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And-Ones: Franchise Valuations, World Cup, NBL, BAL

December 14th, 2022 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have an estimated worth of $7.56 billion, according to the sports business website Sportico, which put out its annual NBA franchise valuations this week. Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who formerly published the franchise valuations for Forbes, has the Warriors well ahead of the Knicks ($6.58 billion), Lakers ($6.44 billion), Bulls ($4.09 billion), and Celtics ($3.92 billion) on the site’s full list.

Those valuations for the Warriors, Knicks, and Lakers are all noticeably higher than the figures Forbes put out in October, while the numbers for the Bulls and Celtics fall slightly below Forbes’ estimates.

Sportico is a little more bullish on the value of NBA franchises on the whole, with an estimated average valuation of $3 billion per team. Forbes’ report had the estimated average worth of an NBA franchise at $2.86 billion.

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

Assuming Team USA qualifies for the 2023 World Cup, which is all but assured, the U.S. club will play all its games in Manila, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The World Cup will be played in Japan and Indonesia in addition to the Philippines, but each host nation got to pick one team it wanted to have for its group stage games. The Philippines, which will also host the final phase of the tournament, chose Team USA. Japan picked Slovenia (led by Luka Doncic), while Indonesia selected Canada.
Larry Kestelman, the owner of Australia’s National Basketball League, has interest in bringing an NBL team to the Las Vegas Summer League and says the NBA is open to the idea, according to Matt Logue and Michael Randall of the Herald Sun (subscription required). “We used to take teams to China, like an NBL All-Star-type set up,” Kestelman said. “We’ve discussed this with the NBA before and they were open to it, so we will continue those discussions.” The NBA has had some of its teams play exhibition games against NBL squads during the preseason in recent years.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) will tip off on March 11, 2023. As was the case in 2022, 12 top teams from 12 African countries will qualify to be part of the BAL season. Those teams will play a total of 38 games in Dakar, Senegal; Cairo, Egypt; and Kigali, Rwanda.

RJ Nembhard Signs With Italian Team

December 12th, 2022 at 7:57am CST by Arthur Hill

RJ Nembhard, who played 14 games for the Cavaliers last season, has signed with Pallacanestro Reggiana in Italy, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando.

The 23-year-old shooting guard earned a two-way contract with Cleveland last fall after going undrafted out of TCU. He spent much of the season in the G League before being converted to a standard deal at the end of March. Nembhard signed another two-way contract with the Cavs in July, but was waived in October.

For the past month, Nembhard had been playing with the G League’s Motor City Cruise, where he was averaging 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 10 games. His new contract will run through the end of the season, according to Maggi.

Greg Monroe Resumes Career In China

December 10th, 2022 at 5:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Veteran center Greg Monroe has signed with the Shanxi Loongs in the Chinese Basketball Association, tweets international writer Christos Harpidis.

Monroe played with four NBA teams last season, mostly on 10-day contracts as the league was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. Monroe signed with the Timberwolves in late December, then spent time with the Wizards, Bucks and Jazz before rejoining Minnesota in April. He appeared in 14 total games, averaging 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per night.

The 32-year-old was selected by the Pistons with the seventh pick in the 2010 draft. He signed with the Bucks as a free agent after five years in Detroit and later spent time with the Suns, Celtics, Raptors and Sixers.

Monroe is no stranger to international basketball. He signed with Bayern Munich in Germany in 2019 and Khimki in Russia in 2020 before returning to the NBA the following season.

And-Ones: Projected Taxpayers, Parity, Sovereign Funds, Scola

December 8th, 2022 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors, Clippers, and Nets are the three teams projected to pay a nine-figure luxury bill in 2023, according to Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom. In his roundup of each team’s proximity to the tax line, Pincus has Golden State’s tax bill estimated at $176.5MM, with L.A. at $144.7MM and Brooklyn at approximately $109MM.

The 2021/22 campaign represented a record-setting year for luxury tax payments, with the Warriors, Nets, and Clippers heading up seven taxpayers that were penalized a total of $481MM, by far a single-season NBA high.

However, as Pincus outlines, NBA teams are on track to smash that record in 2022/23, with the Bucks ($69.8MM), Celtics ($66MM), Lakers ($40.6MM), Mavericks ($33.6MM), Suns ($32.6MM), Nuggets ($17.6MM), and Sixers ($1.8MM) joining the three aforementioned clubs to total over $692MM in projected tax payments.

That number will likely dip a little before the end of the season, with certain teams trading some salary to reduce their end-of-season bill and others – such as Philadelphia – perhaps trying to get out of tax territory altogether. But it seems safe to assume the teams that finish the season below the tax line will still see a major windfall.

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

There’s more parity than ever at the one-quarter mark of the 2022/23 NBA season, according to Howard Beck of SI.com, who breaks down the numbers on the glut of teams hovering around .500 and explores several theories from people around the league about why parity might be on the rise.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst takes a closer look at the NBA’s rule change allowing sovereign wealth funds to purchase minority stakes in NBA franchises, which we briefly covered last week. Under the new policy, a foreign fund could buy up to 20% of a team, though any such purchase would be “subject to significant vetting,” sources tell Windhorst. There are currently no sales to sovereign funds under review by the league, Windhorst adds.
In an interesting piece for The Athletic, Mike Vorkunov speaks to Luis Scola about the veteran NBA forward’s transition from longtime player to team owner. Scola, who appeared in 743 games across 10 NBA seasons from 2007-17 and won an Olympic gold medal playing for Argentina in 2004, became the controlling owner of the Italian team Pallacanestro Varese earlier this year.

And-Ones: Embiid, French National Team, 2023 Draft, Henderson

December 2nd, 2022 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

A native of Cameroon, Sixers star Joel Embiid also has U.S. and French citizenship, meaning his choice of which country to represent in international play will have a major impact on what the field looks like at the 2024 Olympics. Teaming up with Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama would give France the world’s best frontcourt and make Les Bleus a legitimate gold medal threat.

Speaking to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Gobert was asked about the possibility of Embiid joining the French national team and said he’d welcome the addition of the MVP runner-up. However, Gobert’s answer wasn’t unequivocal, and he said he doesn’t plan to personally recruit Embiid.

“For me the most important thing is if his heart tells him to be a part of Team France,” Gobert told Vardon. “I want him to do it for the right reasons. As long as he understands that the French national team is different than the NBA. We have rules, we have things that we do. Sometimes we all have lunch and dinner together — it’s not everybody doing their own thing. These are two different teams.

“But I think the main thing for us, for him and for me is that I want to make sure that he does it from his heart. And if he does that, I think he would be an amazing addition for our team. … It has to come from him. You are either all in, or you’re not. You can’t just show up.”

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

The latest 2023 mock draft from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) moves Alabama’s Brandon Miller up to No. 7 and Arkansas’ Anthony Black up to No. 11. Reece Beekman has also moved into the first round, with Givony observing that the Virgina guard’s defensive ability gives him a “very high floor.”
Beekman also earned a spot on John Hollinger’s list at The Athletic of 10 returning NCAA players who have impressed him as potential NBA prospects. Iowa’s Kris Murray, Illinois’ Terrence Shannon, and Xavier’s Colby Jones are among the other college standouts singled out by Hollinger.
Mirin Fader of The Ringer takes an in-depth look at the consensus No. 2 prospect in the 2023 draft class, profiling rising G League Ignite star Scoot Henderson.
The NBA is now allowing sovereign wealth funds to invest in its franchises as minority stakeholders. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explains exactly what that means and lays out why it might be risky, noting that the league could have to make decisions on sovereign wealth funds associated with autocratic countries.

Anthony, Cousins, Thomas Uninterested In Taiwan League

November 28th, 2022 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It doesn’t appear than any other big-name veterans free agents are seriously considering signing with a Taiwanese team, Marc Stein reports in a Substack post.

Dwight Howard signed with Taoyuan Leopards earlier this month, though he’s currently sidelined with a knee injury.

However, three other former All-Stars who have reportedly drawn interest from Taiwanese teams — Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas — have shown no interest in playing there. The trio continue to wait for another NBA opportunity, regardless of any overseas interest, per Stein.

In terms of Cousins, it rebukes a report that he would soon sign with a team in the Taiwan league. Another report a couple of weeks back stated the Tainan TSG GhostHawks were pursuing Anthony. Stein also wrote in a previous post that Taiwanese teams were targeting Thomas.

Among those players, Anthony would appear to have the best chance of eventually signing another NBA deal. He averaged 13.3 points per game last season for the Lakers, and Stein says the opportunity to play a 20th NBA season “holds considerable meaning” for him.

And-Ones: Cousins, Howard, Vezenkov, 2023 Draft

November 26th, 2022 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the All The Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said that free agent big man DeMarcus Cousins got in touch with him in October to ask why he’s not in the NBA, as Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area writes.

According to Myers, he explained to Cousins that because of his reputation as a potentially disruptive locker-room presence, the veteran center has to go above and beyond what people expect from him.

“I said, ‘You want that answer? … Because people are afraid of how you’re going to act,'” Myers said. “And he’s like, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘Well whatever the reason is, it’s here now.’ And I like DeMarcus. … I can’t blame him for him because of all he’s been through.

“… I said, ‘Here’s the issue, you have to act better. To get back, you can’t just be average. You’ve got to convince people.’ And that’s not really fair, but that’s just what it is.”

As Dario Skerletic of Sportando relayed earlier this week, reports out of Taiwain have indicated that Cousins could follow in Dwight Howard‘s footsteps and join a Taiwainese team, but that has yet to be confirmed.

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

Speaking of Howard, the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year will miss the next couple weeks for the Taoyuan Leopards due to a knee injury, his Taiwanese club announced (story via BasketNews.com). Howard, who logged 91 total minutes during a back-to-back set last weekend and averaged 30.5 PPG, 17.0 RPG, and 9.5 APG in the two games, said his body is still adjusting to playing so much.
In other international basketball news, Olympiacos forward Sasha Vezenkov won the EuroLeague’s “MVP of the Round” award on Saturday for the fourth time in 10 weeks so far this season, per a press release. Vezenkov, whose NBA rights were acquired by the Kings this past summer, is one of five draft-and-stash players we highlighted on Friday as candidates to eventually make an impact in the NBA. He ranks second in the EuroLeague with 20.1 points per game.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic prefaces his list of top 100 prospects by observing that the 2023 NBA draft looks “wide open” outside of the top 10, with a ton of first-round slots potentially up for grabs depending on which players have strong seasons. Vecenie adds that several of this year’s highest-rated freshman have been slowed by injuries or have underperformed in the early going, making the class more difficult to evaluate.

And-Ones: Frazier, Offseason Moves, 2023 Draft, Rookies

November 25th, 2022 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

Former Rockets guard Michael Frazier has signed with the Illawara Hawks of Australia’s National Basketball League, the team announced in a press release. Frazier will serve as an injury replacement for another former NBA player, George King.

Frazier, 28, went undrafted out of Florida in 2015 and spent several seasons in the G League, plus one in Italy, before getting an opportunity to make his NBA debut in 2020 for Houston. He appeared in 13 games during the 2019/20 season as a Rocket, then returned to the G League before spending last season in Australia with the Perth Wildcats.

Having seen Frazier play for Perth last season, Illawara Hawks head coach Jacob Jackomas believes his team is getting a quality player: “He is a willing defender with great size and strength, and be it at the 3-point line or getting downhill and attacking the basket, we feel like he will make an immediate impact on the group.”

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

The Kings, Trail Blazers, and Pacers look like some of the under-the-radar winners of the 2022 offseason, writes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (subscription required). Marks also highlights Magic big man Bol Bol, Bucks guard Jevon Carter, and Suns wing Damion Lee as some of the best value signings of the summer.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his 2023 mock draft, projecting all 58 picks and providing analysis for each one. Next year’s draft will only be 58 picks instead of 60 because the Sixers and Bulls have forfeited their second-rounders due to free agency gun-jumping violations.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic ranks this season’s top 15 rookie performers to date, with Magic forward Paolo Banchero and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin leading the way. The only second-round pick to crack the top 15 is Raptors big man Christian Koloko, who was selected 33rd overall but ranks eighth on Vecenie’s list.

Dragan Bender Aims For NBA Return

November 20th, 2022 at 9:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Dragan Bender, the No. 4 pick of the 2016 draft, still dreams of an NBA return, Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays.

In an interview with Israel’s One, Bender stated that his ultimate goal is to make it back to the U.S.

“Undoubtedly, I want to return to the NBA down the road,’” he said.

Bender last played in the NBA during the 2019/20 season, appearing in a combined 16 games with Milwaukee and Golden State. He spent his first three seasons with Phoenix, where he never lived up to his draft status. Over 187 games, Bender averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game.

Bender played the 2020/21 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv but suffered an ACL injury in May 2021, which forced him to sit out all of last season.

“I believe you just know something has happened in these situations.” he said. “After the diagnosis, you definitely feel terrible, but it is what it is. I had a great season up to that point. I was playing and then I was out for a year and a half. This is basketball and you must be ready for these kinds of setbacks.”

Bender signed with Monbus Obradoiro over the summer and has excelled during his first seven games in Spain’s Liga Endesa, averaging 20.6 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 58.1% overall and 46.9% on 3-point attempts.

Bender wouldn’t mind playing for Maccabi again before pursuing another NBA opportunity.

“Of course, I would love to return to Maccabi. It is a special club,” he said. “For me, it is more about how the situation unfolds, more about which teams will be aiming to qualify for the playoffs and be championship contenders. Those are the teams I want to be part of.”

Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot Signs With Olimpia Milano

November 19th, 2022 at 6:50am CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 19: Olimpia Milano has officially announced its agreement with Luwawu-Cabarrot, confirming the deal in a press release.

“I’m very happy to return to Europe to be part of this organization in Milan,” Luwawu-Cabarrot said in a statement. “I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to help the team try to reach the goals they for the season. Which is to win as much as possible. Can’t wait to meet all the fans and start.”

NOVEMBER 18: Free agent wing Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is expected to sign with Italian team Olimpia Milano, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

A first-round pick in the 2016 draft, Luwawu-Cabarrot has spent six seasons in the NBA, playing for the Sixers, Thunder, Bulls, Nets, and Hawks since entering the league. In 2021/22, the 27-year-old appeared in 52 games for Atlanta, averaging 4.4 PPG and 1.6 RPG on .398/.361/.854 shooting in 13.2 minutes per contest. For his career, he has averaged of 5.9 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 328 regular season games.

Luwawu-Cabarrot became an unrestricted free agent in July when his contract with the Hawks expired and signed a training camp deal with the Suns in September. However, he didn’t earn a spot on Phoenix’s regular season roster and was waived last month at the end of the preseason, returning to the free agent market.

Prior to entering the NBA, Luwawu-Cabarrot spent multiple seasons with the Antibes Sharks in his home country of France, then played for Mega Basket in Serbia for a year, so if he finalizes a deal with Olimpia Milano, this won’t be his first stint in Europe.

Milano has a 5-1 record this season in the Lega Basket A, Italy’s top basketball league, but is off to a slower start in EuroLeague play, having gone 3-4 so far.