International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: G League Trade, Brissett, Future Power Rankings, Lowe

September 27th, 2024 at 12:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns‘ and Pacers‘ G League affiliates have completed a trade involving a former No. 3 overall NBA draft pick, per a press release from the Valley Suns. Phoenix’s new affiliate acquired the returning rights to guard David Stockton from the Indiana Mad Ants in exchange for the returning rights to forward Garrison Brooks and former lottery pick Jahlil Okafor.

Brooks and Okafor were among the Suns’ picks in June’s expansion draft, but it’s unclear if either one intends to play in the G League at all in 2024/25 — they both competed overseas last season.

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

Free agent swingman Oshae Brissett is believed to be drawing interest from a EuroLeague team, according to a report from Sportske.net. As Dario Skerletic of Sportando relays, the Serbian outlet says that the Belgrade-based club Crvena Zvezda has its eye on Brissett as a potential target. The five-year NBA veteran, who won a title last season with the Celtics, has been on the lookout for a new home since he turned down his player option with Boston in June.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, Bobby Marks, and Tim Bontemps (Insider link) have published the latest installment of their annual “future power rankings,” which are based on each team’s projected on-court success for the next three seasons. The Thunder top this year’s version of the list, while the Celtics drop from No. 1 to No. 2 despite their 2024 championship, since their salary cap situation may get untenable in the near future. The Knicks (third) Sixers (fourth), Mavericks (fifth), Rockets (seventh), Timberwolves (eighth), and Spurs (10th) each rose five or more spots to claim a place in ESPN’s top 10.
Howard Beck of The Ringer sorts the NBA’s 30 teams into six separate tiers based on how clear their plans are going forward. The Nets and Wizards, in full-on rebuilds, are among the teams in the “ever-clear” top tier along with championship hopefuls like the Mavericks and Sixers, while clubs with less obvious goals, like the Hawks, Bulls, and Raptors, find themselves in the lowest “fun-house mirror” tier.
ESPN has laid off senior writer Zach Lowe, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Lowe is the second noteworthy NBA reporter to depart the network in recent weeks, joining Adrian Wojnarowski, who unexpectedly announced his retirement from the news industry last week.

RaiQuan Gray Signs With AEK Athens

September 23rd, 2024 at 7:58am CST by Luke Adams

After spending his first three professional seasons in the NBA and G League, free agent power forward RaiQuan Gray will continue his career overseas. He has signed with AEK Athens for the 2024/25 season, the Greek team announced in a press release.

Selected by Brooklyn with the 59th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Gray was stashed in the G League for his rookie year, then spent nearly his entire second season with the Long Island Nets too before being promoted to a two-way deal at the very end of the 2022/23 campaign.

In ’23/24, Gray played for the Austin Spurs in the NBAGL until early March, when he signed a two-year, two-way contract with San Antonio. In 43 total Showcase Cup and regular season G League games for Austin last season, the former Florida State standout averaged 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 steals in 27.7 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .564/.316/.761.

Gray, 25, played in just three games for San Antonio this past spring after making his NBA debut with Brooklyn in April 2023, so he has four total NBA appearances under his belt.

Although Gray’s two-way deal with the Spurs covered the 2024/25 season too, he found himself back on the free agent market after being included in the three-team DeMar DeRozan trade — he was sent from San Antonio to the Bulls, who subsequently waived him.

Gray is joining an AEK club that posted an underwhelming 9-13 record in Greek League action last season and will be looking to bounce back in 2024/25.

If Gray ends up eventually returning stateside and signing another G League contract, the Pistons’ affiliate – the Motor City Cruise – will control his returning rights, having acquired them this summer in a trade with Austin.

International Notes: Beverley, Harrell, Windler, Toohey

September 22nd, 2024 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Patrick Beverley‘s new coach with Hapoel Tel Aviv believes he has a lot to learn about the international game after spending the last 12 years in the NBA, according to a BasketNews report. Beverley was one of several high-profile additions for the Israeli team this summer, and coach Stefanos Dedas said in a recent podcast that it’s been challenging to manage all the new talent.

“No, [they are] not easy [to coach],” Dedas said. “Beverley is not easy to coach because he has some habits from the NBA. We talk every day with him. He says, ‘Coach me, coach me, curse me out!’ I say, ‘Don’t give me this [opportunity], it’s what I love.’ I had to change Patrick’s mentality about the preseason. It doesn’t count in the NBA, but here, it counts. You need to win, you need to collect the credit that the play is good and the roster is good. The result matters only during the night of the game, but you have a good feeling because you played well.”

At age 36, Beverley is bringing his trademark fiery approach to Hapoel Tel Aviv, along with a wealth of knowledge he collected as an NBA veteran. His defensive prowess and understanding of the game are assets in any league.

“Nobody says he’s a one-man show player because he was never like this,” Dedas said. “He has the mentality of a high-level role player, guarding the opponent’s best player, drive-kick, pass to the shooter. He knows the job very well.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

Montrezl Harrell, the NBA’s former Sixth Man of the Year, made an immediate impact with Adelaide in his NBL debut, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Harrell came off the bench to post 13 points and 12 rebounds in a little over 20 minutes, and he caught the attention of Jaylen Adams, an ex-NBA player who’s now a star in Australia. “He’s a competitor, a big physical guy,” Adams said. “I thought he played good tonight, for somebody who got here a week ago, too. It was fun to compete. It kind of brought the best out of me, and I think it brought the best out of a lot of guys.”
Perth’s coach wants newly signed Dylan Windler to be more focused about seeking his own shots in the NBL than he was in the NBA, Uluc adds. Windler had six points, 10 rebounds and four assists as a reserve in his first game in Australia. “He’s played in the NBA the last four years in a particular role, [but] I actually want him to be a bit more aggressive and probably play a little bit more how he was in college,” coach John Rillie said.
Sam Venecie, draft expert at The Athletic, is impressed by the early-season performance of Alex Toohey (Twitter link). Vecenie views the Australian forward as a first-round talent for 2025.

International Notes: Baynes, Vezenkov, Taylor, Petrusev, Djurisic

September 21st, 2024 at 9:32am CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA center Aron Baynes isn’t ready to end his career. He told ESPN’s Olgun Uluc he’s still shopping for an opportunity in Australia’s National Basketball League.

“My body feels good. I love playing the game,” he said. “It’s just, right now, I’m focused on my family and being there with my kids. Just being dad right now. Just enjoying not having to be anywhere at any particular time, apart from school drop off and school pickup. Right now, nothing labeled; just, body feels really good, though, I’m moving well. We’ll just see how it goes.”

Baynes, 37, played with the Brisbane Bullets last season, averaging 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He spent nine seasons in the NBA from 2012-21, playing for the Spurs, Pistons, Celtics, Suns, and Raptors during that time.

We have more from the international basketball world:

Sasha Vezenkov reiterated that he wanted to return to Europe because he was looking for a bigger role than he had in the NBA. “It gives you joy when you return to a familiar environment where you are loved,” he said, per Vangelis Papadimitriou of Eurohoops.net. “I prefer to be in a competitive environment, to fight for titles, and to feel important. I didn’t know if I would have an opportunity in the NBA like the one I gave myself. This is what I wanted to do, and I wanted to do it with Olympiacos. This is my home.” Vezenkov, who spent a single season in Sacramento, signed a five-year contract with Olympiacos after giving up over $6.6MM in guaranteed salary with the Raptors.
Former NBA guard Isaiah Taylor has signed with the Dubai Basketball Club, the team tweets (hat tip to Sportando). Taylor appeared in 67 games for the Hawks in 2017/18. Taylor has played in Israel, Spain, Turkey, Lithuania and China in recent seasons.
Crvena Zvezda’s president Nebojsa Covic confirmed that Olympiacos will not loan Filip Petrusev to his team this season, according to Eurohoops.net. He also said the team wasn’t signing Nikola Djurisic, a Hawks second-round draft pick in June who is recovering from foot surgery. “During the season, there could be departures or arrivals, which we currently don’t have planned. With that, I’m putting an end to the soap opera surrounding Petrusev and Djurisic, who is in America,” Covic said. “Petrusev is a player for Olympiacos.”

Javon Freeman-Liberty Signs With Manisa Basket

September 18th, 2024 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Raptors guard Javon Freeman-Liberty will continue his career overseas. Turkish club Manisa Basket announced on Wednesday (via Instagram) that Freeman-Liberty has joined the team (hat tip to Sportando).

Freeman-Liberty, who went undrafted in 2022 out of DePaul, spent his rookie season with the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.

The 6’4″ guard was on a two-way contract with the Raptors for most of the 2023/24 campaign before being promoted to the standard roster on March 1. Although his contract with Toronto covered two years, his salary for ’24/25 was partially guaranteed for just $100K, so he was waived in July before that partial guarantee increased.

Freeman-Liberty appeared in 22 games at the NBA level with Toronto, averaging 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 18.3 minutes per night. He put up much bigger numbers with the Raptors 905 in the NBAGL, including 24.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 4.2 APG, and a shooting line of .470/.360/.825 in 26 Showcase Cup and regular season outings.

Freeman-Liberty is the second player who spent the 2023/24 season in the NBA to join Manisa Basket this offseason. Saben Lee also signed with the club in August.

In addition to competing in the Basketball Super League in Turkey, Manisa will be part of Europe’s Basketball Champions League for the first time next season. Manisa Basket posted a 16-14 mark in domestic play last season, finishing sixth out of 16 Turkish teams. The club was eliminated in the first round of the postseason by Besiktas.

And-Ones: Expansion, EuroLeague, G League Trades, Hawes

September 18th, 2024 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

What would it look like if the NBA awarded expansion teams to a pair of new cities? In an entertaining story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks broke down the rules governing expansion drafts, then submitted lists of protected players for each team to Tim Bontemps and Kevin Pelton, who conducted a mock expansion draft on behalf of the two hypothetical new franchises.

As Marks details, the rules for expansion drafts aren’t specifically laid out in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, but in the past, each existing NBA team has been permitted to protect up to eight players in the spring, including pending restricted free agents and/or players holding options. In those instances, expansion teams weren’t allowed to select more than one player from any of the NBA’s existing clubs.

Marks also lays out how expansion teams would be incorporated into the annual rookie draft (they’re typically not given the opportunity to land the No. 1 overall pick during their first couple seasons) and how the salary cap would work for them (their cap would be two-thirds of the league-wide cap in year one, 80% in year two, and the full cap in year three).

While expansion is likely still at least two or three years away, ESPN’s exercise is an informative one that helps illustrate with practical examples how new teams would fill out their rosters.

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

Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (subscription required) takes a look at 10 notable players in the EuroLeague who are on expiring contracts and will reach free agency in 2025. Mathias Lessort, Kevin Punter, and Chima Moneke are among the headliners on Urbonas’ list who figure to be monitored by NBA teams in 2024/25.
The Westchester Knicks – New York’s G League affiliate – completed a pair of trades on Tuesday. Westchester sent Dmytro Skapintsev‘s returning rights to the Maine Celtics in exchange for the rights to Brandon Slater and Joe Wieskamp; in a separate deal, the Knicks’ NBAGL team acquired Brandon Williams‘ returning rights and a 2025 G League international draft pick from the Osceola Magic in exchange for the rights to Charlie Brown Jr. (Twitter links). The NBA’s Celtics signed Skapintsev to an Exhibit 10 contract on Tuesday.
Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype spoke to former NBA big man Spencer Hawes about the ups and downs of his playing career, which saw him appear in 684 regular season games for six teams from 2007-17. A 7’1″ center who made 35.0% of his career-three pointers, Hawes was asked if he felt like he arrived in the league a few years too early. “I kind of joke about my buddies. I missed the max (contract) by a couple of years,” Hawes said. “Well, I think the game just wasn’t in such a good place and my game as well. I came in kind of as a more traditional old-school post-up player and I realized that pretty quickly that wasn’t working. So, I kind of had to figure out a different way to try and get on the floor and help the team win.”

Boban Marjanovic Signs With Fenerbahce

September 18th, 2024 at 6:54am CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 18: Marjanovic’s deal is official, according to a press release from Fenerbahce. NBA reporter Marc Stein confirms (via Twitter) that the agreement includes an opt-out window in December.

SEPTEMBER 17: Veteran free agent center Boban Marjanovic has reached an agreement to sign with the Turkish club Fenerbahce, reports Bugra Uzar of Eurohoops. The agreement, which was hinted at in a cryptic tweet by agent Misko Raznatovic, has also been confirmed by Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.

According to Urbonas, Marjanovic and Fenerbahce are on track to complete a one-year contract that will allow both sides to opt out of the deal before January.

Marjanovic, 36, has been in the NBA since 2015, having spent time with the Spurs, Pistons, Clippers, Sixers, Mavericks, and Rockets over the past nine seasons. The Serbian’s size (7’4″) and skill set made him a situational specialist throughout his NBA career — he has never averaged more than 11.7 minutes per game or appeared in more than 58 games in a single season.

Marjanovic, who holds career NBA averages of 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game across 331 outings, appeared in just 14 contests for Houston last season, logging 71 total minutes.

For most of the offseason, Marjanovic has been seeking a new opportunity in the NBA. However, he drew more interest overseas and is no stranger to European competition, having played in Serbia, Russia, and Lithuania from 2006-15 before making the move across the Atlantic.

He’ll be joining a Fenerbahce team that has made an effort to fortify its frontcourt this month upon losing Luka Samanic — the Istanbul-based club, which competes in the EuroLeague, also added longtime NBA center Khem Birch last week. Nicolo Melli, Wade Baldwin, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Bonzie Colson, Devon Hall, and Marko Guduric are among the other former NBAers on Fenerbahce’s roster.

International Notes: Bertans, Caboclo, Yurtseven, Toohey

September 16th, 2024 at 8:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Davis Bertans‘ new contract with Dubai Basketball Club is one of the major international moves of the offseason, but general manager Dejan Kamenjasevic reveals that the team didn’t have to break the bank to sign the longtime NBA player, according to BasketNews. Without going into detail about the deal, Kamenjasevic states that he was able to add Bertans while staying within his planned budget.

“He played in the ABA League before moving to the NBA for seven seasons, where he earned millions, so he’s financially secure,” Kamenjasevic explained. “We’ve been saying this all along, but people didn’t believe us. Now, players, referees, and teams are starting to see that Dubai is a legitimate project with stability. The budget is still below the (4 million Euros) figure we mentioned, even though many think we paid more to sign Bertans. He didn’t come for the money. He came for the vision and the project.”

Bertans had been in the NBA since the 2016/17 season, playing for five teams and landing a five-year, $80MM contract in 2020. He’s joining a new venture in Dubai and will be the biggest star on a club that’s preparing for its first season in the ABA (Adriatic) League.

“If we look at the players who returned from the NBA to Europe this year — Cedi Osman, Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier, Usman Garuba, and now Bertans — only Davis Bertans had a real role in the NBA,” Kamenjasevic added. “It’s a miracle because we didn’t just bring in someone who sat on the bench; we brought in a player who played.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

In an interview with SDNA, Bruno Caboclo says he was waiting for another NBA opportunity, so his options were limited when he decided to play overseas. He reportedly had a workout with the Warriors in late August, but he wound up signing with Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel. “It was a decision that came late for me,” Caboclo said. “I was trying to go to the NBA after the season ended. I didn’t have that opportunity in the end, all the clubs had already signed players and Hapoel was the only option but also the best possible for me.”
Omer Yurtseven is happy to reunite with Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman even though they have clashed during their time with the Turkish national team, Eurohoops relays. “The team welcomed me with open arms from the first day,” Yurtseven told COSMOTE TV. “I would like to thank everyone on the team, especially coach Ataman. I feel like I am playing at home.”
Alex Toohey raised his draft stock with his performance during the NBL Blitz in Australia, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN. The 20-year-old forward scored 26 and 24 points in the two games he played while displaying a larger frame and an improved outside jumper. Nets general manager Sean Marks was among several NBA executives and scouts who attended the event.

International Notes: Stojakovic, Miller, Samanic, Petrusev, Wright

September 15th, 2024 at 9:08am CST by Arthur Hill

Former NBA stars Peja Stojakovic and Reggie Miller are among the new members of the FIBA Hall of Fame, according to Eurohoops. The Class of 2024 was inducted Saturday at a ceremony in Singapore on the night before the FIBA Intercontinental Cup Final.

Stojakovic played for five teams during his 12 NBA seasons, but he’s best known for his time with the Kings in the early 2000s. The three-time All-Star won a championship with Dallas in 2011 and is also a member of the Greek Hall of Fame. Miller is one of the best shooters in NBA history and was named to the league’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

“If I had to say something to the young kids who are starting to play basketball, it’s this: whatever you are, no matter the circumstances you are in, don’t be discouraged,” Stojakovic told the crowd. “If you really love the game, keep working hard because probably someone is watching.”

The other new Hall of Fame members are Miao Lijie (China), Danira Nakic-Bilic (Croatia), Kirk Penney (New Zealand), Romain Sato (Central African Republic) and Skaidrite Smildzina-Budovska (Latvia). Dan Peterson (USA), who coached extensively in Italy, was also recognized.

There’s more international news to pass along:

Fenerbahce has parted ways with former NBA big man Luka Samanic, but will retain his rights through the end of the upcoming season, another Eurohoops story states. Samanic signed a one-year deal in August, but left the team to return home to Croatia in a mutual decision. Fenerbahce added Khem Birch this week as his replacement.
There’s no chance that Filip Petrusev will be returning to Crvena Zvezda this season, BasketNews relays. Petrusev, who had brief appearances with the Sixers and Kings last season, is under contract with Olimpiacos. There was a report earlier this month that he might be loaned out to Crvena Zvezda, but team president Nebojsa Covic quashed that speculation. “This saga has been ongoing for months,” he said. “There was interest from both sides, but Petrusev is an Olympiacos player. These rumors have gone too far. As of now, Zvezda remains with the current roster.”
Moses Wright, who spent time in the NBA during the 2021/22 season, may be headed to Cyprus, according to a BasketNews report. He’s also interested in becoming a citizen and playing for the national team.

And-Ones: Watson, First-Rounders, Trade Targets, Punter

September 13th, 2024 at 6:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Former Suns head coach Earl Watson is joining Steve Lavin‘s coaching staff at the University of San Diego, sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). It’s a reunion for the two sides — Watson played under Lavin in college at UCLA.

Watson, who played 13 NBA seasons as a defensive-minded point guard, was an assistant with Phoenix before being named interim and then full-time head coach. He was fired at the start of the 2017/18 season. The 45-year-old was an assistant coach under Nick Nurse with Toronto from 2021-23.

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

Which NBA teams hold the most valuable future first-round picks? Bobby Marks of ESPN explores that topic (subscriber link), ranking the Spurs No. 1, followed by the Thunder, Nets, Jazz and Rockets. As Marks writes, San Antonio doesn’t have the most picks among those teams, but the selections they do control could be very valuable — in 2025, they control their own pick, the Hawks’ first-rounder (unprotected), a top-10 protected first from Chicago, and a top-14 protected first from Charlotte, the latter of which seems unlikely to convey.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report lists one “realistic” trade target for every NBA team. According to Pincus, Pacers wing Bennedict Mathurin would make sense as a target for the Hawks and Nets, while Jazz center Walker Kessler could be a logical fit for Indiana.
Former Tennessee star Kevin Punter has thrived in Europe since he went undrafted in 2016. In an interview posted by his Spanish club FC Barcelona (Twitter video link), Punter said he used to dream of playing in the NBA. Now? He’s not sure. “When I was younger, my dream was to play the NBA,” Punter said (hat tip to Eurohoops). “That’s all you know growing up, when you play in America. That is all we talk about. That is all you watch. That was my dream. Is it my dream now? To be honest with you, I don’t know. It used to be, but as you get older, a lot of things change, a lot of things become different. You realize a lot of certain things that have nothing to do with basketball.” The 31-year-old said he had serious contract talks with the Raptors in 2023.