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Four NBA Teams Will Play In Mexico

June 7th, 2019 at 1:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Four NBA teams have been selected to participate in The NBA Mexico City Games 2019, the league announced today. The Mavericks, Pistons, Suns and Spurs will all play regular-season games at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico, located in Mexico City.

Dallas and Detroit will square off on December 12, with Phoenix and San Antonio meeting two days later. These will be the 29th and 30th games that Mexico will host since its partnership with the league began in 1992.

“NBA games in Mexico City are a core part of our efforts to reach and engage basketball fans throughout Mexico and Latin America,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “With a record four NBA teams visiting Mexico City next season, we expect an unprecedented level of interest and excitement around these games and our surrounding community events.”

ESPN Deportes, Televisa and NBA League Pass in Mexico will all show the games, which will be available in more than 200 countries and territories. Ticket information will be announced later. The games will be accompanied by NBA Cares community outreach projects.

“It’s an honor for the Spurs organization to be able to represent South Texas and the NBA by, once again, playing in Mexico City,” said team president R.C. Buford. “The relationship between our community and Mexico is important and impactful on many levels. We look forward to a wonderful experience and are excited to share Spurs basketball with all of our fans in Mexico.”

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Pistons Work Out Darius Bazley, 11 Others

June 6th, 2019 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams
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Draft Notes: Culver, Fall, Edwards, Clarke

June 5th, 2019 at 11:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver made his case to be drafted third overall during a workout today with the Knicks, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Calling himself “an elite two-way player,” Culver told reporters his defensive abilities separate him from other top prospects.

“Nowadays, it’s hard to find people who take pride in defense. But I’m one of them,” he said. “I take pride in defense. Being at Texas Tech taught me a lot, so I feel like on the defensive side I’m elite.”

Most mock drafts have Duke’s R.J. Barrett headed to New York, following Duke’s Zion Williamson and Murray State’s Ja Morant off the board. Culver said he’s confident in what he has to offer and doesn’t compare himself to Barrett.

“I feel like we’re great players, both of us,” Culver said. “He has a lot of talent, I have a lot of talent. And at the end of the day it’s not our choice where we go, it’s for everybody else to choose. So we just put in the work. I know he’s working hard, I’m working hard. So it is what it is.”

Culver already had a workout with the Lakers, who hold the No. 4 selection, and he has sessions scheduled with the next three teams in the draft, the Cavaliers, Suns and Bulls.

There’s more draft news tonight:

  • Central Florida’s Tacko Fall wasn’t able to participate in shooting drills with the Pacers today after rolling his ankle earlier in the workout, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The injury doesn’t sound serious and the 7’7″ center made an impression by towering over his workout partners. “Whenever people see me, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s tall, but can he play?,'” Fall said. “It’s something that I had to work on. I have worked really hard. I have great people around me that have helped me become the player I am today. I just have to keep working.” Others at the session included Indiana’s Juwan Morgan, Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele and Clemson’s Elijah Thomas.
  • Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who worked out for the Sixers today, has also been through sessions with the Pacers, Jazz and Nets, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has upcoming workouts set with the Bucks, Celtics and Thunder.
  • Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke has worked out for several teams already and has sessions scheduled with the Celtics, Nets, Bulls, Pistons and Timberwolves, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
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Matt Williams, Marc Loving Invited To Mini-Camp

June 5th, 2019 at 10:05pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Former Heat guard Matt Williams was invited to a free agent mini-camp with the Pistons, tweets Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Williams appeared in three games as a two-way player for Miami during the 2017/18 season before playing this year in Finland and Greece. Forward Marc Loving, formerly of Ohio State, also received an invitation (Twitter link). He played in the G League this season.
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More Names Revealed For Team USA World Cup Tryouts

June 5th, 2019 at 5:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Team USA’s training camp roster for the FIBA World Cup will be announced next week, but four players have already been confirmed, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Anthony Davis, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Kemba Walker will definitely be part of the team, while the other 14 slots are still being worked out. The roster will be trimmed to 12 when the players gather in Las Vegas in early August to prepare for the tournament, which takes place from August 31 to September 15 in China.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski drops a few more names in a full story on the World Cup tryouts, which sources tell him are also expected to include Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Bradley Beal and Kevin Love. Others planning to be part of the camp include Eric Gordon, Jayson Tatum, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Drummond and Kyle Kuzma.

P.J. Tucker will attend training camp as well, tweets ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, and league sources tell Woj that Paul Millsap also plans to be there. Other names leaked for the camp are Tobias Harris (Twitter link from Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer) and Myles Turner (Twitter link from Scott Agness of the Athletic).

Zion Williamson, expected to be the first pick in the draft later this month, has been invited to camp as part of the 10-man select team that will scrimmage against the 18-man roster, Stein tweets. Williamson will be given a chance to play his way onto the final roster if he has a standout performance in that role, according to USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo (Twitter link).

The select team will also include John Collins and Marvin Bagley, tweets Tim Bomtemps of ESPN.

The camp will be held from August 5-8, with exhibition games to follow before the start of World Cup play. Gregg Popovich will serve as head coach.

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Draft Notes: Washington, Konchar, Thomas, McQuaid

June 4th, 2019 at 6:00pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Former Kentucky Wildcat PJ Washington is fully healthy and will have his first pre-draft workout on Sunday, Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). The first of his five upcoming visits will be with the Heat.

Here are more workout notes on the upcoming draft:

  • John Konchar (Purdue) recently worked out for the Suns and Magic, a source tells Jordan Schultz of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Konchar will work out for the Warriors on June 6.
  • Elijah Thomas (Clemson) has worked out for the Pacers, Michael Scotto of The Athletic relays.  Thomas will participate in drills for the Wizards on Friday.
  • Matt McQuaid worked out for the Pistons and Grizzlies, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. The Michigan State product will also work out for the Cavaliers.
  • Amir Coffey (Minnesota) has worked out for the Raptors and Hornets, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Coffey will also work out for the Pelicans and Timberwolves.
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Pistons To Work Out Darius Bazley

June 3rd, 2019 at 1:35pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Potential first-round pick Darius Bazley said today that he has worked out for the Spurs and has a workout lined up with the Pistons, tweets Robbins.
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KZ Okpala To Remain In 2019 NBA Draft

May 29th, 2019 at 8:14pm CST by clarkcrum

Stanford sophomore forward and potential lottery selection KZ Okpala will remain in this year’s draft class and forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility, reports Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

As we touched upon back when Okpala first declared for the draft, the 19-year-old was a relatively late bloomer out of high school but had a promising freshman season before breaking out as a sophomore. He averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG while connecting on 36.8% of his three-point attempts during the 2018/19 season.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony currently ranks Okpala as 2019’s No. 24 overall prospect, two spots higher than when he first declared nearly two months ago. During the draft process, Okpala has reportedly met with the Wizards and Pistons, who pick at No. 9 and No. 15, respectively.

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Reggie Bullock, Pistons Mutually Interested In Reunion

May 28th, 2019 at 7:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Reggie Bullock, who was traded to the Lakers prior to the trade deadline, is willing to return to the Pistons if “the money was right,” a source tells James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. He doesn’t hold being dealt against the franchise.

The Baltimore native enjoyed his role in the Pistons’ offense, orbiting around Blake Griffin, and the swingman is “fond of the Michigan lifestyle,” per Edwards.

Detroit will strongly consider bringing Bullock back. Re-signing Ish Smith is also high on the team’s list of priorities. However, the Pistons may only have the financial capability to sign one of the two.

The 0rganization enters the offseason with roughly $112MM in guaranteed salaries for next season. The salary cap is projected to come in at $109MM. The non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception (approximately $9.25M) and the bi-annual exception ($3.6MM) are the team’s greatest financial weapons.

Bullock has never made more than $2.5MM in a season, a figure he earned in each of the past two seasons. A raise likely awaits him in free agency.

“I think he’ll get somewhere between $7 (million) and $9 million (annually),” an agent tells Edwards. “He’s one of those guys that might be Plan C or D for some organizations, even though he’s proven himself in recent years.”

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NBA Announces 2018/19 All-NBA Teams

May 23rd, 2019 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has formally announced the All-NBA First, Second, and Third Teams for the 2018/19 season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden leading the way as the two unanimous selections for the First Team.

The full All-NBA teams are listed below, with their vote totals in parentheses. Players received five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote, and one point for a Third Team vote, so Antetokounmpo and Harden scored a perfect 500 — First Team nods from all 100 voters.

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

As we detailed in March, this year’s All-NBA selections have significant financial implications for several players. Here’s a breakdown of how several All-NBA candidates were impacted:

  • Giannis Antetokounmpo is now eligible for a super-max extension with the Bucks, which he can sign in 2020. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2021/22 and would extend his contract by five years.
  • Damian Lillard is now eligible for a super-max extension with the Trail Blazers, which he can sign in 2019. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2021/22 and would extend his contract by four years.
  • Kemba Walker is now eligible for a super-max contract with the Hornets, which he can sign in 2019. It would start at 35% of the cap in 2019/20 and would be for five years.
  • Bradley Beal, Klay Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, and other super-max candidates who didn’t earn All-NBA honors aren’t eligible for super-max contracts (or a super-max extension, in Beal’s case). Thompson’s and Vucevic’s maximum contracts this summer would start at 30% of the cap.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns‘ extension with the Timberwolves, which goes into effect in 2019/20, will start at 25% of the cap, rather than 30%, because he didn’t earn All-NBA honors.

Beal and Thompson received the most All-NBA votes of any guards who missed out on the All-NBA teams, receiving 34 and 27 points respectively. Sixers guard Ben Simmons got seven points, while no other guards had more than four.

LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs) and Danilo Gallinari (Clippers) were the runners-up at forward, receiving 17 and seven points, respectively. Pascal Siakam (Raptors) had four points, while no other forwards had more than three.

At center, Towns received 20 points, followed by Vucevic at four and Pistons center Andre Drummond with three.

Interestingly, the 15 players named to the All-NBA teams for 2018/19 were the same 15 players that Hoops Rumors readers voted for in our end-of-season All-NBA polls last month. The only differences were George swapping places with Durant and Irving flipping spots with Westbrook.

The full and official All-NBA voting results can be found right here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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