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International Notes: Randle, M. James, Bargnani

January 5th, 2018 at 10:11am CST by Luke Adams

When former Knicks and Sixers guard Chasson Randle signed with Spanish team Real Madrid back in October, his deal included an opt-out clause that gave the team the chance to part ways with him before the end of the 2017/18 campaign. However, according to international basketball reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Real Madrid intends to waive that opt-out and retain Randle for the rest of the season.

Randle, who appeared in 26 NBA games last season for the Knicks and Sixers, hasn’t had a major role for a Real Madrid squad that features several other former NBA players – including Rudy Fernandez, Anthony Randolph, and Gustavo Ayon – as well as the potential No. 1 pick of the 2018 draft (Luka Doncic). Still, the club has apparently liked what it has seen from the former Stanford guard, and will keep him around for now.

Here are a couple more notes from around the international basketball scene:

Having been waived by the Suns last month, Mike James may be headed back overseas to resume his playing career. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports that the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association are considering James as a potential replacement for French guard Edwin Jackson.
Former No. 1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani, who last appeared in the NBA for the Nets in 2015/16, played for Baskonia in Spain last season, but hasn’t caught on with another team so far this year. As Sportando relays, Bargnani published a Facebook post explaining that he’s not currently looking to continue his playing career, despite being healthy. While Bargnani’s message stops short of announcing his retirement, it remains unclear whether or not the 32-year-old will return to the court at some point.

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Jackson, Raptors, Johnson

May 2nd, 2017 at 8:13pm CST by marksuleymanov

The Knicks are focused on trading Carmelo Anthony and becoming a younger team, but scarce financial resources may prevent the team from landing a max free agent, ESPN’s Ian Begley writes. Free agents Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague are potential targets for New York, league sources tell Begley. However, with eight players on guaranteed contracts for next season, team president Phil Jackson said during a recent a press conference that the current team has “a dozen players that we’re very confident can support and be a part of a team. So we feel pretty good about that.”

Upgrading via free agency may be contingent on the Knicks trading Anthony, whom Jackson indicated “would be better off elsewhere” during the aforementioned presser. Begley notes that a hypothetical Melo trade could clear about $5MM in cap room, giving the Knicks $24MM — the team’s current cap space calls for $19MM available for the Knicks to spend.

However, a lot of Begley’s hypothetical offseason spending includes the Knicks not re-signing any of their young players. So if the Knicks intend on upgrading, players such as Jrue’s older brother Justin Holiday, Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour, and Chasson Randle may suit up elsewhere in 2017/18.

In other news around the Atlantic division.

The Nets maintain interest in Euroleague guard Edwin Jackson, according to Nets Daily. An earlier report indicated the club’s interest in the 27-year-old guard, who is averaging 21.8 points in 30 games for Movistar Estudiantes of the Liga ACB in Spain. The 6’1″ French guard has never suited up for an NBA team but he was in Nets camp three years ago, per Nets Daily. Jackson has indicated he would come stateside for a guaranteed NBA deal or seek a lucrative offer in Europe.
Nets Daily compiled a list of potential European targets for Brooklyn in addition to Jackson. Milos Teodosic, 30, Nicolo Melli, 26, and 2011 second-round NBA draft pick Tyler Honeycutt, 26, — who revived his career in Turkey — are listed as potential free agent options; Latvian-born Rodions Kurucs, 19, and Anzejus Pasecniks, 21, are both listed as possible draft targets.
In an attempt to contain the Cavaliers’ offense, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey may start Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals with Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll on the bench, SportsNet’s Michael Grange writes. Both men — who were major signings by team president Masai Ujiri — have underperformed this postseason and Casey is “desperate” to jumpstart his team. Norman Powell and rookie Jakob Poeltl are likely to see significant playing time if Casey goes in that direction.
As he heads for free agency, Amir Johnson remains positive despite dwindling playing time for the Celtics, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe relays. While Johnson got the start for Boston tonight in Game 2, he has been a liability on both sides of the court for most of the postseason. Johnson led the Celtics in games (80) and starts (77) in the regular season and maintains he’s trying to work out of his slump. “If things aren’t working out for you, you know you’ve got to do the next thing,” Johnson said.