International Rumors | Hoops Rumors

International Notes: Musa, Russia, FIBA, EuroLeague, Goodwin

March 1st, 2022 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

After being selected with the No. 29 pick in the 2018 draft, swingman Dzanan Musa spent just two seasons in the NBA with Brooklyn before being waived and returning to Europe. He’s currently thriving with Rio Breogan in Spain, averaging 19.8 PPG on .504/.441/.776 shooting in 19 Liga ACB games (31.7 MPG) this season.

Asked during an interview with Israel Hayom about his fellow Bosnian, former NBA forward Mirza Teletovic said he’s confident that Musa, who is still just 22 years old, will return stateside sooner or later.

“Dzanan is a great talent, who has already done some beautiful things in his career,” Teletovic said, according to EuroHoops.net. “He may have gone to the NBA too soon and been burned, but I believe he will return to the U.S. soon because he just needed more experience and more games to deal with the players. He saw what he was missing and now he is working on it in Europe. … He must be patient and go step by step and he is guaranteed a bright future because he has the qualities of a leader and everything it takes to be successful.”

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

FIBA announced today in a press release that Russian teams and officials won’t be permitted to participate in any international FIBA competitions until further notice. Russia was off to a 3-0 start in the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup.
Euroleague Basketball announced on Monday that it has suspended the participation of all Russian teams in the EuroLeague (CSKA Moscow, UNICS Kazan, Zenit St. Petersburg) and the EuroCup (Lokomotiv Kuban). The organization will continue to monitor the situation and says that if things don’t improve, “all regular season games versus Russian teams will be annulled to configure the leagues’ standings.”
Former NBA first-round pick Archie Goodwin has signed with Israeli team Maccabi Rishon, according to an announcement from the club (Twitter link). Goodwin, the 29th overall pick in 2013, appeared in 165 regular season games for Phoenix, New Orleans, and Brooklyn, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2017. He had been playing in Ukraine this season, but recently left due to the Russian invasion.

Dante Exum To Remain With Barcelona For Rest Of Season

February 28th, 2022 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA lottery pick Dante Exum will be staying in Spain and completing the 2021/22 season with Barcelona, the team announced today in a press release.

After being waived by the Rockets in October, Exum signed a three-month contract with Barcelona in December. That deal ran through February 28 and there was some talk last month about the 26-year-old planning to return to the NBA once it expired. However, Exum and Barcelona reached an agreement to extend the contract through June 30, according to the club.

The fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Exum appeared in a total of 245 regular season NBA games for Utah and Cleveland, dealing with a handful of injuries after he played all 82 games as a rookie.

This season in Europe, Exum has been a productive rotation player for Barcelona, averaging 6.0 PPG and 2.7 RPG on .500/.538/.905 shooting in 11 EuroLeague contests (16.5 MPG). Barcelona currently sits atop the EuroLeague standings with a 20-5 record.

Exum’s next opportunity to return to the NBA will come during the 2022 offseason.

And-Ones: NBPA, Tremaglio, Sessions, Russia, EuroLeague

February 28th, 2022 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

More than 120 candidates were considered and 40 were interviewed to become Michele Roberts‘ successor as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who takes an in-depth look at what the new union leader, Tamika Tremaglio, brings to the role.

As Vorkunov details, the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement will expire after the 2023/24 season, and the league and the union both have the ability to opt out in December of 2022. However, Tremaglio doesn’t anticipate a contentious negotiation with the NBA when the time comes to put a new CBA in place.

“There is no benefit for any of us to opt out,” she said, per Vorkunov. “There is always the opportunity for us to work together. I do think Michele has been able to build a really great relationship with the league and I cannot see that not continuing. I think [NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver] has been incredibly welcoming. Michele helped to set up a really great transition for me.

“I think I’m coming in at a time that is needed, for certain, but I also feel I am coming in at a time that we can continue the path that we have already been on. Which is the path certainly of least resistance and much more partnership in terms of what we can accomplish. We’re not back in the ’60s where we’re looking for ways to be adversarial to each other. We recognize that we can get more done together.”

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

Former NBA point guard Ramon Sessions has become a certified player agent, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who tweets that Sessions is launching On Time Agency, an independent firm. Sessions is currently advising Jordan Walsh, a five-star recruit who has committed to Arkansas, Charania notes.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown the EuroLeague into disarray. As EuroHoops relays in a pair of stories, a decision was made last week to move all games scheduled to be played in Russia to neutral venues, but the leaders of Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas didn’t think stance went far enough. “We don’t want to play with clubs from a country that is using military aggression and we this is a position that we suggested to the EuroLeague and its clubs,” Zalgiris director Paulius Motiejunas said.
Meanwhile, a flurry of players are departing from the EuroLeague clubs based in Russia. Former NBAers Joel Bolomboy and Tornike Shengelia are among those leaving CSKA Moscow, per the team, while UNICS Kazan forward Jarrell Brantley is also expected to leave the country, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com. An SDNA report relayed by Sportando suggests that Zenit St. Petersburg is allowing all its non-Russian players, coaches, and staffers to return to their respective home countries, while another SDNA report (via Sportando) says CSKA, UNICS Kazan, and Zenit have jointly asked the EuroLeague to postpone their games for a month.

And-Ones: Mock Draft, King, Napier, Summer League

February 26th, 2022 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Gonzaga big man Chet Holmgren remains atop ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz’s latest mock draft, with Auburn’s Jabari Smith moving up one notch to No. 2. The G League Ignite’s Dyson Daniels has moved into the lottery while Milwaukee Panthers forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. has dropped from No. 15 to No. 25.

We have more from around the basketball world:

The G League’s Westchester Knicks are acquiring forward Louis King, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. King had been on a two-way contract with Sacramento but was waived by the Kings on February 17th. In 16 career games with Sacramento, including 10 this year, King averaged 5.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 11.8 MPG.
Former NBA guard Shabazz Napier has left Russia and Zenit Saint Petersburg, according to EuroHoops.net. Napier, who has been sidelined most of the season with an ankle injury, was already preparing to return to the United States prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because he did not feel he was ready to play.
The NBA will hold its annual Summer League in Las Vegas on July 7-17, Shaw adds in another tweet.

Western Notes: Lillard, Blazers, Kings, Lakers, Micić

February 25th, 2022 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on Draymond Green‘s podcast, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard expressed some enthusiasm about the team’s direction, singling out teammates Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Jusuf Nurkic, and Josh Hart, and suggesting Portland has “got some pieces to the puzzle” and just needs to keep adding to those pieces.

As Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com relays, Lillard also pushed back against the idea that Portland can’t be an appealing free agent destination, arguing that if the Blazers have a chance to seriously contend, they’ll attract talent.

“No offense, but people (are) going to Oklahoma City, people going to Milwaukee, you know what I mean?” Lillard said. “People are going places and Portland ain’t what people think it is, otherwise I wouldn’t have been living here this long. If you just couldn’t live here, I wouldn’t be living here this long.

“I think that’s part of it, but at the end of the day, people are going places that’s like ‘You went there?’ (Carmelo Anthony) went to OKC when we was trying to get ‘Melo to come here. Ask ‘Melo where he would go first. And I’ll say this: not just because of the living situation.”

Here are a few more notes from around the Western Conference:

The Kings‘ trade deadline shake-up create a more positive vibe around the organization, point guard De’Aaron Fox said this week, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “I think the mood is definitely a bit better,” Fox said. “It’s definitely different when guys come into new situations, guys coming from Indiana, guys coming from Detroit and Donte [DiVincenzo] coming from Milwaukee … it’s like a breath of fresh air when you have a change of scenery.”
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel shared a series of injury-related updates on Thursday, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Most notably, Kendrick Nunn (knee) has begun his ramp-up process again following a setback last month, Anthony Davis (foot) is off his crutches, and Carmelo Anthony (hamstring) is probable to return on Friday after missing the team’s last five games.
Speaking to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, veteran international agent Misko Raznatovic expressed dissatisfaction with the rules governing draft-and-stash players like his client Vasilije Micić, whose NBA rights are held by the Thunder. “One team gets your rights and then, (even if) you’re the best player in Europe, they don’t want to trade you and they don’t want to give you (a fair contract) offer,” Raznatovic said. “And then you never play in the NBA, (even if) you’re better than 80% of the guys who are there. I don’t believe this is fair.” Raznatovic did note that Micić has an annual NBA escape clause in his contract with Anadolu Efes, so he’ll talk to the Thunder again this summer to see if they can work something out.

And-Ones: G League Ignite, Barea, Contract Extensions, Ukraine

February 24th, 2022 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Being involved with All-Star Weekend was a dream experience for several members of G League Ignite, writes Tania Ganguli of The New York Times. Jaden Hardy, Scoot Henderson, MarJon Beauchamp and Dyson Daniels were all selected to participate alongside first- and second-year NBA players in the Rising Stars games. Fanbo Zeng and Michael Foster Jr. were chosen for a shooting competition, but Zeng had to withdraw because of an injury.

“I was nervous before the game before I even got out there, but when I got out there it was kind of relieving,” said Beauchamp, who is projected to be a mid first-round selection in this year’s draft. Beauchamp added that he always watches the All-Star events, “so just seeing myself on the screen is pretty amazing.”

The Ignite team, which serves as an alternative to college for NBA prospects, is only in its second season but is proving to be successful. Two Ignite players, Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga, were lottery picks last year and the team continues to attract elite young talent, paying up to $500K per season. The chance to be part of the All-Star experience was a bonus that the NBA offered this year.

“It was just fun to be able to be out there on the court with those young stars really and just being able to go out there and just laugh and compete,” Hardy said.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Veteran guard J.J. Barea will return to Cangrejeros de Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 37-year-old, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA, also played for the team last season.
Although Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic will miss an extended stretch due to plantar fasciitis, he’s among a handful of viable candidates to receive contract extensions before the regular season ends, writes Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype. Nurkic is on track to be a free agent this summer, but he’s also eligible to extend his current deal for up to $64.5MM over four years. Another option, Gozlan notes, is to extend for two years at $25.8MM if Nurkic wants to keep his trade eligibility this offseason. Gozlan identifies Robert Covington, Thaddeus Young, Gary Harris and Tyus Jones as other players who are eligible for in-season extensions and could be realistic candidates.
The attacks on Ukraine are having an effect on basketball in the region, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Roughly 40 American players have played in the country this year and several are still under contract. An agent told Smith that there’s an effort to bring those players home to protect their safety, even though it would be a breach of contract. Familiar names on the Budivelnik Kiev roster include Michael Stockton, son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, along with former NBA players Gian Clavell, Drew Gordon and Alec Brown, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Kevin Pangos Signs With CSKA Moscow

February 23rd, 2022 at 7:18am CST by Luke Adams

Following a brief stint in the NBA, guard Kevin Pangos has returned to Europe, having signed a contract with CSKA Moscow, the Russian club announced in a press release. The deal will run through 2024, according to the team.

Pangos, 29, headed overseas after going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2015 and developed into one of Europe’s top point guards over the course of several seasons. In 2020/21, he averaged 13.5 PPG and 6.6 APG on .449/.390/.845 shooting in 39 EuroLeague contests (28.9 MPG) for Zenit Saint Petersburg, earning a spot on the All-EuroLeague First Team.

Pangos’ strong international play earned him a shot in the NBA in 2021/22, but he was unable to gain much traction after signing with Cleveland, appearing in just 24 games and logging just 6.9 minutes per contest. He averaged 1.6 PPG and 1.3 APG on .326/.231/.750 shooting in a reserve role for the Cavaliers.

Prior to this month’s trade deadline, rumors began circulating in international outlets that Pangos was on the verge of an agreement with CSKA Moscow, though the Cavs didn’t officially waive him until this past Saturday. Pangos cleared waivers on Monday and will now join a CSKA squad that is jockeying for playoff seeding in the EuroLeague — the team currently holds the No. 6 spot, with a 14-10 record.

Pangos will be one of several players on CSKA Moscow’s roster with NBA experience, joining the likes of Alexey Shved, Joel Bolomboy, and Tornike Shengelia.

Jazz Notes: Mitchell, Gobert, 2023 ASG, Hernangomez

February 21st, 2022 at 1:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz have made the playoffs in each of the four years since Donovan Mitchell entered the NBA and are on track to do so again in 2022. However, Mitchell has yet to make it beyond the second round of the postseason and is feeling more urgency to make a deeper run this spring, as he tells Tony Jones of The Athletic.

“I think I’m really at a point now where we’ve made the second round, and we want more,” Mitchell said. “We crave it. I watched Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp in the Super Bowl; they just found ways to win. So, for me, that’s the biggest thing. The ultimate goal is for us to be the last team standing. That’s the sign of the ultimate winner.”

In addition to voicing his desire for the Jazz to “take another leap,” Mitchell once again brushed off the notion that there’s any tension between him and teammate Rudy Gobert, echoing comments he made to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports earlier this month.

“I’m at a point now where it’s the NBA, this is what it is,” Mitchell told Jones. “People are going to write things. If I have to respond every five minutes to a story, then I’m taking away from my teammates, and I’m taking away from my happiness. I love this team, and we want to find a way to win as a group. I’m focused on my team. As long as my teammates and my coaches know my intentions, then that’s what it is. But I’m not going to allow articles to deter me from my main goal. I love this group. So, let’s find a way to do it.”

Here’s more on the Jazz:

Rudy Gobert, who watched 19-year veteran LeBron James hit the game-winning shot against his team in Sunday’s All-Star Game, said he’d love to be able to replicate LeBron’s longevity, as Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes. “I’m taking great care of myself, just to trying to see how far I can go,” said Gobert, who is in his ninth season. “Whenever I feel like I either can’t play anymore or I lose that competitive edge, then I’ll probably stop it, but for sure I would love to play for 19 years.”
In the wake of 2022 All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune looks ahead to the 2023 event, which will be hosted by the Jazz, and considers what it will mean for the Salt Lake City market. It’s the first time the All-Star Game will be played in Utah since 1993.
Juan Hernangomez, acquired by the Jazz at the trade deadline, is under contract through 2022/23, but his salary for next season is non-guaranteed, so he’ll likely become a free agent this summer, if not sooner. As Antigoni Zachari of Eurohoops relays, Hernangomez would like to finish this season in the NBA and could remain stateside beyond that, but he’s also expected to draw significant interest from teams in Spain, including Barcelona, according to international reports. Hernangomez played in his home country for Estudiantes for two seasons from 2014-16 before entering the NBA.

And-Ones: Blue, Pargo, Morey, G League Ignite

February 20th, 2022 at 2:56pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

NBA alum Vander Blue has signed a new deal to play for Club Atletico Peñarol in Uruguay, per Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Most recently, Blue played with Mexican club Libertadores de Queretaro, where he averaged 21.7 PPG, 3.7 APG and 1.8 SPG during the team’s 2021/22 season.

The 6’4″ shooting guard out of Marquette, 29, logged parts of three seasons in the NBA for the Celtics and Lakers, playing a total of 10 NBA games, including one start, and ultimately averaging 13.4 MPG. He last saw league action for five games during the 2017/18 NBA season with Los Angeles.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

After leaving Napoli Basket last month, former NBA guard Jeremy Pargo has signed a new G League deal and will join the Windy City Bulls, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors. Pargo, a Chicago native, played with the Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Sixers and Warriors during three NBA seasons. The 35-year-old combo guard holds NBA averages of 4.8 PPG, 1.8 APG and 1.0 RPG across 86 contests.
As a recent guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, Sixers GM Daryl Morey shared some bold concepts for changing the NBA regular season’s schedule and playoffs structure (hat tip to Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post). Morey proposed cutting the league’s current 82-game regular season schedule to 58 contests. “Every team plays every [other] team two times,” he said. “The playoffs, I 100 percent agree, shorter is better… I would have it one-and-done,” Morey said, suggesting that every postseason round be reduced from seven games to a single contest. “There’s a reason everyone tunes into every game at huge ratings in the NFL. It is literally one-and-done.”
Six prospects from the NBAGL club the G League Ignite, point guard Scoot Henderson, wing Dyson Daniels, shooting guard Jaden Hardy, and forward MarJon Beauchamp, plus big men Michael Foster Jr. and Fanbo Zeng, participated in the festivities for the NBA’s 2022 All-Star Weekend. Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated evaluated the Ignite players during a recent two-game stint prior to the weekend, five of whom (Henderson being the lone exception) could be selected for the NBA draft this year. Woo indicates that Henderson, Daniels, Hardy and Beauchamp all appear likely to be first-round picks.

And-Ones: MVP Race, I. Thomas, Draft, I. Clark

February 17th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The top two finishers in last season’s MVP voting appear to be the top two candidates for this year’s award too, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Bontemps recently conducted a straw poll of 100 media members and found that Sixers center Joel Embiid narrowly – and unofficially – leads Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.

As Bontemps details, Embiid received 45 first-place votes from the poll respondents, while Jokic got 43. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (nine), Suns guard Chris Paul (two), and Warriors guard Stephen Curry (one) were the other players who got first-place votes. Interestingly, Embiid was the only player to show up on all 100 five-player ballots, while Jokic was left off five.

Curry received 94 first-place votes when Bontemps conducted a similar straw poll in December, but the veteran sharpshooter has slowed down since his hot start, while players like Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo have made stronger MVP pushes.

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

Free agent guard Isaiah Thomas is expected to rejoin the Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets‘ G League affiliate – after the All-Star break, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Thomas had a very brief stint in Grand Rapids in December, scoring 42 points in his only NBAGL game before getting called up to the NBA. Thomas signed 10-day contracts with the Lakers and Mavericks before returning to the open market.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published a new 2022 mock draft, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his top-50 big board. Both draft experts currently have Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren at No. 1 and Jabari Smith of Auburn at No. 2, with Purdue’s Jaden Ivey moving up to No. 3 ahead of Duke’s Paolo Banchero.
Veteran guard Ian Clark, who has 330 regular season appearances on his NBA résumé and won a title with Golden State in 2017, has signed with the Sydney Kings, the Australian team recently announced in a press release. Clark played in 60 games for New Orleans in 2018/19, but has been out of the NBA since then.