Admiral Schofield Rumors

International Notes: Kleber, Schofield, Faried, Beverley, Motley

November 29th, 2024 at 9:46am CST by Rory Maher

Speaking to Dirk Sing of German outlet Augsburger Allgemeine, Mavericks forward/center Maxi Kleber says he has no intention of returning to Germany’s national team going forward.

Kleber, who previously represented his home country in international competitions, including the 2014 EuroBasket and the 2019 World Cup, opted not to play in the 2022 EuroBasket tournament after a deep playoff run with Dallas. Kleber was criticized for that decision by team captain Dennis Schröder, causing the big man to withdraw from consideration for the 2023 World Cup. Schröder later apologized.

Kleber also didn’t participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but he says he watched the tournament and still supports the team from afar, even if he will no longer be playing for Deutschland in an official capacity.

“The situation was what it was. That’s why I had to come to terms with it,” Kleber said (hat tip to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net). “I watched the games as a fan, of course, because it is always positive for German basketball when the national team is successful.

“It’s ultimately about basketball continuing to grow in Germany. And the Olympic Games that everyone can watch on television is a great platform. I know a lot of guys on the team very well or are my friends, it was also great to watch them. … The national team is definitely over for me. So, there will be no return.”

Here are a few more international basketball notes:

Admiral Schofield, who spent four seasons in the NBA before signing with ASVEL Basket over the offseason, has parted ways with the French club in what the team called a mutual agreement, per Askounis of Eurohoops. The 27-year-old forward, who was a second-round pick out of Tennessee in 2019, recently fell out of ASVEL’s rotation, Askounis notes.
Former NBA forward Kenneth Faried has signed with Italy’s Pallacanestro Reggiana, the team announced in a press release. An eight-year veteran who spent seven seasons in Denver, Faried last played in the NBA with Houston during the 2018/19 season. The 35-year-old made previous international stops in China and Russia before returning to North America to play in the G League, having spent the past two seasons with the Mexico City Capitanes.
Longtime NBA veteran Patrick Beverley signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv over the summer, but he says he’s “50-50” on whether he’ll stay with the Israeli club due to family pressures, as BasketNews.com relays.
Former Mavs and Clippers big man Johnathan Motley decided to leave Hapoel Tel Aviv earlier this month due to concerns over his safety. He wound up signing a G League deal while still under contract with Hapoel, but didn’t receive a letter of clearance from FIBA. In a strange twist to an unusual situation, Motley has returned to Hapoel on a two-year contract, the team announced (link via BasketNews).

QO Updates: Heat, Magic, Quinones, Lundy, Williams, Nuggets

June 28th, 2024 at 7:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat have issued qualifying offers to two of their three two-way players, announcing in a press release that they’ve made forward Cole Swider and guard Alondes Williams restricted free agents. Miami’s other two-way player, forward Jamal Cain, isn’t mentioned in the announcement, with Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald tweeting that Cain isn’t expected to receive a qualifying offer.

Because Cain has finished each of the past two seasons on a two-way contract with the Heat, his qualifying offer would have been a one-year, minimum-salary contract with a small partial guarantee, whereas the QOs for Swider and Williams will be for one-year, two-way deals.

According to Chiang, the expectation is that Cain won’t be back with the Heat next season. Not getting a QO means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

We have more qualifying offer news from around the NBA:

It appears that guard Trevelin Queen will be the only Magic two-way player to receive a qualifying offer this offseason. Orlando put out a press release (via Twitter) confirming that Queen has been given a QO, making him a restricted free agent. However, swingman Kevon Harris won’t get a QO and Admiral Schofield – who also wasn’t mentioned in the Magic’s announcement – has signed to play in France next season. Harris and Schofield both would’ve been eligible for minimum-salary qualifying offers, while Queen’s QO is for another two-way contract.
The Warriors aren’t tendering a qualifying offer to guard Lester Quinones, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Quinones will become an unrestricted free agent after averaging 4.4 points per game on .397/.364/.690 shooting in 37 appearances off the bench for Golden State.
The Hawks have made a qualifying offer to guard Seth Lundy, tweets Scotto. Lundy, who was on a two-way contract this past season, had a strong year in the G League, averaging 20.4 points per game and making 40.0% of his three-point attempts in 25 regular season and Showcase Cup contests for the College Park Skyhawks. His qualifying offer is the equivalent of another two-way deal.
The Rockets are issuing a two-way qualifying offer to shooting guard Jeenathan Williams, according to Scotto (Twitter link). Williams appeared in 22 games for Houston and 10 for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League in 2023/24.
Nuggets two-way players Collin Gillespie and Braxton Key aren’t expected to get qualifying offers from the team, so they’ll become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins, sources tell Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link).

Admiral Schofield Signs With French Team

June 28th, 2024 at 10:40am CST by Rory Maher

Free agent forward Admiral Schofield has signed a contract with ASVEL Basket, which competes in France’s top basketball division (LNB Elite), the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).

The 42nd pick of the 2019 draft after spending four college seasons at Tennessee, Schofield has appeared in a total of 131 NBA games with the Wizards and Magic, holding modest career averages of 3.3 PPG and 1.6 RPG in 10.5 MPG.

The 27-year-old combo forward has spent the majority of the past three seasons with Orlando, primarily on two-way contracts. He made 23 appearances for the Magic in 2023/24 for a total of 84 minutes (3.7 MPG).

Schofield’s two-way eligibility expired after he completed his fourth NBA season in ’23/24, meaning he is now only eligible for standard contracts. Evidently he didn’t find any suitable NBA offers, as he’ll be heading overseas for the first time in his professional career.

ASVEL went 25-9 last regular season in the LNB Elite, good for third place. The club was eliminated in the semifinals of the playoffs by Paris Basketball.

Magic Sign Admiral Schofield To Two-Way Contract

July 20th, 2023 at 5:46pm CST by Rory Maher

5:46pm: The re-signing of Schofield to a two-way deal is now official, per a Magic press release (Twitter link).

12:15pm: Free agent forward Admiral Schofield is re-signing with the Magic on a two-way contract, agents Mark Bartelstein and George Roussakis tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

A second-round pick in 2019 out of Tennessee, Schofield began his professional career with the Wizards but spent most of the past two seasons with the Magic, providing depth in Orlando’s frontcourt.

In 2022/23, he averaged 4.2 PPG and 1.7 RPG on .451/.324/.913 shooting in 37 games (12.2 MPG).

The 26-year-old had been on a two-way contract for most of his time with Orlando until he was promoted to a standard deal in February. His multiyear contract included a team option for ’23/24, which the Magic declined in late June, making Schofield an unrestricted free agent.

Once Schofield’s new contract is official, the Magic will have 15 players on their standard roster and two of their three two-way spots filled. Guard Kevon Harris occupies the other two-way slot.

NBA teams are permitted to roster 21 players in the offseason as opposed to 18 once the regular season begins(15 on standard deals and three two-way contracts).

Magic Exercise Option On Bitadze, Decline Two Others

June 29th, 2023 at 4:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Magic have exercised their team option on reserve center Goga Bitadze for the 2023/24 season, while turning down their options on veteran point guard Michael Carter-Williams and combo forward Admiral Schofield, the club has announced in a press release (Twitter link).

Bitadze’s team option is worth $2,066,585. Carter-Williams would have earned $3.1MM next year, while Schofield’s option was worth $2MM.

Bitadze, still just 23, joined the Magic midway through 2022/23 after spending his prior three-and-a-half NBA seasons with the Pacers. He carved out a role as a valuable bench option for a super-sized young Orlando club after being waived by Indiana.

Across his 17 healthy contests for Orlando, the 6’11” big man averaged 5.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.9 BPG in just 15.0 MPG.

Though Orlando finished outside of the postseason picture with a 34-48 record last year, the rebuilding team is loaded with intriguing lottery talent among its starters, including the two picks the Magic added in last week’s draft, former Arkansas guard Anthony Black and ex-Michigan swingman Jett Howard. Bitadze makes sense for the timeline of the team as a young, cost-efficient option off the bench with plenty of upside left.

Carter-Williams, the 2013/14 Rookie of the Year, returned to the Magic in February after the club waived him during the 2021/22 season, as he was recovering from a left ankle surgery. He appeared in just four games during this most recent stint with Orlando, averaging 4.3 PPG, 1.8 APG and 1.3 RPG in 11 MPG. It remains to be seen if the well-traveled 31-year-old will get another league opportunity.

The 6’5″ Schofield has spent two of his three NBA seasons thus far with the Magic. In 37 games last year, he averaged 4.2 PPG on .451/.324/.913 shooting splits.

Southeast Notes: Hawks’ Coaching Search, Schofield, Gill

February 22nd, 2023 at 10:19am CST by Luke Adams

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that Quin Snyder, Kenny Atkinson, and Charles Lee will be among the Hawks‘ head coaching candidates as the team searches for a permanent replacement for Nate McMillan, who was let go during the All-Star break.

Shams Charania of The Athletic confirms those names and adds a few more to the Hawks’ list of possible targets, reporting (via Twitter) that Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez, Spurs assistant Mitch Johnson, and South Bay Lakers coach Miles Simon are expected to receive consideration from Atlanta.

Fernandez has generated some head coaching buzz in the past, but as far as I can tell, this is the first time either Johnson or Simon has been connected to a head coaching opening at the NBA level.

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

McMillan took the fall for the Hawks‘ “organizational-wide failure” this season, according to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, who argues that – even if McMillan’s dismissal was justified – the team’s problems extend beyond the job the head coach did. Schultz cites front office dysfunction as one key issue for the Hawks in recent months.
Admiral Schofield‘s new contract with the Magic is a two-year, minimum-salary deal, Hoops Rumors has learned. Schofield will earn $506,508 for the rest of this season and Orlando will hold a $1,997,238 team option on the forward for 2023/24.
Wizards forward Anthony Gill hasn’t played a major role in D.C. this season, averaging a modest 10.0 minutes per game in 41 appearances. However, Gill’s enthusiasm and positivity have made him an important culture-setter for the club, as Ava Wallace outlines in an interesting story for The Washington Post. Gill signed a guaranteed two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Wizards last summer, so he remains under contract for $2MM next season.

Magic Promote Admiral Schofield To Standard Roster

February 21st, 2023 at 1:22pm CST by Luke Adams

2:11pm: The move is official, the Magic announced in a press release.

1:22pm: The Magic are signing forward Admiral Schofield to a new two-year standard contract, agents Mark Bartelstein and George Roussakis tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Schofield had been on a two-way deal since re-signing with Orlando last July. The new agreement will promote him to the 15-man roster with no corresponding move necessary, since the Magic are currently carrying only 14 players on standard contracts.

A second-round pick in 2019 out of Tennessee, Schofield began his professional career with the Wizards but has spent most of the last two seasons with the Magic, providing depth in Orlando’s frontcourt. In 2022/23, he has averaged 4.6 PPG and 1.9 RPG in 27 appearances (13.0 MPG), while posting career-best shooting marks (.478/.333/.895).

The exact terms of Schofield’s new deal aren’t known, but it’s unlikely to include much – if any – guaranteed money beyond this season. A minimum-salary contract seems probable, but the Magic do have an unused portion of their mid-level exception available if they want to give the 25-year-old more than the minimum.

NBA Suspends Two Pistons Players, Nine Magic Players For Roles In Fracas

December 29th, 2022 at 8:51pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA has suspended two Pistons players and nine Magic players for their roles in an altercation during the second quarter of Wednesday’s game, the league has announced (Twitter link).

Pistons guard Killian Hayes was given the harshest punishment, a three-game suspension without pay. Magic center Moritz Wagner has been suspended for two games, while Detroit guard Hamidou Diallo was also dinged for a one-game suspension. Both Hayes and Diallo will be held out of the team’s road game against the Bulls Friday.

Hayes, Wagner and Diallo were all ejected from the game Wednesday night, which Detroit won 121-101, for their roles in the on-court confrontation that began when Wagner hip-checked Hayes out of bounds into the Pistons’ bench while the two were scrambling for a loose ball. Diallo subsequently shoved Wagner in the back, but Hayes then escalated the conflict when he punched Wagner in the back of the head. Wagner appeared to lose consciousness after the hit. Several Magic players left the bench to support Wagner and all have been penalized for doing so.

The NBA is additionally suspending eight additional Orlando players after they left the bench to support Wagner during the scuffle: guards Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris and Kevon Harris, swingmen Franz Wagner and Admiral Schofield, and big men Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba. All eight players will receive one-game bans.

The NBA’s press release indicates that the absences of the Magic players will be staggered to ensure the team has enough available bodies for its ensuing two contests. Anthony, Gary Harris, Hampton, Bamba, and Carter will miss Orlando’s next game on Friday against the Wizards. Wagner will also begin his two-game suspension on Friday. The others will miss the club’s January 4 matchup with the Thunder.

Magic Re-Sign Admiral Schofield To Two-Way Deal

July 22nd, 2022 at 8:24pm CST by Rory Maher

The Magic have re-signed Admiral Schofield to a two-way contract, the team announced (via Twitter).

Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel was the first to report that Schofield was sticking with the Magic (Twitter link). The 25-year-old forward was issued a one-year, two-way qualifying offer in June to make him a restricted free agent, so he likely just accepted that QO.

The 42nd pick of the 2019 draft, Schofield spent his rookie season with the Wizards, appearing in 33 games (11.2 MPG) with modest averages of 3.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG. He was traded to the Thunder in the 2020 offseason and subsequently waived.

Schofield signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Magic last year, was waived before the season started, and spent the first few months of 2021/22 with Orlando’s affiliate in Lakeland before signing a couple of 10-day hardship deals during the winter COVID-19 outbreak.

He performed well enough to be promoted to a two-way contract in January, which he remained on until the end of the season. In 38 games (12.3 MPG) with the Magic last season, he averaged 3.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG on .419/.329/.800 shooting.

The Magic now have one of their two-way slots filled, but the second remains open.

QO Decisions: Nwora, T. Brown, Rockets, Moon, More

June 29th, 2022 at 10:41pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have tendered a qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora, making the 23-year-old a restricted free agent, a league source tells Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link). Nwora’s QO for 2022/23 is worth a projected $2,036,090.

The 45th pick of the 2020 draft, Nwora saw his role expand in his second season with Milwaukee, appearing in 63 games (19.1 MPG) with averages of 7.9 PPG and 3.6 RPG on .403/.348/.837 shooting. He’s No. 43 on our list of top 50 free agents.

Let’s round-up some more qualifying offer decisions…

The Bulls won’t extend a QO to Troy Brown ($7,228,448), making him an unrestricted free agent, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter). Brown, who turns 23 on July 28, was the 15th pick of the 2018 draft but didn’t leave much of an impression with Chicago, averaging 4.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG on .419/.353/.769 shooting in 66 games (16 MPG) in ’21/22.
The Rockets aren’t giving qualifying offers to either Bruno Fernando ($2,228,276) or Anthony Lamb (two-way), according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Fernando, the 34th pick of the 2019 draft, has seen scant NBA minutes, appearing in 119 contests with an average of 9.2 MPG over his three seasons with Atlanta, Houston and Boston. His QO was worth more than the minimum and the Rockets have lots of players already under contract next season after sending Christian Wood to Dallas for the No. 26 pick and four veterans.
Xavier Moon (two-way) won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Clippers, as Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times relays (via Twitter). Moon will be an unrestricted free agent after reaching the NBA as a 27-year-old rookie last season. He has plenty of international experience, having made stops in France, England, Israel and Canada before earning three 10-day hardship deals and later a two-way contract with L.A. in ’21/22.
A couple of two-way players received QOs from their respective clubs, sources tell Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links). Nathan Knight received his offer from the Timberwolves, while the Magic extended a QO to Admiral Schofield. Both players will be restricted free agents.