International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Andrew Andrews To Play In Turkey

December 7th, 2016 at 2:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Hornets camp invitee Andrew Andrews is heading overseas, having agreed to a contract with Turkish team Best Balikesir, a source tells international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The exact terms of Andrews’ deal aren’t known.

Andrews, 23, is a 6’2″ point guard who played four years at the University of Washington, averaging 20.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 34 games with the Huskies as a senior last season. He went undrafted in June before playing for the Clippers in the NBA’s Summer League and later securing a training camp invitation from the Hornets.

In three preseason contests with Charlotte, Andrews played sparingly, averaging 10.4 minutes per contest and recording 4.0 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 1.0 APG. He was waived by the Hornets less than a week before the regular season got underway, as the team cut down its roster to 15 players.

Andrews’ new team in Turkey is off to an 0-9 start this season, so he’ll be tasked with helping Best Balikesir to get into the win column and turn things around.

Toure’ Murry, Ryan Hollins Sign Overseas Deals

December 5th, 2016 at 9:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

Two NBA veterans have reached agreements to play basketball overseas.

Guard Toure’ Murry has signed with the Yesilgiresun club in Turkey, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 27-year-old guard was waived by the Timberwolves during the preseason. Murry started his career with the Knicks after going undrafted in 2013. He wasn’t re-signed after playing 51 games as a rookie, and had brief stints with the Jazz and Wizards the following season. Murry is averaging 2.6 points per night in 56 NBA games.

Ryan Hollins has signed with CB Gran Canaria in Spain, according to Carchia. The 32-year-old center played for nine organizations in a 10-year NBA career. His last team was the Grizzlies, who waived him just before the end of last season. Hollins appeared in 518 NBA games with career averages of 3.7 points and 2.2 rebounds.

Pablo Prigioni To Play In Spain

December 5th, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

A month and a half after being released by the Rockets, Pablo Prigioni has caught on with a new team — his old team in Spain. Saski Baskonia announced today that it has signed Prigioni, bringing the veteran point guard back to Europe after he played the last four seasons in the NBA. Prigioni spent time with Baskonia several years ago prior to arriving stateside to play in the NBA.

Prigioni, 39, made his NBA debut for the Knicks back in 2012, and spent two and a half seasons with the team before being traded to Houston. He was subsequently traded to the Nuggets, waived by Denver, signed by the Clippers, and then signed by the Rockets this past summer. Although Prigioni’s two-year, minimum-salary deal was guaranteed for 2016/17, he was the victim of a roster crunch in Houston, with the team opting to waive him rather than Tyler Ennis at the end of the preseason.

In 270 career regular-season NBA games, Prigioni averaged 3.5 PPG and 2.8 APG in 16.9 minutes per contest, with a solid shooting line of .425/.379/.872. He also appeared in 33 postseason games, including 17 with the Rockets during the club’s run to the Western Conference Finals in 2015.

Prigioni, who drew interest from Spanish powerhouse Barcelona as well, will join a Baskonia team that has employed several former Knicks and/or Nets players this season, including Shane Larkin, Andrea Bargnani, and Tornike Shengelia. Baskonia is 7-4 in ACB action so far, and 6-4 in Euroleague play.

Chris Copeland To Play In Turkey

December 2nd, 2016 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Chris Copeland is headed overseas, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who confirms (via Twitter) that the NBA veteran has opted to sign for the 2016/17 season with Tofas Bursa, a Turkish team. Semih Tuna of Eurohoops.net first reported that Copeland would sign in Turkey.

Copeland, 32, appeared in 24 regular season contests for the Bucks last season after having also spent time with the Knicks and Pacers over the course of his NBA career. He played sparingly in Milwaukee, averaging just 2.1 PPG in 6.5 minutes per game for the team, and shot a career-worst 33.3% from the floor, including 27.8% on three-pointers.

This fall, Copeland joined the Pelicans for training camp, but didn’t last long with the club, having been released early in October. His contract with New Orleans didn’t feature any guaranteed money, and it seems no other NBA opportunities arose over the last couple months, resulting in his move overseas.

In Turkey, Copeland will be joining a Tofas Burka team that’s off to a 2-6 start, so he’ll be tasked with helping to turn the club around. His teammates will include Sixers draft-and-stash prospect Vasilije Micic, former DePaul standout Sammy Mejia, and former St. Joseph’s forward Ronald Roberts.

Cedi Osman Eager To Join Cavs Next Season

December 1st, 2016 at 4:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavs recently met with Turkish swingman Cedi Osman, who told them he wants to play in the NBA next season, a source told international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Cleveland holds Osman’s rights by virtue of a draft-night trade in 2015.

The reaffirms a summertime report that Cavs GM David Griffin and his staff were keeping a close eye on Osman with the idea of signing him next season.

The 21-year-old Osman, who was born in Macedonia, was selected with the No. 31 overall pick by the Timberwolves. His draft rights, along with those of forward Rakeem Christmas and a future draft pick, were then shipped to the Cavs in exchange for the draft rights of point guard Tyus Jones.

The draft-and-stash prospect is a member of the Turkish national team and plays for Anadolu Efes Istanbul. He averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 20 minutes last season.

In his DraftExpress profile prior to the draft, the 6’8”Osman was considered “a very mature prospect with a great pedigree and a clear passion for the game,” adding that “he has already established a niche for himself as an offensive garbage-man who is willing to do the dirty work defensively and contribute with his unselfish mentality and strong feel for the game.”

If Osman were to sign with the Cavs, he’d probably have to settle for a relatively modest salary. Though the Cavs only have eight guaranteed contracts for the 2017/18 season, all but two of them are at least $10MM, with the trio of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving alone eating up $75MM in cap space. There could be a need for a wing player, as James Jones becomes a free agent after the season and Mike Dunleavy‘s $5.175MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.

Norris Cole Released By Chinese Team

December 1st, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

After starting the 2016/17 Chinese Basketball Association season with the Shandong Golden Stars, Norris Cole has been released by the team, according to LI Shuangfu of Lanxiong Sports (Twitter link). Zhang Duo reports that the Chinese club has signed former NBA guard A.J. Price to take Cole’s spot on its roster (link via Sportando).

The timing is interesting for Cole, who reached a deal with Shandong nearly two months ago. That contract was believed to include an NBA out, and a report surfaced this week – in the wake of Mike Conley‘s back injury – suggesting that the Grizzlies had expressed interest in bringing Cole back to the NBA. There’s no indication yet that Cole and the Grizzlies have an agreement in place, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the veteran point guard sign with Memphis within the next few days.

Cole averaged a career-high 10.6 PPG and 3.7 APG last season in 45 games for the Pelicans, but was unable to land a deal with an NBA team as a free agent this offseason. The 28-year-old point guard, who started his career with the Heat when Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale was an assistant in Miami, played in nine games for the Golden Stars this season, averaging 19.1 PPG and 4.3 APG.

If the Grizzlies do intend to sign Cole, they’ll either have to waive a player from their 15-man roster, or wait until they’re eligible to apply for a hardship exception. Teams can become eligible to add an extra player to their roster if they have at least four players who are sick or injured. For a hardship exception to be granted, those four players must have missed at least three consecutive games apiece and must continue to be unavailable.

Currently, Memphis is without Conley, Chandler Parsons, James Ennis, and Brandan Wright, so the team will be eligible to apply for the hardship exception on Saturday, after Conley misses his third consecutive game.

As for Price, the 30-year-old guard started his NBA career with the Pacers back in 2009/10, and ultimately appeared in 261 regular season games for a total of five teams. He spent last season with the CBA’s Shanghai Sharks.

And-Ones: D-League Salaries, Motiejunas, Wayns

November 25th, 2016 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

In a recent report, ESPN’s Marc Stein indicated that D-League salaries were expected to rise to the $50-75K range when the NBA and NBPA finalized its new Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, in a column today, Stein clarifies that the $50-75K salary will likely only apply to two-way contracts, which are expected to be incorporated into the new CBA.

NBA rosters are expected to be expanded from 15 players to 17 or 18, with those two or three extra slots accommodating players on two-way contracts. Those deals would allow teams to carry multiple players that they shuttle back and forth between the NBA and the D-League, with those players earning money at different rates depending on which league they’re in. According to Stein, most other D-League players will still earn lower salaries — currently, D-League salaries range from $19-26K, and while that rate may increase going forward, the bump likely won’t be as substantial as initially believed.

It’s a disheartening development, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back, who tweets that he had hoped two-way contracts would be worth in the neighborhood of $200-250K, with other D-League players earning $50-75K. The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement still hasn’t been finalized and announced, so we’ll have to wait to see exactly what changes it entails, but for now it doesn’t seem as if the D-League salary system will be overhauled significantly.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:

Within the aforementioned piece, Stein discusses the Donatas Motiejunas situation again, citing one source close to the talks who believe the RFA forward isn’t far away from landing a contract. It’s not clear if that contract would be a new deal with the Rockets, an offer sheet from another NBA team, or an agreement with a team overseas.
Prior to Stein’s clarification on D-League salaries, former Vanderbilt standout Derrick Byars, who is currently playing in France, wrote in a guest post for Ridiculous Upside that increasing the league’s salaries to $50-75K would have been a “game-changer.” Meanwhile, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders suggested that increased salaries could make the D-League a viable alternative to the NCAA for many prospects. While those pieces are still worth reading, it appears both of those points are now moot.
Former Sixers and Clippers guard Maalik Wayns is leaving Russian team Enisey and has agreed to terms with Israeli team Maccabi Rishon, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). Wayns, 25, last played in an NBA game in 2014.

Sergio Llull Plans To Play Out Real Madrid Contract

November 25th, 2016 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

Spanish guard Sergio Llull remains committed to Real Madrid, stating once again during an interview with COPE radio in Spain that he has no intention of leaving his team in Spain to make the move to the NBA (link via Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype).

“I’m not in the NBA because I’m happy in Madrid,” Llull said. “Houston has been waiting for me three [or] four years.”

The 34th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Llull has been under Rockets control for more than seven years, but has spent that time with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. An October report from ESPN’s Marc Stein indicated that Houston planned to push to land Llull for the 2017/18 season, and was optimistic about its chances of bringing him stateside. However, the 29-year-old, who signed an extension with Real Madrid last summer, still doesn’t sound overly eager to play in the NBA.

“They tried to convince me, but I am where I want to be in Madrid,” Llull said. “Houston has been very respectful of my decision. They didn’t pressure me, and congratulate me on my success. I’ve never closed the door on the NBA. I live in the present. … I have a contract with Real Madrid until 2021 and I plan on fulfilling it.”

Although Llull’s current deal runs through 2021, it does include an NBA out, so the Rockets could bring him over sooner than that, if he’s interested. A recent report out of Spain indicated that the buyout for Llull’s contract with Real Madrid had increased to 12 million euros with last year’s extension, but Stein suggested that the buyout isn’t “nearly as onerous” as that report suggests — one of Stein’s sources describes the cost as “manageable.”

In 2015/16, Llull averaged 12.1 PPG and 4.9 APG in Spanish League play, while adding 12.8 PPG and 4.6 APG in 24 Euroleague games. So far this year, playing alongside former NBA vets like Anthony Randolph, Gustavo Ayon, Rudy Fernandez, and Andres Nocioni, Llull has been even better, averaging 13.3 PPG and 6.0 APG in eight Spanish League contests, and 19.4 PPG and 5.8 APG in nine Euroleague games. Real Madrid has a combined record of 14-3 in those games.

Jeff Ayres Let Go By CSKA Moscow, Seeking NBA Return

November 23rd, 2016 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA big man Jeff Ayres signed with CSKA Moscow earlier this year, but the Russian team has let go of him, according to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter links). While Ayres appeared to be receiving interest from Barcelona, Pick reports that the 29-year-old has changed agents and is pushing for a return to the NBA.

Previously represented by Impact Sports Basketball, Ayres has hired BDA Sports for representation, according to Pick. The agency represents several NBA players, including Mike Conley, Goran Dragic, Patrick Beverley, and Aaron Gordon, so its connections could help Ayres find an NBA home. Still, no team currently has an opening on its 15-man roster. Last season, Ayres wasn’t able to land an NBA deal until January, when teams begin signing players to 10-day contracts, and it’s possible that will be the case again this year.

Ayres, formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph, spent two seasons in San Antonio and was part of the Spurs’ 2014 championship team, but wasn’t re-signed after the 2014/15 season. He was the first player selected in the 2015 D-League draft and spent much of the season in Idaho before joining the Clippers in January.

After playing on two 10-day contracts, Ayres signed with the Clippers for the remainder of the 2015/16 season. He appeared in 17 games for L.A., averaging 1.8 PPG and 1.3 RPG in limited playing time. Ayres has also played for the Trail Blazers and Pacers over the course of his six-year NBA career.

D.J. Stephens To Play In Ukraine

November 21st, 2016 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Memphis shooting guard D.J. Stephens is heading overseas, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Stephens will join a Ukranian club. While the exact terms of Stephens’ deal are unclear, he’ll earn in the “high teens” per month, says Pick.

Stephens, who turns 26 next month, has spent time with a few NBA teams, though his only regular-season action came in 2013/14, when he played three games for the Bucks. Since then, Stephens has been a camp invitee for the Pelicans (2014), the Cavs (2015), and – most recently – the Grizzlies. He was cut by the Grizzlies last month when the team cut its roster down to 15 players.

Shortly after Stephens became a free agent again, a report surfaced indicating that he had been arrested and charged with domestic aggravated assault. According to the report from The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Stephens was accused of attacking his child’s mother. As I noted at the time, the alleged incident likely reduced the guard’s chances of getting another shot with an NBA team anytime soon.