- In a mailbag column, Mike Singer of the Denver Post speculates on the future of Nuggets big man Bol Bol, who barely played after signing a two-year contract last offseason. Singer notes that Bol only saw a combined 26 minutes in April and seemed to fall behind Zeke Nnaji and Vlatko Cancar on the depth chart.
- Singer also cites “chatter” about a possible extension for Nuggets guard Will Barton, who has a July 17 deadline to decide on a $14.6MM player option for next season. Singer states that there’s a lot of “goodwill” between the organization and Barton, who is projected to be a starter if he returns.
The Nigerian national team, having originally invited more than 40 players to its training camp, has trimmed its roster to 15 players, according to an announcement earlier in the week (Twitter link).
Three more cuts will be required to set the official roster for the Tokyo Olympics, but it appears there will be no shortage of NBA players on the 12-man squad. Precious Achiuwa, KZ Okpala, Miye Oni, Josh Okogie, Jordan Nwora, Chimezie Metu, Jahlil Okafor, and Gabe Vincent remain in the mix for the final roster.
One notable player missing from that list is Monte Morris. According to Mike Singer of The Denver Post (Twitter link), the Nuggets guard has been bothered by a nagging knee injury and wants to focus on getting fully healthy for the 2021/22 season. He’s sitting out of the Olympics for precautionary reasons.
Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji received consideration for Team Nigeria as well, according to Singer (Twitter link), but the 2020 first-rounder decided to focus on individual development this season. Nnaji has interest in representing Nigeria in future international competitions, Singer notes.
Here’s more on the Tokyo games:
- Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said on Wednesday that he has yet to decide on a captain for the U.S. squad (Twitter link via Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press). Given his résumé, his veteran status, and his previous international experience, Kevin Durant seems like the most obvious choice, though Draymond Green and Damian Lillard could also be candidates.
- Asked how likely it is that members of the U.S. Olympic squad will talk during the next month about teaming up in the NBA, Bradley Beal acknowledged that “probably a lot” of those conversations will take place. “Depends on who’s a free agent or not,” Beal said (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). “But for the most part, we can’t mix that in right now. We’re focused on one goal at hand, and that’s bringing back a gold medal. Granted, we all have our respective, individual goals and talents once this is done. We can address those issues then.”
- Organizers confirmed on Thursday that the Tokyo Olympics will be held without spectators due to a recent increase in coronavirus cases in the area. Ayano Shimizu of Kyodo News has the full story.
The Nuggets have revealed a new name and logo for their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, making the announcement on social media today.
Prior to this season, the affiliate was known as the Grand Rapids Drive and operated by the Pistons. The team will enter the 2021/22 season associated with the Nuggets for the first time.
“This new affiliation and corresponding name change is one of the biggest moves we’ve made as a franchise,” Grand Rapids Gold president Steve Jbara acknowledged in a press release.
“Aligning ourselves further with the Denver Nuggets, a team that recently advanced past the first round of the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive season, further elevates the professional basketball experience here in Grand Rapids, and we couldn’t be more excited to get back on the court this fall.”
Denver is the second team to announce changes to its G League name and logo this year. The Maine Red Claws previously announced that they would become the Maine Celtics back in May.
“We are extremely excited about the new name and logo of the Grand Rapid Gold,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “We feel the new look aligns well with both the Nuggets and Grand Rapids organizations and are excited to see it in action on the court next season.”
The Magic are ramping up their search for a head coach, and one name that seems to be gaining serious momentum is Nuggets‘ associate head coach Wes Unseld Jr., write Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Unseld recently conducted a second interview with the Magic, an indication that he’s a serious candidate for the position. Unseld worked as an assistant in Orlando under former head coach Jacque Vaughn from 2012-15, and has been an assistant in Denver for the past six seasons. He was promoted to associate head coach prior to this season, and was tasked with focusing on the Nuggets’ defense, which has been surprisingly successful given the team’s offense-minded personnel.
Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports tweets that Unseld also interviewed for the Wizards‘ head coach position today. Unseld’s father, Wes Unseld Sr., was with the Wizards for 13 seasons as a player, including their championship in 1978, and served in different roles for the organization for 20 years, as vice president, head coach, and general manager.
Suns assistant coach Willie Green, Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon and Magic assistant coaches Tyrone Corbin, Pat Delany and Steve Hetzel have all interviewed for the Orlandoposition as well, and former Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley is set to interview with the team sometime this week.
Four qualifying tournaments to determine the final four teams in the men’s basketball pool at the Tokyo Olympics are set to tip off on Tuesday. In advance of the Olympic qualifiers, the 24 teams involved have officially set their 12-man rosters, according to a press release from FIBA.
More than two dozen current NBA players are participating in the tournament, and 11 of the 24 teams competing for Olympic spots have at least one current NBA players on their respective rosters. Of those clubs, Team Canada has the biggest contingent of NBA players — eight of the 12 players on Nick Nurse‘s squad finished the season on an NBA roster. Turkey is next with four NBA players.
The four qualifying tournaments will take place in Serbia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Canada. Only the winner of each six-team group will advance to Tokyo. Those four winners will join Japan, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, France, Spain, Australia, and the U.S. in the 12-team Olympic tournament.
The teams that move onto the Olympics may tweak their rosters for Tokyo, depending on the availability of certain players. For instance, if Greece were to win its qualifying tournament, perhaps Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo – who remains active in the playoffs for now – would make an effort to join the team in Tokyo next month.
Here are the NBA players on the OQT rosters:
Belgrade, Serbia
- Italy: Nico Mannion (Warriors), Nicolo Melli (Mavericks/RFA)
- Serbia: Nemanja Bjelica (Heat/UFA), Boban Marjanovic (Mavericks/UFA)
- Dominican Republic, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal: None
Kaunas, Lithuania
- Lithuania: Domantas Sabonis (Pacers), Jonas Valanciunas (Grizzlies)
- Slovenia: Vlatko Cancar (Nuggets), Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Angola, Korea, Poland, Venezuela: None
Split, Croatia
- Brazil: Anderson Varejao (Cavaliers/UFA)
- Croatia: Bojan Bogdanovic (Jazz)
- Germany: Isaac Bonga (Wizards/RFA), Moritz Wagner (Magic/UFA)
- Mexico, Russia, Tunisia: None
Victoria, Canada
- Canada: Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Pelicans), RJ Barrett (Knicks), Luguentz Dort (Thunder), Cory Joseph (Pistons), Trey Lyles (Spurs/UFA), Mychal Mulder (Warriors/RFA), Dwight Powell (Mavericks), Andrew Wiggins (Warriors)
- Czech Republic: Tomas Satoransky (Bulls)
- Greece: Kostas Antetokounmpo (Lakers/RFA)
- Turkey: Cedi Osman (Cavaliers), Ersan Ilyasova (Jazz/UFA), Furkan Korkmaz (Sixers/UFA), Omer Yurtseven (Heat/team option)
- China, Uruguay: None
There are also many former NBA players among the 24 rosters, including Mario Hezonja (Croatia), Milos Teodosic (Serbia), Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Timofey Mozgov (Russia), and Anthony Bennett (Canada).
To view the full rosters, be sure to visit FIBA’s official site and click through to each team from there.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone would “love” for starting shooting guard Will Barton to return to the club in the 2021/22 season, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Barton has a $14.6MM player option.
“I would love for Will Barton to be back,” Malone said of Barton, who has been with the Nuggets since the club traded for him in a deal with the Trail Blazers during the 2014/15 season. “Everything he brings to the team. That’s on the court, off the court, in the locker room, from a culture standpoint. … He means a ton to me personally. He means a ton to this team and everything we’ve been able to accomplish these last six years. … Me, personally, I hope he’s back here for a long time.”
- The Nuggets‘ chemistry, both on the court and on the bench, will eventually yield a title, opines Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. The night during which Denver was ousted from the playoffs by Suns, in a four-game second-round sweep, MVP center Nikola Jokic, head coach Michael Malone, and team owner Josh Kroenke all sat down for a drink. “When I went home that night, I said, ‘Man, we got a really unique setup here,’” Malone reflected. “We’re all disappointed, we lost, no one was happy. … But to have an owner and an MVP who are just so down to earth and committed to doing whatever it takes to be better and find ways to win a championship, those two hours were so important.” The club was without its second-best player, guard Jamal Murray, for the entirety of its playoff run. Kiszla notes that the close bond between that trio is a rare thing in pro sports.
- Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said today that he’s been reaching out to teams with head coaching vacancies to advocate for his assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. (Twitter link via Mike Singer of The Athletic). Unseld has been bypassed in past coaching searches, but Malone said he believes that’s “going to change this summer.”
We haven’t heard about many candidates linked to the Wizards‘ head coaching job since the team announced Scott Brooks wouldn’t be returning for the 2021/22 season. However, it sounds like Washington’s search is moving forward.
Celtics assistant Scott Morrison told Peter Yannopoulos of RDS (Twitter link) that he has interviewed for the Wizards’ head coaching job. Morrison also interviewed for the open position in Boston before the team decided to hire Ime Udoka. With Udoka likely to bring in some new assistants, Morrison’s future with the C’s is unclear.
Meanwhile, Brian Windhorst of ESPN said on his Hoop Collective podcast that Sam Cassell and Wes Unseld Jr. are considered two of the leading candidates for the Wizards’ job (hat tip to RealGM). Cassell is currently an assistant with the Sixers, while Unseld – who has previously been mentioned as a contender for the Washington job – is a Nuggets assistant.
Here are a few more coaching-related updates and notes from around the NBA:
- Windhorst also said on his latest Hoop Collective podcast that Nets assistant Jacque Vaughn has emerged as a legit contender for the Pelicans‘ head coaching vacancy. “I’m not saying he’s going to get (the) job, because Charles Lee on the Bucks‘ staff is also going to be a strong candidate,” Windhorst said, per RealGM. “The word coming out of Chicago at the draft combine is that Jacque Vaughn, who is close to (Pelicans GM) Trajan Langdon… Jacque Vaughn is going to get a real serious look.” ESPN reported earlier in the week that both Vaughn and Lee were interviewing with New Orleans.
- On that same Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon suggested that former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle may have felt threatened in Dallas by assistant Jamahl Mosley‘s close relationship with Luka Doncic (hat tip to RealGM). Carlisle’s endorsement of Jason Kidd for the job could be viewed through that lens. “I think Rick understood the perception of how (the endorsement of Kidd) might impact who he didn’t endorse,” MacMahon said, adding of Carlisle and Mosley: “I don’t think those guys will necessarily send each other Christmas cards.”
- Carlisle spoke to other teams with coaching openings before finalizing a deal with the Pacers, but Indiana was where the mutual interest was strongest, says J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (subscriber-only article). According to Michael, Carlisle and the Pacers didn’t even meet face-to-face, completing their four-year deal over the phone.
Veteran center Pau Gasol, who has represented Spain in four Olympic tournaments so far, remains on track to be part of the team in Tokyo, per an Associated Press report. Gasol was one of 18 players included on Spain’s preliminary roster for the Tokyo games, joining his brother – Lakers center Marc Gasol – and Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio.
Timberwolves forward Juan Hernangomez, Pelicans big man Willy Hernangomez, and projected first-round pick Usman Garuba are among the other notable names on Spain’s preliminary roster, according to The Associated Press.
Here’s more on the Tokyo Olympics:
- Sixers All-Star Ben Simmons isn’t expected to play for Australia in the Olympics, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN. After a tough postseason, Simmons will spend the offseason focused on developing skills, including his jump shot.
- No African team has ever earned an Olympic medal – or even advanced beyond the preliminary stage – in the men’s basketball tournament, so Nigeria head coach Mike Brown will be looking to make history in Tokyo, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. According to Colin Udoh of ESPN, Nuggets guard Monte Morris, Raptors forward OG Anunoby, Pistons big man Jahlil Okafor, Jazz teammates Miye Oni and Udoka Azubuike, and Heat teammates Precious Achiuwa and KZ Okpala are among the new additions to Nigeria’s roster.
- Turkey has announced its preliminary roster for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament in Canada, as Sportando relays. In addition to NBA players like Cedi Osman, Ersan Ilyasova, Furkan Korkmaz, and Omer Yurtseven, the squad includes projected first-round pick Alperen Sengun.
- Cavaliers guard Darius Garland will be part of the U.S. Select Team that scrimmages against Team USA’s Olympic squad ahead of the Tokyo games, as Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. Cavs center Jarrett Allen has also received an invite to join the Select Team, but hasn’t made a decision yet, Fedor adds.
It wasn’t a great night for the Thunder at Tuesday’s draft lottery. The team had about a two-in-three chance that its own first-round pick would land in the top five and nearly a 50-50 chance that Houston’s pick would slide to No. 5, allowing OKC to swap the No. 18 selection for it. Instead, the Rockets kept their own pick and the Thunder’s selection slipped to No. 6.
Still, no NBA team has more draft picks in 2021 than the Thunder, who control three first-round selections and three more second-rounders.
The Pelicans, Pistons, Knicks, and Nets join them as teams that hold at least four draft picks this year. Those five clubs currently control 23 of the 60 picks in the 2021 draft, so it’s probably safe to assume they’ll be active on the trade market before or during the draft.
To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2021 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…
Teams with more than two picks:
- Oklahoma City Thunder (6): 6, 16, 18, 34, 36, 55
- Brooklyn Nets (5): 27, 29, 44, 49, 59
- Detroit Pistons (4): 1, 37, 42, 52
- New Orleans Pelicans (4): 17, 35, 43, 51
- New York Knicks (4): 19, 21, 32, 58
- Houston Rockets (3): 2, 23, 24
- Toronto Raptors (3): 4, 46, 47
- Orlando Magic (3): 5, 8, 33
- Charlotte Hornets (3): 11, 56, 57
- Indiana Pacers (3): 13, 54, 60
- Philadelphia 76ers (3): 28, 50, 53
Teams with two picks:
- Golden State Warriors: 7, 14
- Sacramento Kings: 9, 39
- San Antonio Spurs: 12, 41
- Memphis Grizzlies: 10, 40
- Atlanta Hawks: 20, 48
Teams with one pick:
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 3
- Washington Wizards: 15
- Los Angeles Lakers: 22
- Los Angeles Clippers: 25
- Denver Nuggets: 26
- Utah Jazz: 30
- Milwaukee Bucks: 31
- Chicago Bulls: 38
- Boston Celtics: 45
Teams with no picks:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Miami Heat
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- Phoenix Suns
- Portland Trail Blazers