International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kenneth Faried Declines Offer From Chinese Team

October 28th, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Longtime NBA forward Kenneth Faried was offered a $2MM contract by Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association but turned it down, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. The Chinese team may increase its offer to try to convince Faried to play overseas, Carchia adds.

Faried, who turns 30 next month, drew minimal interest on the free agent market this offseason despite a productive NBA career which began in 2011. He played for the Nuggets from 2011-18, then was traded last offseason to Brooklyn in a salary dump. He didn’t find a rotation role under coach Kenny Atkinson, appearing in just 12 games.

Faried was waived by the Nets last January after agreeing to a buyout on his $13.7MM contract, then signed with the Rockets. With Clint Capela battling injuries, Faried appeared in 25 games with Houston, including 13 starts, and averaged 12.9 PPG and 8.2 RPG in 24.4 MPG. He also saw action in six postseason games off the bench.

Faried has averaged 11.4 PPG and 8.1 RPG in 478 career regular-season games but lacks a 3-point shot and doesn’t offer much of a shot-blocking presence (0.8 BPG).

Aaron Brooks Tears Achilles, Hints At Retirement

October 28th, 2019 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Veteran NBA point guard Aaron Brooks, who had been playing for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia this season, confirmed on Instagram today that he has suffered a torn Achilles tendon. While he didn’t come right out and announce his retirement, Brooks strongly suggested he’s ready to call it a career.

“I’ve enjoyed my time being a Hawk… I’ve enjoyed all the years I’ve put towards this game,” the 34-year-old wrote. “I gave it my all and that’s all I could ever ask for… #SuperBlessed and this is just the beginning of my 2nd phase of life.”

A first-round pick in the 2007 NBA draft, Brooks appeared in a total of 645 regular season contests for the Rockets, Suns, Kings, Nuggets, Bulls, Pacers, and Timberwolves, plus another 40 postseason games. The former Oregon standout last suited up in the NBA for Minnesota during the 2017/18 season before heading to Australia’s National Basketball League this season.

Brooks’ most memorable NBA seasons came during his time in Houston early in his professional career. In 2009/10, he was named the league’s Most Improved Player after posting career highs of 19.6 PPG and 5.3 APG in 82 games (35.6 MPG) for the Rockets.

And-Ones: Duval, G League Draft, NBA Rosters, Williamson

October 25th, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Trevon Duval has signed a G League contract and is eligible for this Saturday’s draft, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days tweets. Duval was a two-way player for the Rockets last season and became a free agent when the team didn’t give him a qualifying offer this summer. He was claimed by Houston in March after the Bucks waived him. The former Duke guard made three cameo appearances with Milwaukee.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Journeyman center Hasheem Thabeet, former Lakers guard Vander Blue, and forward Trey Mourning, son of Alonzo Mourning, are some of the more interesting names on the list of players eligible for the G League draft, according to a league press release. The Northern Arizona Suns have the first pick.
There are 108 international players from 38 countries and territories on current NBA rosters, according to a league press release. The most-represented countries among the 108 international players on opening-night rosters are Canada (16 players), Australia (nine players), France (eight players), Croatia (seven players) and Serbia (six players). The Mavericks lead the league with seven international players.
Zion Williamson‘s knee injury created disappointment for the NBA’s TV partners, as Joe Vardon of The Athletic explains. TNT and ESPN wanted nationally-televised games featuring the Pelicans during the opening week of the season to showcase Williamson. They were stuck showing the Pelicans without the top pick in the draft on the court because it was too late to make a change. Vardon goes in-depth on how the national TV schedule is designed and notes that the Lakers play 21 of their 30 nationally -televised games after New Year’s Day because the networks wanted to feature LeBron James and Anthony Davis during the team’s playoff push.
Amida Brimah, the former UConn center who was in training camp with the Pacers, has suffered a torn right ACL, Scott Agness of The Athletic tweets. He was slated to join Indiana’s G League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Brimah will undergo surgery next week, Agness adds.

Isaiah Briscoe To Play In Germany

October 24th, 2019 at 12:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Magic point guard Isaiah Briscoe has signed a contract with German team Ratiopharm Ulm, a source tells Nicola Lupo of Sportando.

Briscoe, 23, went undrafted out of Kentucky in 2017 and spent his first professional season playing overseas before joining the Magic for the 2018/19 campaign. He appeared in 39 games for the club, averaging 3.5 PPG and 2.2 APG in 14.3 minutes per contest and taking over backup point guard duties from Jerian Grant for part of the season.

However, a torn meniscus ended Briscoe’s season in March, with Orlando forced to waive him with about a week left in the regular season in April in order to make room on the playoff roster for Michael Carter-Williams.

Briscoe, who is presumably now fully healthy, has been on the free market since then, but will now look to help turn things around for a Ratiopharm Ulm squad that has started the season 0-4 in EuroCup play.

And-Ones: Wade, China, Stoudemire, Contracts

October 23rd, 2019 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

Six months after retiring as a player, Dwyane Wade is employed in a new capacity. According to an official press release (via NBA.com), Wade has reached a multiyear, multi-platform agreement with WarnerMedia, and will become a basketball commentator for TNT this season.

In addition to appearing on the network’s NBA broadcasts, Wade will make studio appearances during Turner Sports’ and CBS Sports’ NCAA tournament coverage later in the season.

“I’m thrilled and grateful to be joining the WarnerMedia family with many exciting opportunities ahead,” Wade said in a statement. “I have great respect for TNT’s team of analysts and their longstanding commitment to quality sports coverage. After sixteen seasons in the NBA, I look forward to connecting with my fans in this new role and bringing my own perspective to the game I love.”

Here’s more from around the NBA and the rest of the basketball world:

Chinese state television didn’t air the NBA’s opening-night games on Tuesday, while Chinese streaming partner Tencent only showed the Lakers/Clippers game, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Brian Windhorst. CCTV typically shows the league’s opening-night doubleheader, but Tuesday’s decision is a signal that the ongoing NBA/China controversy is far from settled. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this week that the league has “no choice but to engage” China, as Ben Cohen of The Wall Street Journal details.
Speaking of China, former NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire has signed the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Assocation, according to reports from Roi Cohen of Sport5 and Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter links).
ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides some financial details on the rookie scale extensions signed on Monday, outlining (via Twitter) exactly how much bonus money is included in five of those deals. Marks also identifies four players who will receive increased partial guarantees as a result of remaining under contract with their respective teams through Wednesday (Twitter link). Those players are Christian Wood (Pistons), Jordan McRae (Wizards), Kendrick Nunn (Heat), and Trey Burke (Sixers).
In a conversation with Max Resetar of SLAM, good friends Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, and D’Angelo Russell joked about eventually teaming up. “When we’re all on the same team—I ain’t gonna tell you which team because I don’t know—we’re gonna do this again,” Russell said of the joint interview. While we probably shouldn’t assume the trio is destined to form a Big Three down the road, it’s worth noting that both Towns and Booker tried to recruit Russell to their respective teams when he was a free agent this summer.

Eric Moreland Headed To China

October 21st, 2019 at 9:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Center Eric Moreland has agreed to a contract with the Chinese team Shanxi, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.

Moreland spent the preseason with the Thunder, who waived him last week.

The 27-year-old Moreland spent time last season with the Suns and Raptors but only appeared in five games. He saw action in 67 games the previous season with the Pistons, backing up center Andre Drummond.

Overall, he has played a combined 83 games for the Kings, Pistons, Suns and Raptors over the past five years.

And-Ones: Maker, Wade, CBA, Thompson, Robinson

October 18th, 2019 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Makur Maker, ranked No. 10 by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony in the 2020 high school class, is exploring his eligibility for next June’s draft, according to Givony. The NBA Players Association is assisting Makur and believes he’ll be declared eligible due to the fact he’ll turn 19 in November, Givony adds. He’s also in his fifth year of high school at Pacific Academy in Irvine, California, as the 6’11’ Maker was two credits short of receiving a high school diploma from his previous school. He’s the cousin of Pistons big man Thon Maker.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Italy’s Olimpia Milano was interested in signing Dwyane Wade, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Team president Leo Dell’Orco revealed that the franchise considered making a run at the retired NBA star before settling on another former NBA veteran, Luis Scola. “This summer we wanted to sign an important NBA player,” he said. “We were interested in Dwyane Wade but we took some time (and chose Scola).”
The Chinese Basketball Association has increased its restrictions on foreign players, Carchia relays in a separate story. Among the changes is a rule that only two foreign players can be on the roster for each game and they can’t be on the court at the same time. The CBA has also imposed a salary cap but it only applies to Chinese players, according to another note from Carchia.
Former NBA forward Jason Thompson is returning to the Chinese league and will replace Angel Delgado on the Beijing Royal Fighters, according to a Sportando report. Thompson spent last season with Fenerbahce D Istanbul. In 36 games with Fenerbahce, Thompson averaged 5.0 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 16.0 MPG. Thompson played in China during the 2016/17 season after averaging 8.9 PPG and 6.6 RPG in 588 career NBA games. Delgado had to leave China for personal matters.
Another former NBA forward, Thomas Robinson, reached an agreement with the CBA’s Sichuan Blue Whales, Sportando relays. Robinson spent last season with Beijing, averaging 21.9 PPG and 13.6 RPG. The 2012 lottery pick last played in the NBA during the 2016/17 season, when he saw action in 48 games with the Lakers.

And-Ones: Dante, Hampton, 2021 Draft, Grant

October 15th, 2019 at 11:10am CST by Luke Adams

Oregon big man N’Faly Dante has been informed that he’ll be ineligible to play at the start of the 2019/20 season because the NCAA missed his clearance date, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. In a statement, the five-star recruit that he has completed the academic requirements and intends to re-enroll to Oregon on December 14 in the hopes of being cleared to play.

Charania refers to Dante as a potential lottery pick in 2020, and NBADraft.net has him ranked 13th overall in the site’s latest mock draft. His name doesn’t show up at all in ESPN’s most recent 2020 mock, but it’s possible that will change if he gets his eligibility issues sorted out.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

R.J. Hampton, a projected 2020 lottery pick, said he had “a lot of room for growth” after his New Zealand Breakers played exhibition games against the Grizzlies and Thunder last week. According to ESPN’s Royce Young, there were nearly 60 NBA scouts and executives in attendance at the game in Oklahoma City.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) have already unveiled their first mock draft for 2021, with point guard Cade Cunningham in the No. 1 spot.
With the Qingdao Eagles signing American-born guard Darius Adams, the Chinese club is apparently parting ways with another one of its U.S. players. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (via Twitter), former Knicks, Bulls, and Magic point guard Jerian Grant is the odd man out for Qingdao and will be released. Carchia initially reported last month that the Eagles were considering waiving Grant.

Isaiah Whitehead Signs With BC Astana

October 10th, 2019 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

1:06pm: Whitehead has officially joined Astana, the team announced today on its website.

10:11am: After finishing the 2018/19 season on a two-way contract with the Pistons, free agent guard Isaiah Whitehead has signed with BC Astana, a source tells Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link). The club is based on Kazakhstan plays in Russia’s VTB United League.

Playing in the VTB United League won’t be a new experience for Whitehead, who signed with Lokomotiv Kuban in August of 2018 and spent the first half of the season with the club. He parted with the Russian squad in January and caught on with the Pistons about a week later.

Whitehead, the 42nd overall pick in the 2016 draft, has appeared in a total of 89 regular season NBA games for the Nets, but didn’t see the floor at all for Detroit last season. Instead, he played for the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ G League affiliate, averaging 18.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.8 APG in 25 games (29.2 MPG).

Several other players who spent the ’18/19 season in the NBA have signed with Russian teams this offseason. Whitehead will join players like Timofey Mozgov (Khimki), Kosta Koufos (CSKA Moscow), Jonas Jerebko (Khimki), and Sam Dekker (Lokomotiv Kuban) in the Russian league this season, as our list of overseas signings shows.

Olympiacos Parts With David Blatt, Eyeing Scott Skiles

October 10th, 2019 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Greek team Olympiacos recently parted ways with one former NBA head coach and now may be eyeing another to replace him.

Olympiacos confirmed in a press release earlier this week that David Blatt, former coach of the Cavaliers, would no longer be coaching the team. Blatt spent the 2018/19 season with the club, but left his post just one game into the EuroLeague season in 2019/20 in a departure the two sides classified as mutual.

“After a long and respectful discussion between the owners and myself, our two parties have decided it’s in the best interest of both sides to part ways,” Blatt said in a statement.

The veteran coach, who was diagnosed earlier this year with multiple sclerosis, spoke to Lenny Megliola of The Boston Globe about his decision, admitting that he “had to be honest about certain limitations” he had. There were no hard feeling between him and the team, Blatt added.

With the European season underway, Olympiacos is in the market for a new permanent head coach, and according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter), former NBA coach Scott Skiles has been contacted to gauge his interest.

“Coaching still interests Scott,” agent Keith Glass said of Skiles, who last worked in the NBA when he coached the Magic during the 2015/16 season. Skiles previously served as the head coach for the Suns, Bulls, and Bucks, compiling a record of 478-480 (.499) and winning a pair of playoff series in 14 NBA seasons. It’s not clear whether or not he intends to pursue the Olympiacos job.

Kęstutis Kemzūra, who had been an assistant coach under Blatt, is currently serving as Olympiacos’ interim head coach.