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World Cup Second Round Set; Australia Earns Spot In 2024 Olympics

August 30th, 2023 at 10:21am CST by Luke Adams

The field for the second round of the 2023 World Cup has been set following Wednesday’s games, with 16 of the tournament’s 32 teams set to advance while the other 16 will compete in consolation (classification) games for the Nos. 17-32 spots, having been eliminated from medal contention.

The four second round groups are as follows:

Group I: Serbia (3-0), Dominican Republic (3-0), Italy (2-1), Puerto Rico (2-1)
Group J: United States (3-0), Lithuania (3-0), Montenegro (2-1), Greece (2-1)
Group K: Slovenia (3-0), Germany (3-0), Australia (2-1), Georgia (2-1)
Group L: Canada (3-0), Spain (3-0), Brazil (2-1), Latvia (2-1)

The second round will consist of two more group-play games, taking place on Friday and Sunday, with each team playing the two clubs in its group that it has yet to face. For instance, Team USA will go up against Montenegro and Lithuania, having already defeated Greece in the first round.

A team’s record and point differential from the first round will carry over to the second round, so the 3-0 clubs in each group will have a leg up and a little more room for error. After two more games (five total), the top two teams in each group will advance to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout round.

A total of seven nations will qualify for the 2024 Olympics based on the World Cup results. The tournament’s top two teams from the Americas and Europe will earn spots in the Olympics, while the top team from Africa, Asia, and Oceania, respectively, will also make the cut.

So far, just one Olympic qualifier has been determined — with New Zealand’s elimination today, Australia is the last Oceania team standing and has secured its place in the 2024 Olympics, joining France (the host nation).

Since no teams from Asia or Africa made it through to the round of 16, the classification games will determine those two Olympic qualifiers.

There are still several teams from the Americas and Europe alive in the main draw. In order to clinch an Olympic berth, the U.S. will have to finish among the top two of the five Americas teams left standing — Canada, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Brazil are the other four.

Once the World Cup concludes, eight of the 12 teams competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris will be set. The remaining four spots will be up for grabs in Olympic qualifying tournaments next year.

Former Lottery Pick Yi Jianlian Announces Retirement

August 30th, 2023 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

Chinese big man Yi Jianlian, the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, has announced his retirement as a professional player, according to a China Global Television Network report.

“Time flies; in the blink of an eye, basketball has been by my side for 21 years,” Yi wrote as part of a larger statement on the social media site Webio. “After much contemplation, I have made the decision to officially bring my basketball career to a close.

“… Farewell is not the end, but rather a new beginning. I will cherish the memories of the past while continuing to move forward, embracing new chapters in my life. Goodbye, my beloved basketball.”

A seven-foot forward, Yi played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China from 2002-07 before entering the NBA draft. He was selected with the No. 6 pick by the Bucks and spent his rookie season in Milwaukee, despite a desire to play in a U.S. market with a larger Chinese community.

Following his rookie year, Yi was traded from Milwaukee to New Jersey in a deal that sent Richard Jefferson to the Bucks. He played for the Nets for two seasons from 2008-10, then spent one year in Washington and one in Dallas before returning to China, where he played for Guangdong from 2012-23.

Yi had another brief stint stateside in 2016, when he joined the Lakers for the preseason, but he was cut that fall when the regular season began. In 272 total NBA regular season appearances, the 35-year-old averaged 7.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .404/.333/.780.

Although he didn’t have much success in the NBA, Yi has enjoyed a long, productive career in China, representing the national team in several international competitions and earning 12 All-Star berths in the Chinese Basketball Association. He also won six CBA titles with Guangdong, most recently in 2020, and was named the CBA Finals MVP three times.

Kings Interested In JaVale McGee

August 29th, 2023 at 5:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings are interested in signing veteran center JaVale McGee once he clears waivers, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and NBA on TNT tweets.

The Mavericks officially waived McGee on Monday and he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Thursday.

Sacramento has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and two more frontcourt players — Neemias Queta and Nerlens Noel — on partially guaranteed deals. The Kings also have Alex Len behind Domantas Sabonis in the center spot with Trey Lyles another possibility in small-ball lineups.

McGee could join the battle for backup minutes behind Sabonis. He’d be on his ninth NBA team since entering the league in 2008.

McGee signed a three-year, $17MM+ contract with Dallas last offseason, but only spent seven games in the starting lineup and subsequently fell out of the rotation altogether. The 35-year-old averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in a career-low 8.5 minutes per game across 42 appearances during his second stint as a Maverick.

Ben Simmons Eager To “Come Back And Dominate”

August 29th, 2023 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Ben Simmons is feeling as good as he has in years and is “excited” about the upcoming season, he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape. A three-time All-Star from 2019-21, Simmons has missed 122 games over the last two seasons due to mental and physical issues and didn’t look his old self when he was active, but he says he “definitely” thinks he’ll be ready for opening night.

“For me to come back and dominate people will be great,” Simmons said. “I don’t intend to come back the same player I was last [season], because that’s not even close to where I am. I get excited because I’m like, ‘Damn, I would [expletive] on the player I was last year.'”

Simmons, who was traded from Philadelphia to Brooklyn during the 2021/22 season following a lengthy holdout, was unable to play for the Nets that year due to back problems. He went under the knife in May 2022 to address a herniated disc and wasn’t fully recovered from the procedure when last season began — he played in 42 games, but was shut down in the second half and didn’t see the court after February 15.

Speaking to Spears, Simmons admitted that he was playing last season when he probably shouldn’t have been and suggested he was trying to “please people” after being sidelined for all of 2021/22. The 27-year-old managed to avoid a second back surgery and underwent an extended rehab process this offseason, which he’s feeling positive about. He said he has been doing 2-on-2 work for the last couple weeks and is progressing well.

“I don’t think people realize how bad it was in terms of physically how I was feeling and what I was able to do on the floor,” he said of his back issues. “… I remember my brother came to watch me work out one day, and he was just like, ‘You’re not OK, are you?’ I was looking at him, I was like, ‘Obviously not. This is not how I should be moving.’ But I’m happy I’m in this place now. I’m grateful I didn’t do anything to have another surgery.

“… Being able to sit down now and not have to lean or slouch one way, it’s kind of crazy for me. But I feel I’m at 100% now. Right now, I’m just building back to where I’m playing. I haven’t played in a while. Just taking hits and getting my body used to that.”

Here are a few other items of interest from Spears’ interview with Simmons:

Simmons says he “100%” wants to be part of Australia’s roster for the 2024 Olympics, assuming the Boomers qualify. “There hasn’t really been a time where I’ve been prepared and ready physically,” he said. “But next year, my goal is to be on the Olympic team.”
Asked if he felt any desire to ask out of Brooklyn last season like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did, Simmons dismissed the idea: “I love Brooklyn. I don’t have an issue with Brooklyn. For me, I want to get healthy. The only thing I could do was get healthy. I couldn’t complain about anything. I’m in a great city, a great organization, great owners, great coach, great GM. It’s all good people around, and they want to win and do it the right way. Also, I don’t have specific teams I want to go to. This is a job. I’m not going to ask to be put somewhere specific, I just want to play.”
Simmons admitted that his relationship with head coach Jacque Vaughn got off to a rocky start when he was first traded to Brooklyn, but he feels as if he’s gotten closer to Vaughn, who has visited him multiple times in Miami this offseason. “We’re in a great place,” Simmons said. “I speak to him every other day. And I’m excited because I think Coach is great. Great as a person, great coach. That’s the main thing, just being a good human. He can relate to a lot of players, he’s played the game.”
Asked about his 2023/24 position, Simmons indicated that he doesn’t expect to be used as a power forward or center. “Point guard. That’s who I am,” he told Spears, adding that he has talked to Vaughn about his role. “As much as people say, ‘Fix this, fix that.’ No, I’m a point guard. When I was playing at that [high] level, nobody was really saying anything to me.”
Despite the way his tenure with the Sixers ended, Simmons will “always have love for Philly” and even left the door open for an eventual return to the city. “People always ask me like, ‘If you were to get traded again where you want it to be?'” he said. “I always say, ‘Just Philly. Philly is a second home to me.’ And in time, you learn and grow as people. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Philly. It was a crazy situation at the end, but it is what it is.”

Mavericks Officially Waive JaVale McGee

August 29th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks have officially requested waivers on center JaVale McGee, the team announced today (via Twitter). McGee will clear waivers in about 48 hours, becoming an unrestricted free agent on Thursday.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported a week ago that Dallas intended to waive McGee and use the stretch provision on his remaining salary. As we outlined last Wednesday, August 31 is the deadline to waive a player if his club intends to stretch the player’s current-year salary across multiple seasons.

Assuming the Mavs’ plan to stretch McGee’s salary remains unchanged, that means that instead of counting against the cap for $5.7MM in 2023/24 and $6MM in ’24/25, his cap hits will be spread across five seasons at a rate of about $2.35MM per year. His dead money will be on the team’s books through ’27/28.

McGee signed a three-year, $17MM+ contract with Dallas last offseason, but only spent seven games in the starting lineup and subsequently fell out of the rotation altogether. The 35-year-old averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in a career-low 8.5 minutes per game across 42 appearances during his second stint as a Maverick.

The Mavs shopped McGee in various trade talks throughout the offseason, but were unable to find a taker, given the negative value of his contract. By stretching his remaining salary, they’ll become ineligible to re-sign him until the 2025 offseason, after his deal would have expired.

Dallas reportedly intends to sign free agent forward Markieff Morris to replace McGee on its projected 15-man regular season roster. Prior to signing Morris, the team’s salary is $5.5MM below the luxury tax line, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Reducing McGee’s 2023/24 cap hit will give the Mavs some additional breathing room to maneuver below the tax this season.

Hornets Sign P.J. Washington To Three-Year Contract

August 29th, 2023 at 3:36pm CST by Tristan Tucker

AUGUST 29: The Hornets have officially re-signed Washington, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

AUGUST 26: Restricted free agent forward P.J. Washington has agreed on a new three-year, $48MM deal to stay with the Hornets, LIFT Sports Management agent Kevin Bradbury and Washington Sports Group’s Paul Washington Sr. tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Washington was the only standard unsigned restricted free agent this summer and one of the most prominent available names in all of free agency, ranking 11th on our top-50 list.

There was some concern earlier in the offseason that Washington and the Hornets wouldn’t be able to come to terms on an agreement. Forward Miles Bridges and Charlotte didn’t agree on a long-term deal and he ended up signing his qualifying offer, putting himself on track for unrestricted free agency next year. Washington was believed to have been considering a similar route.

Other teams, such as the Cavaliers, were also monitoring the Washington situation. Now, the Hornets will bring back the 25-year-old on a three-year deal that pays $16MM annually.

Washington is an integral part of the Hornets’ promising young core that includes LaMelo Ball, 2023 No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, Mark Williams and more. The Kentucky product averaged a career-high 15.7 points per game last season. The Hornets drafted Washington with the No. 12 overall pick in 2019 and he started 73 games for Charlotte last year.

The Washington signing will give the Hornets a packed roster. He’ll be the 13th Charlotte player on a guaranteed deal, with JT Thor, Kobi Simmons and Frank Ntilikina all signed to non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts.

James Nnaji, the No. 31 overall pick in 2023, hasn’t officially signed (though he may be stashed). The Hornets also have two players on two-way deals (Leaky Black and Amari Bailey), and Angelo Allegri, Tre Scott, Nathan Mensah and R.J. Hunter are all reportedly joining the Hornets on training camp deals. So while Charlotte has some flexibility, there are more moves to come from the Queen City.

Bucks Sign TyTy Washington To Two-Way Deal

August 29th, 2023 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

3:35pm: The signing is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

2:29pm: The Bucks have agreed to sign free agent guard TyTy Washington Jr. to a two-way contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 29th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Washington spent his rookie year with the Rockets, then was included as a salary-matching piece in the five-team deal that landed Dillon Brooks in Houston via sign-and-trade in July. The 21-year-old was sent to Atlanta in that trade before being flipped to Oklahoma City in a salary-dump deal that made Patty Mills a Hawk. The Thunder, facing a roster crunch, waived Washington earlier this month.

Washington appeared in 31 games with the Rockets in his first NBA season, averaging 4.7 points, 1.5 assists, and 1.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per night. He put up an underwhelming shooting line of .363/.238/.556 in those 31 games.

The former Kentucky standout was more effective at the G League level, averaging 23.0 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 18 Showcase Cup and regular season games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. However, he still struggled to score efficiently, making 44.2% of his shot attempts from the field and just 31.7% from beyond the three-point line.

The Bucks, who don’t have much point guard depth behind starter Jrue Holiday, will give Washington a shot on a two-way deal that allows him to be active for up to 50 regular season games. Milwaukee would need to promote him to the standard roster in order to have him active for more than 50 games or for the postseason.

Washington will earn $559,782 on his two-way pact, assuming he remains under contract through the league-wide guarantee date in January. No roster move will be necessary for the Bucks to sign him, since they’re only carrying two players (Omari Moore and Lindell Wigginton) on two-way deals, leaving one spot open.

Bucks’ Thanasis Antetokounmpo Undergoing MRI On Adductor

August 28th, 2023 at 12:36pm CST by Rory Maher

Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who is currently competing for the Greek national team at the 2023 World Cup, is undergoing an MRI on his left adductor after experiencing discomfort in Greece’s loss to Team USA, reports Harris Stavrou of Sport24.gr (via Twitter).

Antetkounmpo is averaging 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 20.3 minutes through two games at the World Cup. Despite losing to the Americans on Monday, Greece still has a shot at advancing out of Group C — the team will face New Zealand to determine who makes it to the second round.

The 31-year-old has spent the past four seasons with the Bucks and re-signed with Milwaukee in free agency, agreeing to a one-year, minimum-salary deal that’s fully guaranteed. He hasn’t received much playing time over that span, which is why he considered signing with the Knicks this summer, but he ultimately decided to stay in Milwaukee.

Antetkounmpo recently told Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com that he would represent Greece in international competition whenever he was able to.

“This court, for me, is sacred,” he said. “When I step on the court, I play to win, I play to the best of my abilities, and whatever I have to give, I give. And certainly, I enjoy it. I enjoy this feeling in my heart.”

The Greek national team is already shorthanded, as Thanasis’ younger brother, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, is out for the World Cup after undergoing minor knee surgery in June.

Lonzo Ball: “I’m Going To Play Again”

August 27th, 2023 at 10:31am CST by Arthur Hill

Lonzo Ball made his strongest comments about his NBA future on Saturday, vowing that he’ll overcome his knee issues and eventually return to the league, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. The Bulls guard was at Invest Fest in Atlanta to promote Big Baller Brand, but he also addressed the injury that will cause him to miss another full season.

“Life is not easy,” Ball told the gathering. “If you want to get the most out of it, you gotta put your best foot forward. If you’re going to get knocked down, you gotta get back up every time if you want to keep going. You can always quit and take the easy way out and pout and go to the side. But for me, if you’re trying to get to a place where I want to get to, you just gotta get back up, dust off and keep going. I’m going to play again.”

Ball sat out all of last season because of the knee and hasn’t played since midway through 2021/22. He underwent cartilage transplant surgery in March, and he and the team have said that he won’t be available for at least another year.

Chicago received a $10.23MM disabled player exception for Ball, but Johnson points out that it will be difficult for the team to use it. The Bulls are already close to the $165.3MM tax threshold, with Carlik Jones and Terry Taylor both holding non-guaranteed contracts. The team can’t exceed its $172.3MM hard cap.

Ball will make $20.5MM this season, and he has a $21.4MM player option for 2024/25. That decision is due by late June, but it’s virtually certain that he’ll pick it up considering his physical condition.

Also at Invest Fest, Ball addressed his dispute this week with ESPN host Stephen A. Smith. After Ball said on Trae Young‘s podcast that he expects to play again, Smith claimed that Ball isn’t even able to get out of a chair.

“The outside noise doesn’t bother me,” Ball said. “The Stephen A. thing, he has a wide platform. And to me, I just don’t appreciate when people put out fake news like that, especially someone of his stature that can touch a lot of people. For me, I know what I gotta do to get back. And I’m just on a path doing what I gotta do every day, taking it step-by-step. I don’t look too far ahead. I know in my near future that I will be back on the court for sure.”

Overtime Elite Building Off Success Of Thompson Twins

August 26th, 2023 at 9:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

The success of the Thompson twins has brought a lot of exposure to Overtime Elite, commissioner Damien Wilkins tells Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

Amen Thompson, who was selected fourth in this year’s draft by the Rockets, and Ausar Thompson, who went fifth to the Pistons, were looking for an alternative route to the NBA when they joined the new league two years ago. Wilkins says the twins were “great for business” and generated increased interest in the league, but he doesn’t promise all his prospects that playing for Overtime Elite will get them drafted.

“A lot of what we do here is showing them and being honest with them and not just validating what they think they are but actually being honest with them,” he said. ” We don’t promise them a pro path. What we promise is we are going to help them be better every single day. If you lean into the program that we’re giving you, you’re going to leave here a successful person. Now what that looks like now for you, it may not involve professional basketball.”

Based in Atlanta, the league provides another option for players to develop their skills apart from college basketball. They have access to top-notch training facilities to work on their games, along with academic help.

Wilkins, who had a long pro career after going undrafted in 2004, played two years at North Carolina State and two more at Georgia. He considers the environment for young athletes to be much better than it was 20 years ago.

“The biggest difference is just options. We were limited when I was coming up. We didn’t have anything like this,” Wilkins said. “We certainly didn’t have NIL. We didn’t even have social media. It was one thing and no matter how good we were or how hard we played, we weren’t profiting off of that at all. We might get a couple of pairs of shoes here and there but for the most part, anything more than that was an extra benefit that could take away your eligibility, now you see guys driving cars that people dreamed of having, going places, making tons of money in this space legally, appearing on platforms that just weren’t around or didn’t exist.”

Since the draft, Wilkins has heard from a lot more parents who want to explore what Overtime Elite can offer their sons. He calls it a “gift and a curse,” noting that there are few prospects with the natural talent of Amen and Ausar. Expectations will continue to rise with an upcoming Amazon documentary on the Thompsons and how they developed through the OTE program.

Wilkins has also heard the doubters who wonder how much Overtime Elite really helped the Thompson twins, so he and his staff are “super competitive” about proving they can produce more high-level prospects.

“We had to lace up our boots after the draft,” Wilkins said. “Can we do this again? Do we have enough (players) in the (program) to keep people coming back to us? We believe now that we do and we believe we can. Twelve pros in two years, that’s not bad so far. We understand we have a lot of work to do ahead of us, but I love where we’re trending.”