International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

International Notes: Whiteside, Vonleh, Figueroa, Schakel, Schmidt

July 25th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

A former All-Defensive player and a former lottery pick are among the veteran NBA free agents reportedly receiving overseas interest.

Big man Hassan Whiteside, who led the league in blocks per game twice and made an All-Defensive team in 2016, has drawn interest from Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv, per Omri Manhime of Sport5 (Twitter link; hat tip to Sportando). Whiteside was out of the NBA in 2022/23 and played in Lebanon earlier in his professional career.

Meanwhile, Greek team Panathinaikos is said to be eyeing Noah Vonleh, according to Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 362 career regular season NBA games, including 23 last season for Boston. He played for the Shanghai Sharks in 2021/22 but has never joined a European team.

Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:

Former Oregon guard L.J. Figueroa, who has spent the last two seasons in the G League playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors and South Bay Lakers, has signed with German club Ratiopharm Ulm, per a press release from the team. Although Figueroa signed Exhibit 10 contracts with Golden State and L.A., he has yet to play in a regular season NBA game.
Jordan Schakel, a member of the Wizards for parts of the last two seasons, is aiming to play for the German national team in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, agents Mike Naiditch and Daniel Poneman tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Schakel has only appeared in six games at the NBA level, but made 39.9% of his three-point attempts in the G League last season.
Ryan Schmidt has left his job as the head coach of the London Lions in the British Basketball League in order to take a coaching job with an NBA team, according to a press release. While his destination isn’t yet known, Schmidt will be joining an Eastern Conference club, reports Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. He previously had a four-year stint as an assistant coach for the Raptors 905, Toronto’s G League team (2017-21).

And-Ones: Schröder, Kleber, Poythress, Alexander, Ayayi

July 23rd, 2023 at 8:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dennis Schröder has apologized to Maxi Kleber for recent comments he made about Kleber’s participation in international competitions with Germany’s national team, according to Eurohoops.net.

Kleber was upset with Schröder regarding the guard’s criticism of the Mavericks’ big man’s lack of participation in the EuroBasket competition last year.

“Maxi wasn’t there last year,” Schröder said. “If you didn’t commit — that was actually the message for all of us — then you won’t be there next year either.”

Schröder tried to smooth things over in a statement released on the German Basketball Federation’s website.

“All of this was never something personal against Maxi Kleber from my side,” said Schroder, who signed with the Raptors as a free agent this summer. “Anyone who knows me knows that I am a direct type and always assume that the person I am talking to understands what I mean by what I say, but I have once again been shown that this is not always the case. I still appreciate and respect him and his career and hope he accepts my apologies.”

It’s unclear whether Kleber will now change his mind and play in the World Cup.

We have more from the basketball world:

Forward Alex Poythress is departing Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv but he’s apparently found another basketball home overseas, Sportando relays via Basket News and ONE. Poythress is expected to join Italy’s Olimpia Milano. Poythress played 52 games in the NBA, mostly recently with Atlanta in 2018/19, when he appeared in 21 contests.
Another Israeli team, Hapoel Tel Aviv, is close to signing Kyle Alexander, according to Sportando. He played last season with Spain’s Valencia. Alexander appeared in two games with the Heat during the 2019/20 season.
Joel Ayayi has landed with the French team Nanterre 92, according to another Sportando story. He spent last season with the Magic’s G League team in Lakeland, where he averaged 8.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The Gonzaga product appeared in seven games with the Wizards the previous season.

Nikola Jokic Reportedly Won’t Play In 2023 World Cup

July 23rd, 2023 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Following a championship run with the Nuggets this spring, star center Nikola Jokic won’t suit up for Serbia in this summer’s World Cup, according to a report from Dejan Stankovic of Mozzart Sport.

As Stankovic details, there had been skepticism that Jokic would be available for Serbia at the World Cup after he played into mid-June with Denver. Mozzart Sport’s reporting indicates that the two-time NBA MVP has informed the Serbian national team of his decision and will get some extra rest in advance of training camp.

New Thunder guard Vasilije Micic – who signed a three-year contract with Oklahoma City earlier this month – may also skip the World Cup as he prepares for his first season in the NBA. There’s less certainty about Micic’s status at this point, but Stankovic suggests the longtime EuroLeague star will likely follow Jokic’s lead and decline to participate, leaving Serbia without another key piece of its projected rotation.

The FIBA World Cup is generally viewed as a less prestigious international event than the Olympics, so stars who miss this summer’s event in Asia may still end up playing for their national teams in 2024 in Paris. The U.S. World Cup team, for instance, is headlined by a younger group of stars such as Brandon Ingram, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton, but Team USA will likely have more big-name players available in France next year.

Still, non-U.S. stars are often more inclined to compete in non-Olympic international events than top American players are, so the fact that Serbia will likely be missing two of its best players is a tough blow for the team.

Serbia didn’t qualify for the previous Olympics in Tokyo and isn’t a shoo-in for Paris either — the club will be looking to improve upon its fifth-place finish in the 2019 World Cup. Serbia would have to finish as one of the top two European teams at this year’s World Cup in order to automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

International Notes: James, Walker, Brown, Chealey

July 22nd, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite the impending arrival of Kemba Walker, a four-time NBA All-Star, AS Monaco has no plans to move on from former NBA point guard Mike James, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

Language in James’ contract gives him an NBA exit clause until July 25, so there was speculation that Monaco reached a deal with Walker in order to account for James’ exit. However, Urbonas suggests that Walker’s history of knee problems – which ultimately ended his All-Star prime – may be the reason the team is looking to retain James, along with perhaps the rest of its current backcourt, guards Jordan Loyd, Elie Okobo, and Matthew Strazel.

There’s more from around the international basketball world:

With Walker ending his 12-year NBA run for now, Jay King and Jared Weiss of The Athletic examine Kemba’s decision and what it could mean for the rest of his playing career. King notes that, though Walker’s NBA run may have come to a close, his decision to continue his career abroad speaks to his love for the game. Weiss writes that the 33-year-old is joining a really solid club, which qualified for its first-ever EuroLeague Final Four earlier this year.
Former NBA and G League swingman Chaundee Brown Jr. has joined French club SIG Strasbourg, reports Dario Skerletic of Sportando. The 6’5″ wing out of Michigan appeared in a grand total of five NBA contests during the 2021/22 season on a brief two-way contract with the Lakers, plus a 10-day deal with the Hawks, averaging 6.2 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 0.8 APG in 20.8 MPG. He spent 2022/23 with the Spurs’ G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.
NBA veteran Joe Chealey has linked up with Israeli team Hapoel Eilat, Skerletic writes in another piece. Chealey had played on a two-way contract and some 10-day deals with the Hornets from 2018-20. The 6’1″ point guard out of the College of Charleston subsequently played with Charlotte’s G League affiliate the Greensboro Swarm, Israeli club Hapoel Gilboa Galil, and Polish team MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza.

International Notes: Mirotic, J. Young, Kuzminskas, Poythress

July 22nd, 2023 at 11:48am CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA forward Nikola Mirotic was reportedly set to join Italian club Olimpia Milano last month after spending the past four seasons with FC Barcelona. The Spanish side recently officially terminated Mirotic’s contract, which still had two guaranteed years remaining.

After his agreement with Milano fell through, Mirotic reached a three-year deal with Serbia’s KK Partizan, but the 32-year-old announced on Instagram that he decided not to sign his new contract. He cited unspecified “threats and insults” after the news broke, as BasketNews.com relays. The Montenegrin also said he would not compete for any other team in Serbia, even though it’s a country he loves.

Partizan issued its own statement on the matter, per BasketNews, saying the team assured Mirotic that he and his family would be safe, including the president of Serbia personally reaching out to the veteran. The club also expressed skepticism at Mirotic’s reasoning for backing out of the agreement.

Mirotic has been the highest-paid player in Europe since he left the NBA in 2019, winning EuroLeague MVP in 2021/22. The former first-round pick averaged 12.3 PPG and 5.9 RPG on .423/.359/.808 shooting across 319 games with the Bulls, Pelicans and Bucks from 2014-19.

Here are few more notes from across the pond:

Another former first-round pick, James Young, has signed a contract with Italy’s Universo Treviso Basket, according to Sportando. Young appeared in 95 NBA games over four seasons with Boston and Philadelphia, with his last campaign coming in 2017/18. He has played in Israel and Greece over the past three seasons. The swingman was selected 17th overall in 2014 and is still just 27 years old.
Former Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas is finalizing a deal with AEK Athens, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (Twitter link). The 33-year-old has spent 13 seasons in Europe, having spent ’22/23 with Turkish club Karsiyaka Basket. He played 69 games for New York from 2016-17.
Free agent big man Alex Poythress, who played 52 games with the Sixers, Pacers and Hawks from 2016-19, is finalizing a contract with Olimpia Milano, according to Urbonas of BasketNews. Moses Barda of One first reported the Italian club’s interest in Poythress (via Twitter). The 29-year-old has played for teams in Turkey, Russia and Israel since leaving the NBA, most recently suiting up for Maccabi Tel Aviv last season.

McKinley Wright IV Signs With Montenegrin Team

July 22nd, 2023 at 8:21am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard McKinley Wright IV has signed with KK Buducnost, also known as Buducnost Voli, the Montenegrin club announced in a press release (hat tip to Dario Skerletic of Sportando).

After going undrafted in 2022 following four standout seasons at Colorado, Wright signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves, appearing in five NBA games for a total of 19 minutes as a rookie in 2021/22. He didn’t return to Minnesota for his second season, instead signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Dallas last summer which was converted to a two-way contract last fall.

Wright spent all of ’22/23 with the Mavericks on the aforementioned two-way contract, appearing in 27 games while averaging 4.2 points, 2.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds on .469/.321/.684 shooting in 12.4 minutes per night. The 6’0″ point guard played well at the G League level over the past two seasons for the Iowa Wolves and Texas Legends, the affiliate clubs of the Timberwolves and Mavericks, respectively.

Buducnost has completely dominated the Prva A Liga in Montenegro, winning 15 of 16 domestic championships. The team also competes in the Adriadic (ABA) League, which featured clubs from Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina last season. Budocnost made the semifinals of the ABA League First Division playoffs in ’22/23, falling to Crvena zvezda.

Buducnost also competes in the fall EuroCup tournament, which features clubs from all over Europe, and has made it in the past to the EuroLeague, widely considered the top professional league outside of the NBA.

And-Ones: Summer League, McClung, Motiejunas, NBAGL Showcase

July 21st, 2023 at 10:37pm CST by Rory Maher

The Hornets‘ poor play was one of the worst parts of Las Vegas Summer League, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic.

Despite having eight players on the roster attending (and a ninth, James Nnaji, as one of a handful of remaining unsigned draft picks), Charlotte went 1-6 and was minus-55 overall. No one played particularly well, with Hollinger noting that the team may end up regretting not taking Scoot Henderson instead of Brandon Miller, if their brief Summer League performances were any indication.

Of more immediate concern for the Hornets are the fourth-year team option decisions on 2021 first-round picks James Bouknight and Kai Jones, which are due by late October. Neither looks like a sure bet to have his option picked up, as both players struggled in Vegas despite entering their third seasons, Hollinger adds. Bouknight’s option in 2024/25 is worth $6.1MM, while Jones’ is worth $4.7MM — not exactly team-friendly rates given they haven’t contributed much thus far.

Nnaji showed some defensive promise, but may be a draft-and-stash prospect while he develops his offensive game, says Hollinger.

Among the other players who struggled in Summer League were Pistons center James Wiseman (poor screening and defense), Nets first-rounder Noah Clowney (looked overmatched) and Lakers draft picks Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, according to Hollinger.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

On the other end of the spectrum, Hollinger also revealed his under-the-radar Summer League standouts for The Athletic, including Javon Freeman-Liberty, who just agreed to a two-way deal with the Raptors, and Cavaliers guards Sam Merrill and Craig Porter Jr., the latter of whom went undrafted and signed a two-way contract with Cleveland. Hollinger says he would have given Merrill, whose contract for next season is non-guaranteed, the Summer League MVP award over Cam Whitmore.
Free agent guard Mac McClung, who finished last season on a two-way deal with the Sixers, tells Sean Deveney of Heavy.com he’s focused on making another NBA team, but he’s open to going to Europe if he can’t find a roster spot. “We’ll see,” McClung said. “I am in free agency right now, my agent is talking to some teams, back and forth. We’re just trying to evaluate what is the best situation for me. Hopefully, I will be in the NBA next year and finding my way.”
Former NBA big man Donatas Motiejunas has signed a two-year extension with AS Monaco Basket, the team announced (via Twitter). Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com had the scoop on Motiejunas’ extension (Twitter link). The 32-year-old spent six seasons in the NBA, ending with a brief stint with San Antonio back in 2018/19. He was productive on a per-minute basis for Monaco, which won France’s LNB Pro A and finished third in the EuroLeague playoffs.
In 2023/24, the NBA G League’s Winter Showcase event will be held in Orlando instead of Las Vegas, league sources tell Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Showcase has been held Vegas for several years, but will be moving due to the NBA’s new in-season tournament, as the semifinals and final will be held in early December in Vegas.

International Notes: Neto, Edwards, Bone, Brazdeikis, Cornelie

July 21st, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Tristan Tucker

After spending the past eight seasons in the NBA, free agent guard Raul Neto could be headed to an opportunity overseas. Turkish club Fenerbahce is reportedly working on a deal with the 31-year-old point guard, who averaged 3.3 points and 1.6 assists in 48 games with the Cavaliers last season, tweets Shot Vetakis of LiveSport and SDNA.

Neto signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with Cleveland in the summer of 2022 after spending the previous two years with the Wizards. The Brazilian guard’s best statistical seasons came in Washington, where he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 assists in 134 games across two seasons.

Before his successful stint with the Wizards, Neto also had stops with the Jazz and the 76ers. Neto didn’t end up playing big minutes for the Cavaliers last season as a third-string point guard and he entered unrestricted free agency this summer.

There’s more from the international scene.

Point guard Carsen Edwards officially signed with FC Bayern Munich of Basketball Bundesliga, the club announced. Edwards, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2019 draft, played two seasons with the Celtics. The Purdue product wound up making a stop in the G League with the Salt Lake City Stars before briefly joining the Pistons at the end of the 2021/22 season, his most recent NBA team. Edwards holds NBA career averages of 3.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 72 NBA games. He spent last season with Fenerbahce.
Former Pistons and Magic guard Jordan Bone officially signed with Vanoli Cremona of Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, the club announced (hat tip to Sportando). Bone hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2020/21 season, when he appeared on a two-way contract with the Magic. Before that, he was on a two-way deal with the Pistons after being selected with the 57th pick in the 2019 draft. Bone holds career averages of 2.8 points and 1.1 assists per game at the NBA level but played more extensively in the G League, where he averaged 15.6 points and 5.8 assists.
Zalgiris Kaunas of the EuroLeague announced that it has retained former Magic, Knicks and Sixers wing Ignas Brazdeikis. Brazdeikis spent last season with the Lithuanian club, averaging 11.6 points and 2.9 rebounds. The Knicks acquired Brazdeikis’s draft rights after he was selected with the 47th pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and he spent two seasons there before making stops with the 76ers and Magic. Brazdeikis has 64 games of NBA experience and holds career averages of 5.0 points and 1.9 rebounds. The club also retained guard Keenan Evans, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game but was briefly on a two-way contract with the Pistons in 2018.
Petr Cornelie, the No. 53 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, signed a three-year contract with AS Monaco Basket of the EuroLeague, according to a tweet from the club. Cornelie is fresh off winning the EuroLeague with Real Madrid last season, averaging 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds during the Spanish team’s run. Cornelie was drafted by the Nuggets in 2016 but didn’t come stateside until the 2021/22 season, when he signed a two-way contract with Denver. The French big man only played in 13 games with the Nuggets, averaging 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds, but he played a much bigger role with Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, where he averaged 17.7 points and 12.8 rebounds.

Kemba Walker Signs With AS Monaco

July 21st, 2023 at 7:56am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent point guard Kemba Walker will resume his playing career in Europe, having signed with AS Monaco Basket for the 2023/24 season. The team, which competes in France’s LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague, confirmed the deal on Twitter.

A four-time NBA All-Star, Walker has been slowed in recent years by knee injuries. He was traded from New York to Detroit in a salary-dump deal during the 2022 offseason and was waived by the Pistons prior to the regular season. He caught on with the Mavericks in November, but appeared in just nine games for the team last season before being cut in January.

Walker, 33, can still be an effective offensive player when healthy. He has averaged 19.3 points and 5.3 assists per game over the course of 750 career NBA appearances, with shooting averages of .418/.360/.840. However, he was never an elite defender and his knee issues have exacerbated his struggles on that end of the court, which was a key factor in his lack of recent NBA opportunities.

Walker will be joining an AS Monaco team that finished with a 21-13 record in EuroLeague regular season play last season and advanced to the EuroLeague Final Four. Monaco lost in the first round of the Final Four, but won the third place game.

Mike James, Donatas Motiejunas, Jaron Blossomgame, Donta Hall, and Elie Okobo are among the other former NBA players on Monaco’s roster.

Davon Reed Signs With Ukrainian Team

July 20th, 2023 at 3:29pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent wing Davon Reed has signed with Prometey BC, the team announced on Instagram (hat tip to Dario Skerletic of Sportando). Former Hornets forward Arnoldas Kulboka will also be joining the Ukrainian club, sources tell Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link).

The 32nd pick of the 2017 draft out of Miami, Reed spend his rookie season with the Suns, who released him prior to the 2018/19 season. He caught on with the Pacers on a two-way deal before spending the next couple seasons in the G League and playing international ball in Taiwan.

Reed returned to the NBA in ’21/22 on a two-way deal with the Nuggets, having a solid season as a 3-and-D bench member, averaging 4.4 PPG and 2.3 RPG on .503/.430/.667 shooting in 48 games (13.9 MPG). Last summer, he signed a two-year contract for the veteran’s minimum to return to Denver, but only the first year was guaranteed.

The 28-year-old saw his minutes reduced in ’22/23 with the additions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and Christian Braun, as Reed averaged just 9.0 MPG in 35 games for the Nuggets. He was sent to the Lakers at the February trade deadline, and was subsequently waived on the last day of the regular season.

According to Prometey BC, Nuggets players insisted that Reed be given a championship ring after Denver won its first title last month. The Ukrainian side also said Reed drew EuroLeague interest this summer, but no deals came to fruition due to his lack of experience in Europe.

Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Prometey BC, also known as Prometey Slobozhanske, spent last season playing in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, which will continue in ’23/24. The team finished first in its group during the ’22/23 EuroCup competition, ultimately losing in the semifinal.

Kulboka, another former second-round pick who has spent most of his career in Europe, appeared in two games with Charlotte in ’21/22 on a two-way deal. The Hornets didn’t give him a qualifying offer last summer, making him an unrestricted free agent, and he signed a one-year deal with Greece’s Promitheas Patras.

The Lithuanian guard/forward averaged 14.9 PPG and 6.0 RPG on .453/.426/.800 shooting in 18 EuroCup games last season.