2024 Olympics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

International Notes: Bahamas, Poland, Green, Lessort

August 20th, 2023 at 3:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Veteran Pacers swingman Buddy Hield submitted a team-most 17 points, while Suns guard Eric Gordon and center Deandre Ayton both made meaningful contributions during Bahamas’ 78-62 blowout win over Uruguay during the 2024 Olympics pre-qualifiers Saturday, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

Bahamas will now square off against home team Argentina in the final of this year’s Olympic pre-qualifying tournament Sunday night, with the winner earning a spot in next summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament. This is an entirely separate event from the FIBA World Cup, which tips off next week.

Here are more international hoops notes:

In winning one of this month’s Olympic pre-qualifying tournaments, Poland has now clinched a spot in the 2024 Olympic qualifying tournament, according to Eurohoops. Poland vanquished Bosnia and Herzegovina, 76-72, in the final. Napoli Basket small forward Michal Sokolowski paced Poland with 16 points and seven boards.
While playing their fourth FIBA World Cup exhibition game in Tokyo, Team Australia beat Team France 78-74. Boomers (and Mavericks) wing Josh Green departed the warm-up bout with a mild ankle injury, but the ailment appears fairly minor, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter link).
After sitting out most of France’s training camp with an ankle issue, national team center Mathias Lessort has been given the green light to suit up for next week’s World Cup, reports Eurohoops. The Knicks own Lessort’s draft rights, though it remains unclear whether he will ever come stateside.

International Notes: Batum, Randle, Lithuania, Tubelis

August 15th, 2023 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers forward Nicolas Batum is playing for France at this year’s World Cup and intends to suit up for the national team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. However, next year’s Olympics tournament is expected to be the last time Batum represents France in an international competition.

Batum’s wife, Lily Batum, indicated in a tweet that the veteran NBA wing will retire from France’s national team after the 2024 Olympics. Her tweet also suggested that Nicolas will retire as an NBA player following the final year of his contract with the Clippers, though she later clarified in a follow-up tweet that that decision hasn’t been made yet.

Batum, who entered the NBA in 2008 and has spent 15 seasons in the league, will turn 35 later this year. He has spent the last three seasons with the Clippers, but has seen his playing time dip a little in each season, from 27.4 minutes per game in 2020/21 to 24.8 MPG in ’21/22 and 21.9 MPG in ’22/23. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

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

AEK Athens and former NBA guard Chasson Randle have agreed to a one-year deal, according to Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops. Randle, who has played in a handful of professional leagues around the world, also has 119 NBA appearances on his résumé, having spent time with the Sixers, Knicks, Wizards, Warriors, and Magic between 2016-21.
After defeating Finland in an exhibition game on Monday – overcoming a 32-point outing from Lauri Markkanen – Lithuania has finalized its roster for the 2023 World Cup, per Eurohoops. The roster includes a handful of current or former NBA players, headlined by Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas. However, NBA rookie Azuolas Tubelis, who signed a two-way contract with the Sixers last month, didn’t make the final cut.
In case you missed it, veteran NBA wing Sterling Brown completed a two-year deal with Germany’s Alba Berlin. We have the full story here.

Australian Coach “Not Recruiting” Ben Simmons

August 12th, 2023 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Australian national team coach Brian Goorjian would like to have Ben Simmons on his roster for the 2024 Olympics, but he told Olgun Uluc of ESPN that the Boomers will be fine whether the Nets guard plays or not.

“This is very important,” Goorjian said. “In my dealings with Ben, it’s always been: I’m not recruiting you. It’s important for the country (to know), we’re not going, ‘Please, Ben, please, we don’t have anything if you don’t play’. We’re not like that at all.”

Basketball Australia announced in late June that Simmons would miss this year’s World Cup so he could continue to rehabilitate his back in preparation for the upcoming NBA season. Recent reports indicate that Simmons is fully healthy and will be ready when Brooklyn’s training camp begins.

Uluc points out that Simmons hasn’t played for Australia since a FIBA Oceania Championship game in 2013. He wasn’t selected for the Boomers’ World Cup squad in 2014, which Goorjian believes led to resentment. Simmons committed to taking part in the 2016 Olympics, the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics, but he never actually joined the team.

Australia has become a perennial contender in international competitions and it’s not as easy to earn a roster spot as it used to be, even for a former star like Simmons, Uluc adds. His expected role as primary ball-handler now belongs to Josh Giddey, although Simmons is versatile enough to help the Boomers in other ways if he’s healthy and fully committed to playing.

That’s a decision Simmons will have to make by next summer, and Goorjian is adamant that the Australians will be competitive with or without him.

“You have a game plan, and it’s like plan B,” Goorjian said. “You’ve got this sitting in here, and you just go, ‘I’d love to pull this out of my pocket; bring this out for a World Cup or bring this out for an Olympics.’ In the same breath, what is phenomenal about Australian basketball right now is, if he doesn’t play, and if it doesn’t work, we’re still on the same path. We’re still going for that gold, and we have the ability, long term, to get that done.”

Southeast Notes: Adebayo, Lillard, Young, Coulibaly, Magic

August 5th, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat’s pursuit of Damian Lillard could give Bam Adebayo a chance to team up with a close friend, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. They formed a bond while winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, which is one of the reasons Miami stands alone on Lillard’s list of preferred destinations. Adebayo said that along with Lillard’s obvious talents, his “demeanor” could help the Heat make another run at a title.

“How he walks, how he talks, how he presents himself, we have a lot of those similar characteristics,” Adebayo said. “Dame isn’t the loudest person. I’m not the loudest person. We’re two down to earth people that gelled well in the Olympics.”

Adebayo was speaking from his youth basketball camp, where he got plenty of questions about Lillard from the participants. Miami hasn’t made much progress toward a deal because its offers haven’t appealed to Portland and it hasn’t been able to find another team to help facilitate a trade. Adebayo couldn’t offer any inside information, but he urged the campers to remain patient.

“The biggest thing is business,” he said. “Everybody wants it to make sense. Everybody on their side wants it to make sense. Obviously, other sides want it to make sense, too. So I feel like it’s just a waiting game until they reach an agreement, if or when it does happen.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Hawks guard Trae Young is interested in joining Team USA for the 2024 Olympics (Twitter link from ClutchPoints). Young discussed the possibility in an interview with Gilbert Arenas, saying, “Obviously, I definitely want to … It’s up to them if they want me to … I respect the OGs and understand that you got to take your turn, but I believe that I should be on.”
Bilal Coulibaly tells Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington that the Wizards were the only team he met with before the draft. Coulibaly’s Metropolitans 92 team was in the French League finals, so he wasn’t able to participate in the normal pre-draft process, but he flew to Washington for a private meeting a few weeks before draft day. Coulibaly said he understands the responsibility of being the first pick of the new front office led by general manager Will Dawkins and Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger. “That’s just that they can trust me,” Coulibaly said. “They know I’m going to do the job for sure. They want me to play defense at first because that’s my biggest tool, so I’m going to do it. They don’t gotta worry about it.”
Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel examines how Magic lottery picks Anthony Black and Jett Howard are planning to spend the rest of the summer as they prepare for their first NBA training camp.

International Notes: Doncic, Embiid, Gobert, Lessort

July 30th, 2023 at 11:58am CST by Arthur Hill

Mavericks star Luka Doncic was introduced Saturday as the new captain of the Slovenian national team for the FIBA World Cup competition, writes Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. He takes over for Edo Muric, who will miss the tournament with a torn ACL.

“I am honored to be the captain. The coach and the rest of the players made the decision,” Doncic said. “It is a pleasure to play for the national team. I have not played since April 10, so I can’t wait for the games.”

At 24, Doncic is already a veteran of international competitions. He was among the stars at the last Summer Olympics and competed twice in EuroBasket, helping Slovenia capture the gold medal in 2017. His team failed to defend its title at last year’s tournament, getting upset by Poland in the quarterfinals.

“As in every tournament, the goal is to win the championship,” Doncic said. “Last year’s failure in the EuroBasket did not make (me) too angry, but instead motivated me. You must look ahead. We don’t care what happened last year. I feel better this year. It is apparent. Much praise to the fitness coach pushing me.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

After saying earlier this week that he’s hoping to have Sixers center Joel Embiid for the 2024 Olympics, Team USA managing director Grant Hill expanded on those comments Saturday on Marc Stein’s podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype). Hill expressed guarded optimism about landing Embiid, who also has citizenship with France and Cameroon, stating that talks will continue as he puts the team together. “Joel Embiid is an incredible talent and he has options,” Hill said. “And I guess that’s a good thing. I’ll just say this: I’ve had some discussions with him, and he knows our desire to have him a part of our program. So we’ll see sort of where that goes. But we’ll certainly, as we get through this World Cup and start to sort of plan for next summer, we’ll continue with those conversations, and hopefully by then, I’ll have some numbers and percentages to give you in terms of where the possibility stands.”
Rudy Gobert had doubts about participating in the World Cup after the season ended, but now he believes France has a good shot at a gold medal, according to Eurohoops. Gobert said he continued to work hard after the Timberwolves were ousted in the first round of the playoffs. “The break after the end of the season wasn’t one,” Gobert said. “I trained a lot in June and July, I feel good and that’s also why I’m here.”
France may be without draft-and-stash player Mathias Lessort, whose NBA rights are owned by the Knicks, Eurohoops reports. Lessort has an ankle issue that will force him to miss an exhibition game with Tunisia next week.

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: Whiteside, Vonleh, Figueroa, Schakel, Schmidt

July 25th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

A former All-Defensive player and a former lottery pick are among the veteran NBA free agents reportedly receiving overseas interest.

Big man Hassan Whiteside, who led the league in blocks per game twice and made an All-Defensive team in 2016, has drawn interest from Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv, per Omri Manhime of Sport5 (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). Whiteside was out of the NBA in 2022/23 and played in Lebanon earlier in his professional career.

Meanwhile, Greek team Panathinaikos is said to be eyeing Noah Vonleh, according to Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 362 career regular season NBA games, including 23 last season for Boston. He played for the Shanghai Sharks in 2021/22 but has never joined a European team.

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

Former Oregon guard L.J. Figueroa, who has spent the last two seasons in the G League playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors and South Bay Lakers, has signed with German club Ratiopharm Ulm, per a press release from the team. Although Figueroa signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Golden State and L.A., he has yet to play in a regular season NBA game.
Jordan Schakel, a member of the Wizards for parts of the last two seasons, is aiming to play for the German national team in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, agents Mike Naiditch and Daniel Poneman tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Schakel has only appeared in six games at the NBA level, but made 39.9% of his three-point attempts in the G League last season.
Ryan Schmidt has left his job as the head coach of the London Lions in the British Basketball League in order to take a coaching job with an NBA team, according to a press release. While his destination isn’t yet known, Schmidt will be joining an Eastern Conference club, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. He previously had a four-year stint as an assistant coach for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team (2017-21).

Domantas Sabonis Has Not Undergone Thumb Surgery

July 12th, 2023 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

2:33pm: Sabonis did not undergo surgery on his thumb, a league source tells James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link). It seems that Maksvytis was misinformed or something was lost in translation.

The Kings’ big man continues to follow a “strict rehab protocol,” Ham adds.

12:57pm: Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who suffered an avulsion fracture in his right thumb last season, underwent a surgical procedure to address the injury, according to Lithuanian national team head coach Kazys Maksvytis.

The Kings have been cagey about providing updates on Sabonis’ thumb during the offseason, with general manager Monte McNair declining to comment in his post-draft press conference on whether or not the star center went under the knife.

However, as BasketNews.com relays, in discussing the anticipated absence of Sabonis for the 2023 World Cup, Maksvytis confirmed in a presser of his own that the big man underwent surgery.

“He tried to recover without the surgery, but it didn’t work, and he lost time,” Maksvytis said. “After the surgery, everything takes longer.”

Sabonis, who broke his thumb in December, only missed a single game before returning to action. The injury didn’t slow him down much, as he averaged 19.1 points, a league-leading 12.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 79 games (34.6 MPG) during his first full season in Sacramento, earning his third All-Star berth and his first All-NBA nod. Sabonis cashed in this offseason when he signed a four-year extension that includes a renegotiated salary for 2023/24.

Without a formal update from the Kings, it’s unclear what sort of recovery timeline Sabonis might be looking at or whether he’ll be available when training camp begins in September. However, McNair did say last month that the team’s expectation is that the 27-year-old will be “good to go” for the regular season this fall.

As for Lithuania’s national team, Maksvytis said during his press conference that Sabonis “apologized for not coming and promised to be available next summer” for the 2024 Olympics.

Victor Wembanyama Won’t Play In World Cup

June 26th, 2023 at 7:53am CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama has changed his mind about representing France in the FIBA World Cup this summer, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. The No. 1 pick in this year’s draft made the announcement in an interview with the French newspaper L’Equipe, saying he plans to focus on getting ready for his rookie season with the Spurs.

“It would not be realistic in terms of development and not prudent in terms of health,” Wembanyama said. “I hope people will understand. It’s frustrating for me, too. The France team is still central for me. I want to win as many titles as possible with the team. But I think it’s a necessary sacrifice.”

Wembanyama indicated that the World Cup would have been too much to add to his schedule after leading his Metropolitans 92 team to the French League finals, a series that didn’t end until June 15. He traveled to New York for last week’s draft, then boarded a plane to San Antonio, where he was introduced at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Wembanyama intends to play for France in the 2024 Olympics, which means a full summer of basketball after his rookie season concludes. After 62 games with Metropolitans and possibly 82 in the NBA – or more if the Spurs reach the postseason – the 7’4″ power forward determined that he might be subjecting himself to approximately 170 games within 24 months if he participates in the World Cup as well.

Wembanyama still plans to be active for at least some of San Antonio’s Summer League games. The Spurs will take part in the California Classic beginning next Monday before moving on to the Las Vegas league. He said the team would have supported his decision whether he played in the World Cup or not, adding that he chose to sit out after talking to his personal medical staff.

France won the silver medal in the most recent Olympics and was considered among the favorites in the World Cup. The tournament will take place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

International Notes: Wembanyama, Darlan, Schröder, Yao

May 25th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama‘s overwhelming popularity is creating a lot of new basketball fans in France, writes Sam Borden of ESPN. Borden notes that it has long been a “niche sport,” far behind soccer in the French sporting landscape, but Wembanyama has been drawing massive crowds, especially as his time in the French league nears its end.

Nearly 16,000 people attended his most recent game in Accor Arena — the largest venue in Paris, which has been hosting Metropolitans 92 games in light of Wembanyama’s celebrity status — and tickets were selling for hundreds of dollars on the resale market. The Wembanyama phenomenon figures to create a huge crop of new NBA fans in France when he begins playing for the Spurs in the fall.

“We’ve had this traditional setup in France — you are going to play the sport your dad played, or the sport he watches,” said Maxime Raynaud, who plays at Stanford. “And so for the past 100 years, everyone just picked up a soccer ball. Now, we have access to basketball. We have role models for basketball. And Victor is going to be the face of that.”

Wembanyama has a crucial playoff game today as his team’s best-of-three series with Cholet is tied at 1-1. Beyond winning an LNB Pro A title and making an impact in the NBA, he has his eyes on the 2024 Olympics, which will take place in Paris.

“My goal,” he said, “is to beat Team USA in the final.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

After officially signing with G League Ignite, Thierry Darlan hopes to prove that Africa can produce NBA-level guards as well as big men, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Darlan hails from the Central African Republic and graduated from the NBA Academy Africa. “When they talk about basketball in Africa, they always talk about the center, the big,” Darlan said. “It’s a big challenge to change that to talking about (a) point guard. In Africa, we’re not just known to run the floor and get rebounds. We can do many things, too. We can pass the ball. Create for others. That is my mission to show that African players can do more.”
Lakers guard Dennis Schröder, who is entering free agency, said he plans to play for Germany this summer in the FIBA World Cup, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
Hall of Famer Yao Ming has stepped down as head of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to an Associated Press report. No official explanation was given, but the league has been plagued by allegations of corruption, including match fixing.