Jared Harper

International Notes: Jokubaitis, Hall, Harper

Rokas Jokubaitis has a clear path to sign with Maccabi Tel Aviv now that his former team, Barcelona, has announced that it has officially parted ways with him.

Jokubaitis played for the Knicks during the Summer League and is reportedly in “advanced talks” with the Israeli team. According to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link), Maccabi is very likely Jokubaitis’ destination.

The Lithuanian point guard spent the past three years with Barcelona, where he averaged 5.3 points and 2.8 assists per game last season.

Jokubaitis appeared in five games for New York in Las Vegas, averaging 9.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals in 19.1 minutes per contest.

We have more international news:

  • Former NBA forward Donta Hall has signed a two-year deal with Spain’s Baskonia, according to a press release from the club. The American big man most recently played for Monaco. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes over 38 games in EuroLeague action last season. Hall has made 22 NBA regular season appearances with Detroit, Brooklyn and Orlando.
  • Former NBA point guard Jared Harper has signed a two-year contract with Hapoel Jerusalem, according to a team press release. Harper, who went undrafted in 2019 and made a total of 16 appearances for the Suns, Knicks and Pelicans, has played for Valencia in the EuroLeague for the past two years. In 53 EuroLeague appearances, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.0 assists in 17 minutes per game.
  • In case you missed it, Mavericks second-round pick Melvin Ajinca will play for France’s ASVEL Basket next season.

International Notes: Mexico City Game, James, Teodosic, Harper

The NBA’s Mexico City Game in 2024 will feature a pair of Southeast rivals, as the Heat and Wizards will match up in the contest on Saturday, November 2, the league announced today in a press release. It will be the NBA’s 14th regular season contest and 33rd game overall in Mexico.

The game will be the fourth in Mexico for the Wizards, who last played there in 2019, and the third for the Heat. Since Miami’s last visit in 2022, the team has added Mexican-American forward Jaime Jaquez, which likely factored into the NBA’s decision to have the team return just two years later.

Here are a few more updates from around the international basketball world:

  • Reigning EuroLeague MVP Mike James has a new three-year deal in place with AS Monaco Basket, the team officially announced on Friday (via Twitter). The former NBA guard was initially said to be nearing an agreement a week ago before Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com reported that James was considering testing the open market. According to Urbonas (Twitter link), Monaco improved its offer to ensure that a deal got done. James previously appeared in 49 NBA games from 2017-21 with the Suns, Pelicans, and Nets.
  • Former NBA guard Milos Teodosic, who played for the Clippers from 2017-19, will spend another season with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia. The team announced (via Twitter) that it has signed the 37-year-old to a new one-year contract (hat tip to Sportando).
  • Valencia Basket and Jared Harper, who suited up for the Suns, Knicks, and Pelicans from 2019-22, have parted ways, the Spanish club announced in a press release. A former All-NBAGL first-teamer, Harper spent the past two seasons with Valencia but will be a free agent this summer.

And-Ones: 2024 Draft, Flagg, J. Harper, What-Ifs

The projected NBA draft class of 2024 doesn’t have a clear-cut No. 1 prospect like Victor Wembanyama in 2023, but it features a handful of potential high-impact players who could make legitimate cases for that No. 1 spot with strong seasons, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.

For now, O’Connor’s “way-too-early” big board for the 2024 draft is headed by G League point forward Matas Buzelis, followed by his Ignite teammate Ron Holland at No. 2. Baylor freshman Ja’Kobe Walter, UConn freshman Stephon Castle, and another Ignite prospect, power forward Izan Almansa, round out O’Connor’s top five.

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

  • Although he won’t be eligible for the 2024 draft, 16-year-old phenom Cooper Flagg looks like a potential No. 1 overall pick in 2025 or 2026, says Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. Deveney spoke to multiple NBA evaluators to get a sense of what to expect from Flagg. “The kid is going to be a star, as long as he puts in the work,” one GM told Heavy.com. “The book on him is that he has a really good work ethic so you don’t expect that to be a problem, but you can’t tell with guys that young, how they will develop.”
  • Veteran point guard Jared Harper, who has appeared in NBA games for the Suns, Knicks, and Pelicans, has re-signed with Valencia Basket, the Spanish club announced in a press release. Harper first signed with Valencia last September after finishing the 2021/22 season on a two-way deal with New Orleans.
  • In a pair of entertaining articles for ESPN.com, Tim Bontemps takes a look back at the biggest “what-ifs” in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference over the past five years. Lonzo Ball‘s knee injury, Kawhi Leonard‘s free agency departure from Toronto, the Warriors’ decision to draft James Wiseman over LaMelo Ball, and the Rockets’ and Lakers’ trades for Russell Westbrook were among the sliding doors moments explored by Bontemps.

Jared Harper Headed To Spain

Free agent guard Jared Harper has agreed to a contract with Valencia Basket in Spain, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets.

Harper signed a two-way contract with the Pelicans and appeared in five games last season, averaging 7.4 PPG and 2.8 APG in 8.6 MPG. He also averaged 17.5 PPG and 4.3 APG in four games with their Summer League team in July.

He made an All-NBA G League team in each of his last two seasons, averaging 21.2 PPG and 7.2 APG.

Harper, 24, went undrafted out of Auburn, then appeared in three games with Phoenix during the 2019/20 season. He also saw action in eight games with the Knicks during the 2020/21 season. The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, acquired his G League rights from the Birmingham Squadron in late August.

And-Ones: Players With Most To Prove, Trade Market, GL Trades

The Athletic’s staff released an article this week focused of one player with the most to prove for each of the NBA’s 30 teams in 2022/23. Interestingly, several players mentioned are current or former All-Stars, including a trio who missed all of last season: Ben Simmons of the Nets, Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers, and Zion Williamson of the Pelicans.

Simmons’ head coach, Steve Nash, also made the list, as Alex Schiffer wonders whether or not Nash can finally show he’s a solid coach if the roster stays healthy.

In addition to more established veterans, eight former first-round picks who are still on their rookie contracts made the cut, including De’Andre Hunter of the Hawks, Killian Hayes of the Pistons, and James Wiseman of the Warriors, amongst others.

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

  • One league executive of tells Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com that he expects more transactional activity, like the recent Lakers/Jazz trade, to transpire now that the Kevin Durant saga is over — at least for now. “I think we’ll see some things,” the executive said. “I don’t think L.A. thought it had a chance at Durant, but they had to see how that played out. You had to be on the whole ‘Let’s keep hope alive for the possibility of being involved in this,’ thing. Teams have been like, ‘Something may fall to us if a deal for KD gets expanded to include other teams.’ But now I think teams return to sanity and say, ‘OK, what do we need to do?’
  • The Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, recently made a couple of returning player rights trades, the team announced in a press release. The Skyforce acquired the G League rights to Jared Harper from the Birmingham Squad (Pelicans’ affiliate) for Javonte Smart. They also acquired Cheick Diallo from the Motor City Cruise (Pistons’ affiliate) for Micah Potter, with Potter subsequently signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Detroit. Both deals involved G League draft picks swapping hands. All four players have NBA experience, and Harper, Smart and Diallo remain NBA free agents, these moves only impact their G League rights.
  • The Motor City Cruise made a separate trade (Twitter link) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s affiliate. The Cruise sent Cassius Stanley‘s returning player rights to the Vipers in exchange for the Vipers’ 2022 first-round pick. Like previously mentioned with the players above, Stanley remains an NBA free agent.

Summer League Commitments: Sixers, Pelicans, Timberwolves

The Sixers have received a summer league commitment from guard Grant Riller, his agent Scott Nichols of Rize Management told Hoops Rumors. The 25-year-old spent time on a two-way contract with the team this past season.

Riller was waived in December after undergoing shoulder surgery, which came with a four-to-six-month timetable. Riller has fully recovered and worked out for multiple teams before committing to the Sixers, who open summer league play against the Raptors on July 9.

Here are some other commitments for this year’s summer league:

  • Point guard Jared Harper will be playing with the Pelicans, Hoops Rumors has learned. Harper signed a two-way deal in March and will soon become a free agent. He averaged 21.2 points and 7.2 assists in the G League this season, shooting an efficient 50% from the floor.
  • Former Alabama guard John Petty Jr. will also play with the Pelicans during summer league, Hoops Rumors has learned. The 23-year-old signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the franchise last fall.
  • The Timberwolves are adding guard Kahlil Whitney to their summer league roster, a source told Hoops Rumors. The 21-year-old spent time with the Rockets’ G League team this past season.

NBA G League Announces 2021/22 All-NBAGL Teams

Rockets two-way player Trevelin Queen, who was named the NBA G League MVP and the G League Finals MVP this season, has added two more honors to his impressive 2021/22 résumé.

Queen headlined this year’s All-NBA G League First Team and also earned a spot on the NBAGL’s All-Defensive team, as the league announced today in a press release.

The complete list of the 2021/22 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players who finished the season on NBA contracts are noted with an asterisk (*), while those on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).


All-NBAGL First Team

All-NBAGL Second Team

All-NBAGL Third Team


NBAGL All-Rookie Team

  • Charles Bassey (Delaware Blue Coats) *
  • Luka Garza (Motor City Cruise) *
  • Carlik Jones (Texas Legends)
  • Mac McClung (South Bay Lakers) ^
  • Micah Potter (Sioux Falls Skyforce)

NBAGL All-Defensive Team

  • Charles Bassey (Delaware Blue Coats) *
  • Braxton Key (Delaware Blue Coats) ^
  • Tacko Fall (Cleveland Charge)
  • Shaquille Harrison (Delaware Blue Coats)
  • Trevelin Queen (Rio Grande Valley Vipers) ^

All 19 players who earned a spot on one of the G League’s All-NBAGL, All-Rookie, or All-Defensive teams this year were on some form of standard, two-way, or 10-day NBA contract during the 2021/22 season.

Of those 19, Tillman is the only player who has yet to make his NBA debut, as he didn’t appear in any games after signing a 10-day deal with Atlanta in December.

Pelicans Sign Jared Harper To Two-Way Deal

10:12am: The signing is official, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.


9:54am: Free agent point guard Jared Harper will sign a two-way contract with the Pelicans, league sources tell JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old played briefly for New Orleans on a two-way deal earlier this season, getting into two games and logging 10 total minutes before being waived January 9. Since then, he has been with the Pelicans’ G League affiliate in Birmingham, averaging 21.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 20 games.

Undrafted out of Auburn in 2019, Harper signed a two-way contract with the Suns and appeared in three games as a rookie. He also played eight games for the Knicks last season.

New Orleans has a two-way opening after converting Jose Alvarado‘s contract on Monday. Once Harper’s signing becomes official, the Pelicans will have a full roster with both two-way slots filled.

Joe Johnson, Langston Galloway Among Team USA Players For World Cup Qualifiers

USA Basketball has announced its 12-man roster for the next two qualifying games for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team, coached by Jim Boylen, will be made up of G League players and current free agents. Here’s the roster:

With the exception of Ryan, all of the players on Team USA have some NBA experience, though some are certainly more accomplished than others. Johnson has earned seven All-Star berths and has appeared in 1,277 career regular season games. Bell, Black, and Galloway have also each played in more than 160 career regular season contests.

The 2023 World Cup will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia next August and September. Teams play 12 qualifying games before then — those contests take place across six windows, with World Cup hopefuls playing twice during each window.

Team USA went 1-1 in its first two qualifying games in November, defeating Cuba but losing to Mexico. Boylen coached that team and Bowen played for it, but the other 11 roster spots have since been turned over, with Isaiah Thomas among the players who aren’t back this time around. The new-look squad will face Puerto Rico on February 24 and Mexico again on February 27.

After this month’s games, the remaining four qualifying windows are scheduled for June, August, November, and next February. While the next two windows fall outside of the NBA season, the expectation is that USA Basketball will continue using G-Leaguers for the qualifiers before recruiting NBA stars for the event itself next summer.

As our JD Shaw reports (via Twitter), forward DaQuan Jeffries had been expected to be part of Team USA’s roster for this month’s qualifiers, but had to de-commit due to an injury.

Pelicans Sign Gary Clark To Two-Way Deal, Waive Jared Harper

The Pelicans have signed forward Gary Clark to a two-way contract, the team announced in a press release. To create space, the club waived two-way guard Jared Harper.

Clark was previously on a non-guaranteed deal with New Orleans, averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in eight games (11.9 MPG). The team waived him on Friday before his contract became fully guaranteed.

Prior to signing with the Pelicans, Clark was playing for Mexico City Capitanes in the G League. The 27-year-old went undrafted in 2018 and holds experience with Houston, Orlando, Denver and Philadelphia.

Harper, 24, only appeared in two games for the Pelicans this season, averaging 3.5 points in five minutes per contest. He’s also averaging 21.7 points and 5.1 assists per outing in the G League this year.