to be traded or bought out by” the Jazz before the 2025/26 season begins, and when that happens, he’s likely to land with a contending team.

That doesn’t mean Love will end up in Denver; Durando makes it clear he’s just floating an idea. But it’s interesting — albeit unsurprising — that Love is reportedly unlikely to stick with the Jazz, who had the worst record in the NBA last season (17-65).

Forward depth may not be Denver’s highest priority, but Durando notes that reserves Peyton Watson, DaRon Holmes II, Zeke Nnaji and Hunter Tyson are all young and relatively inexperienced. Perhaps most importantly, Watson is the only player of the group who has shown he can be a rotation regular to this point.

Love, meanwhile, turned 37 years old today (happy birthday) and is entering his 18th NBA season after being selected fifth overall in the 2008 draft. The five-time All-Star hasn’t played much the past few years, largely serving as a veteran mentor in Cleveland and Miami, though he did finish runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year in 2021/22.

Durando also points out the Love has a longstanding relationship with head coach David Adelman, who was an assistant for part of Love’s tenure in Minnesota.

For what it’s worth, Durando says point-of-attack defense and point guard depth are the other two areas the Nuggets might want to address at some point. As our Luke Adams noted in his Offseason Check-In, Denver has been a taxpayer for three straight years and is operating just over the luxury tax threshold, so the team may be motivated to finish the season below the tax — an important first step toward resetting the repeater clock.

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Finland Shocks Serbia; Lithuania Also Reaches EuroBasket Quarterfinals

September 6th, 2025 at 5:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

Finland pulled off one of the biggest international upsets in recent years, surprising Serbia on Saturday in a EuroBasket elimination game, writes Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews. Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen led the way for the Finnish team with 29 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in the 92-86 victory.

“Unreal,” Markkanen said. “Great performance by the team. We needed every single one of them tonight — everybody in the stands, the staff, the players. Big credit to them. We’re not done yet, but we’re gonna enjoy this. Obviously, that’s a heck of a team we just beat, and now we move forward.”

Led by perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and with six other current and former NBA players on its roster, Serbia was considered among the favorites for the EuroBasket title when the tournament began. But its prospects took a major hit when Bogdan Bogdanovic suffered a ruptured hamstring muscle last week that forced him out of the competition.

Serbia cruised to victories in its first four games behind dominant performances from Jokic. However, they dropped to second in Group A after Wednesday’s loss to Turkey and didn’t respond well in the knockout round.

Jokic delivered 33 points and eight rebounds on Saturday, but Serbia didn’t offer much other scoring punch outside of Nikola Jovic‘s 20 points. Despite his many career accomplishments, Jokic has never medaled at EuroBasket.

Up next for Finland will be the winner of Sunday’s game between France and Georgia.

Lithuania also advanced to the quarterfinals on Saturday with an 88-79 victory over Latvia, joining Turkey and Germany, who won earlier in the day.

With Rokas Jokubaitis sidelined by a serious knee injury, Arnas Velicka starred for the Lithuanians with 21 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, while Azuolas Tubelis contributed 18 points and 12 rebounds and Deividas Sirvydis added 18 points.

Latvia was eliminated despite a stellar performance from Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis, who finished with 34 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Porzingis told reporters that he has mostly recovered from the illness that sapped his strength last season with Boston, according to BasketNews.

“It’s true that there were still some days when I wasn’t feeling perfect, and I’m still working my way back to having my gas tank full,” he said. “But as the tournament went on, I started to feel really good physically, and I knew I could push my body, I could push myself to go. Today was an example of that. It’s just up from now. Overall, a great summer with my Latvian teammates, being back home, enjoying time with family. And yeah, I would have liked to finish on a more beautiful note.”

Lithuania’s quarterfinals opponent will be the winner of Sunday’s Greece-Israel matchup.

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Knockout Round Set For EuroBasket; Spain Fails To Qualify

September 4th, 2025 at 4:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Led by a double-double from Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic (15 points, 12 rebounds), Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Georgia by a score of 84-76 on Thursday morning to become the 15th team to qualify for the EuroBasket knockout round, as Michalis Gioulenoglou of Eurohoops writes.

Raptors big man Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with a game-high 20 points for Georgia.

Despite the loss, Georgia became the 16th and final team to qualify for the round of 16 later in the day after Spain fell to Greece, FIBA announced (via Twitter). Led by Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had a team-high 25 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, Greece eked out a 90-86 victory to claim the top spot in Group C.

Spain and Georgia finished with identical 2-3 records in Group C and Spain had a far better point differential (+43 vs. -19), but the Georgians defeated the Spaniards in their head-to-head matchup, earning the tiebreaker.

It’s a disappointing exit for the defending champions — the Spanish national team has been a perennial powerhouse in both European and international competitions, having won four of the previous six EuroBasket tournaments, including the most recent one in 2022. According to Armando Caporaso of Sportando (Twitter link), it has been nearly 50 years since Spain failed to advance past the first stage of the tournament (1977).

The matchups and the full bracket for the EuroBasket’s single-elimination round of 16 have now been set. The breakdown is as follows:

  • First quarter of bracket:
    • Lithuania (B2) vs. Latvia (A3)
    • Greece (C1) vs. Israel (D4)
  • Second quarter:
    • Turkey (A1) vs. Sweden (B4)
    • Poland (D2) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (C3)
  • Third quarter:
    • Germany (B1) vs. Portugal (A4)
    • Italy (C2) vs. Slovenia (D3)
  • Fourth quarter:
    • Serbia (A2) vs. Finland (B3)
    • France (D1) vs. Georgia (C4)

The win-or-go-home games involving teams from Groups A and B will take place on Saturday, while the teams in Groups C and D will square off on Sunday. The full schedule for the weekend, including tip-off times, can be viewed here.

The quarterfinals in the top half of the bracket will be played next Tuesday, followed by the quarterfinals from the bottom half of the bracket on Wednesday. The teams that come out of the first and second quarters will face one another in one of the semifinals next Friday, while the winners of the third and fourth quarters will face off in the other semifinal on the same day. The final will be played on Sunday, September 14.

FIBA has also confirmed the final placement of the teams eliminated prior to the round of 16. Those teams, who were classified based on their group position, overall record, and point differential, were ranked as follows:

  1. Spain (2-3 record, +43 point differential)
  2. Belgium (2-3, -40)
  3. Estonia (1-4, -45)
  4. Montenegro (1-4, -77)
  5. Great Britain (1-4, -130)
  6. Iceland (0-5, -76)
  7. Czechia (0-5, -96)
  8. Cyprus (0-5, -165)

While Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama (Spain), Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro), and Hawks guard Vit Krejci (Czechia) have been eliminated from the tournament and Wizards center Alex Sarr (France) and Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) have been ruled out due to injuries, the remaining 23 active NBA players in the tournament should all be in action this weekend.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

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Nets Notes: Porter, Thomas, Lottery Odds, Koch

September 4th, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Nets are counting on Michael Porter Jr. to provide scoring punch and stretch opposing defenses after acquiring him in an offseason trade with Denver, and he’s confident that he can deliver. In a recent interview with online influencer PlaqueBoyMax (YouTube video link), Porter proclaimed that Warriors guard Stephen Curry is the only NBA player who surpasses him as a long-distance shooter.

“Stephen Curry, that’s the only one I’m giving like a clear elite, can shoot better than me,” Porter said. “There’s dudes that are on the same level. I think Klay Thompson, (Kevin Durant). If I got in the gym (with someone) like Duncan Robinson, he probably can shoot with me. Trae Young, (Damian Lillard). But I think Steph is the only one clearly better.”

Porter has numbers to back up his claims, as he’s coming off one of the best shooting seasons of his career, connecting at 50.4% from the field and 39.5% from three-point range. His ability to knock down outside shots convinced the Nets to take on the nearly $80MM he’ll earn over the next two seasons.

There’s more from Brooklyn:

  • Cam Thomas‘ future with the team remains cloudy following his decision to accept a one-year qualifying offer, according to NetsDaily. The high-scoring guard may find himself pushed down the rotation as the Nets focus on developing their five first-round picks, and the situation could get more contentious as the season wears on. One source called the outcome “another failure in asset management” for the team, while another told the author, “Cam Thomas gets the QO to no surprise. Can’t imagine how many shots he’s going to take this year.”
  • With their roster loaded with young players, the Nets are expected to be among the top contenders for best odds heading into next year’s draft lottery. Peter Botte of The New York Post examines their competition and expects the Jazz, Wizards and Hornets to all be involved in that race to the bottom.
  • Julia Koch and the billionaire Koch family, who own 15% of the Nets’ parent company, BSE Global, have purchased a minority stake in the NFL’s New York Giants, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. BSE Global also owns the WNBA’s New York Liberty and Barclays Center.
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28 Current NBA Players Competing In FIBA EuroBasket 2025

August 27th, 2025 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of the FIBA World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Olympics in 2024, the 2025 NBA offseason doesn’t feature a major international tournament in which the United States’ top stars are competing.

However, several of the league’s biggest names – including three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and five-time All-NBA first-teamer Luka Doncic – are taking part in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, which tipped off on Wednesday.

The tournament, also known as the European Basketball Championship, takes place every four years and features 24 European countries vying for a gold medal. The 24 teams who qualified for EuroBasket are split up into four groups and will face the other teams in their group across five games from August 27 to September 4.

At the end of group play, the top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout round, which is a single-elimination tournament featuring the remaining 16 countries.

By our count, 28 active NBA players are taking part in EuroBasket 2025, along with 30 former NBA players and several more who were selected in an NBA draft but have yet to play in the league.

Here’s the full list of current and former NBA players set to compete in EuroBasket, sorted by group and country:

Group A

Czechia (Czech Republic)

  • Current NBA players: Vit Krejci (Hawks)
  • Former NBA players: None

Estonia

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: Henri Drell

Latvia

Portugal

  • Current NBA players: Neemias Queta (Celtics)
  • Former NBA players: None

Serbia

Serbia’s roster also includes Nikola Milutinov and Vanja Marinkovic, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.

Turkey

Group B

Finland

Germany

Great Britain

Lithuania

Lithuania’s roster also includes Rokas Jokubaitis, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league, and Azuolas Tubelis, who was on a two-way contract with the Sixers during the 2023 offseason but was waived before the season began.

Montenegro

Sweden

  • Current NBA players: Pelle Larsson (Heat)
  • Former NBA players: None

Group C

Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Current NBA players: Jusuf Nurkic (Jazz)
  • Former NBA players: None

Cyprus

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

Georgia

Greece

Italy

Italy’s roster also includes Matteo Spagnolo, Gabriele Procida, and Saliou Niang, who are former NBA draft picks but have never played in the league.

Spain

Group D

Belgium

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

France

France’s roster also includes Isaia Cordinier, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.

Iceland

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: None

Israel

  • Current NBA players: Deni Avdija (Trail Blazers)
  • Former NBA players: None

Israel’s roster also includes Yam Madar, a former NBA draft pick who has never played in the league.

Poland

  • Current NBA players: None
  • Former NBA players: Jordan Loyd

Slovenia

  • Current NBA players: Luka Doncic (Lakers)
  • Former NBA players: None
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