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Luka Doncic Named EuroLeague MVP, Rising Star

May 19th, 2018 at 5:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Luka Doncic picked up a pair of honors at today’s EuroLeague Awards Gala, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando. The 19-year-old, who is expected to be taken early in next month’s NBA draft, was named both MVP and Rising Star. The MVP is determined by a vote of the media and fans, while the coaches choose the Rising Star.

Doncic, who became the youngest MVP in league history, put up a 14.5/5.2/4.7 line this year in helping Real Madrid reach the league final, which will be played tomorrow. He declared for the draft in March, but indicated this week that he might play another season or two in Europe, depending on the circumstances.

“It’s amazing. It’s like a dream come true,” Doncic said in a video tweeted by the EuroLeague. “Still we have one more game to go, which would make me so much happier. But thank you to all the media, all the fans and all the coaches. Especially to my coaches, my teammates and all my team. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible.”

The All-EuroLeague First Team is filled with names that are familiar to NBA fans, as Doncic is joined by Nick Calathes, Nando De Colo and Jan Vesely. Calathes spent two seasons with the Grizzlies, DeColo played for the Spurs and Raptors and Vesely played three NBA seasons after being drafted sixth overall by the Wizards in 2011.

The fifth member of the First Team is Tornike Shengelia, who was taken by the Sixers in the second round of the 2012 draft. His NBA career consisted of 36 games with the Nets and nine with the Bulls.

The Defensive Player of the Year is Kyle Hines, who played at North Carolina Greensboro and went undrafted in 2008.

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International Star Bostjan Nachbar Announces Retirement

May 14th, 2018 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA and EuroLeague forward Bostjan Nachbar has formally announced his retirement as a player, tweeting that his “journey” as a basketball player is over. The Slovenian veteran, who didn’t suit up for a team during the 2017/18 season, also penned a letter on his decision, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays.

“Even though I haven’t stepped on the basketball court for a few months now, I felt that there could still be a possibility to return and play again,” Nachbar wrote. “After giving it a lot of thought I realized that the desire to return back to playing simply is not big enough and that I have different priorities than before. My basketball career is over.”

Nachbar, who began his professional career in the late-1990s in Slovenia, was selected 15th overall by the Rockets in the 2002 NBA draft. The 6’9″ forward ultimately appeared in over 300 NBA regular season games for the Rockets, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, and the New Jersey Nets, averaging 7.1 PPG on .406/.375/.784 shooting.

After his stint in the NBA, Nachbar returned to Europe in 2008 and spent nine more seasons playing in the EuroLeague and in Spain’s Liga ACB. Over the course of his international career, he won championships in Slovenia, Germany, and Spain, and earned All-Star nods in Slovenia, Germany, and Turkey.

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Luka Doncic Won’t Work Out For NBA Teams

May 2nd, 2018 at 9:15am CST by Luke Adams

Slovenian guard/forward Luka Doncic is a candidate to be the top pick in the 2018 NBA draft, but his commitment to Real Madrid in Spain will prevent him from working out for any NBA teams leading up to the draft, agent Bill Duffy tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.

“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Duffy said. “Playing in the Euroleague speaks for itself. What he has been able to do, it speaks to both the talent and preparedness for Luka. He has had a different level of experience than most of his peers. Euroleague is the next step to playing in the NBA.”

As Deveney outlines, Doncic’s Real Madrid squad is scheduled to compete in the Euroleague Final Four later this month, then will play in the Spanish League (ACB) postseason after that. The ACB playoffs are scheduled to begin on May 27, and could end as late as June 23, two days after the NBA draft. According to Duffy, there’s no chance that Doncic will miss any postseason games with his current team.

“He is committed to Real Madrid, all the way through,” Duffy said.

While NBA teams picking in the top five would prefer the chance to meet with Doncic and work him out individually, scouting him in the Euroleague Final Four and the ACB postseason will be a great opportunity for talent evaluators to see how he performs against some of the highest-level competition in Europe.

“With the video we have these days, I know what I need to know from looking at (Doncic) against other top players,” one NBA general manager told Deveney. “Anyone who wants to pick him is going to want to talk to him, but the workout is not something that is going to keep you from picking him. I am not sure I need reels and reels more tape here.”

In his most recent mock draft at ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony has Doncic coming off the board second overall to the Grizzlies.

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Mike James Agrees To Three-Year Deal In Italy

April 27th, 2018 at 4:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Mike James, who spent time with the Suns and Pelicans this season, has signed a three-year deal worth more than $5MM with Olimpia Milano in Italy, tweets international writer Chema de Lucas (hat tip to Sportando).

James spent five seasons in Europe before agreeing to a two-way contract with Phoenix last July. That was converted to a full NBA contract in December, but he was waived two weeks later. James’ next stop was New Orleans, where he signed another two-way deal in mid-January. However, he was waived in February and finished the season with Panathinaikos in Greece.

James appeared in 32 games for the Suns and four more for the Pelicans, averaging 9.3 points and 3.5 assists in about 19 minutes per night.

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236 Early Entrants Declare For 2018 NBA Draft

April 24th, 2018 at 5:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has released the official list of early entrants for the 2018 NBA draft, announcing in a press release that 236 players have filed as early entry candidates. Of those prospects, 181 are from colleges, while 55 are international early entrants.

That number blows away the previous record for early entrants, established in 2017. Last year, 182 early entrants declared for the draft, though ultimately only 73 of those prospects remained in the draft by the final deadline.

This year’s total of 236 early entrants also figures to shrink significantly by May 30 and again by June 11, the two key deadlines for players to withdraw their names from the draft pool. But it still looks like that pool will remain crowded, with the eventual number of early entrants likely exceeding 60, the number of picks in the draft.

Our list of early entrants is now up to date and can be found right here. Here are today’s updates:

College underclassmen:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our own list. For now, we’re assuming they haven’t yet hired agents.

The following players reportedly declared for the draft or planned to, but weren’t named in the NBA’s official announcement today. As such, we’ve removed them from our list.

International players:

The following players were listed on the NBA’s official breakdown today, but weren’t yet noted on our list.

  • Berke Atar, C, Turkey (born 1999)
  • Laurynas Beliauskas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
  • Rihards Berzins, F/C, Latvia (born 1997)
  • Etienne Ca, F, France (born 1997)
  • Sigfredo Casero-Ortiz, G, France (born 1997)
  • Berkan Durmaz, F, Turkey (born 1997)
  • Aleksander Dziewa, C, Poland (born 1997)
  • Stephane Gombauld, F, France (born 1997)
  • Yoan Granvorka, F, Switzerland (born 1997)
  • Michal Kolenda, F, Poland (born 1997)
  • Antonios Koniaris, G, Greece (born 1997)
  • Leon Kratzer, C, Germany (born 1997)
  • Shekinah Munanga, F, France (born 1997)
  • Williams Narace, F, France (born 1997)
  • Marcel Ponitka, G, Poland (born 1997)
  • Leonardo Tote, F, Italy (born 1997)
  • Martynas Varnas, G, Lithuania (born 1997)
  • Filip Zagrajski, G, Croatia (born 1997)
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Bogut To Play In Australia, Done With NBA

April 23rd, 2018 at 9:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

APRIL 23rd, 9:48pm: Bogut said he will play two seasons with the Sydney Kings and that he’s retired from the NBA, Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia tweets. There are no outs in his contract to return to the NBA or play in Europe, Uluc adds.

APRIL 22nd, 9:02am: Andrew Bogut‘s comeback will continue next season in Australia, relays Jake Michaels of ESPN.

The Sydney Kings announced on social media overnight that they are signing the 33-year-old center, who played 13 NBA seasons. A press conference has been scheduled for Monday.

Bogut was never able to re-establish himself in the NBA after fracturing his left tibia in his lone game with the Cavaliers last season. He signed with the Lakers just before the opening of camp in September, but he got into just 23 games before being waived in January.

Bogut told Michaels last week that he turned down offers to join four playoff-bound teams late in the season. He opted to return to Australia at the time to deal with personal issues, including his wife’s high-risk pregnancy and his grandfather’s death.

“I had an offer from one in the east and I got an offer for a 10-day [contract] from a team in the west,” Bogut said. “The one out east was for the rest of the season but I just decided they weren’t great fits for me and the way I play so I just decided to wait it out.

“The other thing I had in my back pocket was there were two other teams that expressed a lot of interest but had some cap space issues and they wanted me to wait until late March, early April to sign so it wouldn’t affect their salary cap as much as it would by signing in January. Those teams called immediately after I was released from the Lakers.”

He added that he was “blindsided” by his release in L.A. and speculated that Lakers management didn’t want to deal with a potential buyout situation.

Bogut spent seven seasons in Milwaukee after being taken with the first pick in the 2005 draft. He was traded to the Warriors in 2012 and became a defensive anchor of their 2015 championship team. He was shipped to the Mavericks in 2016 as Golden State cleared cap room to sign Kevin Durant.

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Ex-Clippers Forward Wilson Signs With Italian Team

April 22nd, 2018 at 2:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former Clippers small forward Jamil Wilson has agreed to a contract for the remainder of the European League season with Italian Serie A team Virtus Bologna, according to Daniele Labanti of Corriere di Bologna, as relayed by Sportando.

Wilson had a whirlwind season. He signed a two-way contract with the Clippers during the offseason and appeared in 15 games with them, including 10 starts, while averaging 7.0 PPG in 18.3 MPG. The Clippers decided to waive him in early January, rather than converting his deal to a standard contract.

The Lakers were on the verge of signing him to a 10-day contract, then changed their mind. A TMZ report surfaced around that time, revealing Wilson had been named in a civil suit involving sexual battery and fraud. Wilson eventually joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League team.

The 6’7” Wilson, 27, spent time in training camp with the Suns and Mavericks in past years, but this season marked his first NBA experience. He played in Italy last season with Torino, according to Sportando.

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Vander Blue Leaves Italian Team

April 22nd, 2018 at 11:50am CST by Arthur Hill

Vander Blue, who spent part of this season as a two-way player with the Lakers, is no longer with Fiat Torino in Italy, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando.

Blue played five games for L.A. before being waived in January, seeing just nine total minutes of court time. He was much more effective for the Lakers’ South Bay affiliate in the G League, averaging 19.0 points in 15 games.

Blue was MVP of the Italian Cup in February, but had difficulty adjusting to the new league after that. He averaged 3.1 points per game while shooting 12% from the field and 10% from 3-point range.

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Rodions Kurucs To Enter 2018 NBA Draft

April 21st, 2018 at 2:16pm CST by clarkcrum

Latvian forward Rodions Kurucs is declaring for the 2018 NBA draft, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN. The 6-foot-10 combo forward is now projected as a possible second-round selection after seeing his stock plummet because of a lack of playing time with Barcelona this season.

Kurucs, 20, is currently slated to be picked 39th in the latest ESPN mock draft, as his combination of size, skill, and versatility is coveted in today’s NBA.

Kurucs’ ability to attend private workouts will be a key factor for his chances of being drafted, as few teams have been able to scout him thoroughly because it’s been hard to make a trip out to watch him not knowing whether he’ll see any minutes. Regardless, many scouts consider him to be the third-best international prospect in this year’s draft.

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Draft Updates: Sedekerskis, Kulboka, Azubuike

April 20th, 2018 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of international prospects that rank within the top 100 on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com have declared for the 2018 NBA draft, Givony reports.

Tadas Sedekerskis, a 6’10” Lithuanian combo forward, is one of those two prospects declaring for the draft as an early entrants, according to Givony, who refers to Sedekerskis as “one of the most decorated players of his generation in Europe.” Although his rights were acquired by Spanish powerhouse Baskonia, Sedekerskis has been on loan in his native Lithuania for Nevezis this season. The 1998-born forward is the No. 86 prospect on Givony’s big board.

Meanwhile, Givony’s 76th-ranked prospect, Lithuanian wing Arnoldas Kulboka, is also entering the 2018 draft (Twitter link). Kulboka, a 1998-born forward who entered the draft a year ago but ultimately withdrew from consideration, is currently averaging 8.3 PPG for Italian team Capo D’Orlando.

Here are a few more draft-related notes:

  • Kansas sophomore center Udoka Azubuike has decided to test the 2018 NBA draft waters without hiring an agent, the school announced today in a press release. “I’m going to wait and see where I stand among other bigs out there,” Azubuike said in a statement. “I appreciate everyone’s support, but I’m not saying goodbye. I’m saying I want to find out. Like many other players, I’m curious.” The seven-footer enjoyed a breakout sophomore season in 2017/18, averaging 13.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.7 BPG, and a .770 FG% for the Jayhawks.
  • Over at ESPN.com, Jonathan Givony has put out an early mock draft for 2019 (Insider link). Among the players picked: Azubuike, who goes 48th overall.
  • Kent State guard Jaylin Walker is also entering the 2018 draft without hiring an agent, per a press release. In his junior year, Walker averaged 16.6 PPG, but struggled a little with his efficiency (.380 FG%, .328 3PT%).
  • Marshall junior forward Ajdin Penava has elected to forgo his senior year and go pro, according to an announcement from the school. After posting modest numbers in his first two years at Marshall, Penava set career highs in PPG (15.6), RPG (8.5), BPG (3.9), and several other categories in 2017/18.
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