Patty Mills Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: LaVine, Monk, Booker, Mills, Eubanks, Lue

February 6th, 2025 at 9:18am CST by Dana Gauruder

Zach LaVine expressed excitement about playing in Sacramento after the Bulls dealt him to the Kings, Antonio Ray Harvey of The Associated Press writes. LaVine nearly played in Sacramento earlier in his career — he signed a four-year, $78MM offer sheet with the Kings in 2018, but Chicago matched it.

“I’ve been a fan of (the Kings) for a long time,” LaVine said. “I thought I was going to sign here six years ago. I’ve had a good relationship with a lot of guys who played here and I understand the culture here from me being from the West Coast.”

LaVine was held to 13 points in 31 minutes during a loss to Orlando in his Sacramento debut on Wednesday.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

Former sixth man Malik Monk has moved into the role of starting point guard for the Kings in the aftermath of the De’Aaron Fox trade. Monk has struggled in his first two starts with almost as many turnovers (seven) as assists (eight). “Oh, yeah, it’s definitely a new opportunity and stage,” Monk told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “Starting at point guard is a big opportunity, and it’s a big thing to feel in this league for sure, especially what Fox did for the organization, for the city of Sac, so I’m just trying to pick up where he left off.”
Devin Booker was humbled when he became the Suns’ all-time leading scorer. He surpassed Walter Davis on Monday. “It means everything,” Booker told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “Just being drafted to a franchise that believed in me, taking a chance on me as an 18-year-old kid and going through a rebuild phase and just sticking with it. Keeping my head down. The love and support has always been there. I don’t take it from granted. I take it seriously putting Phoenix across my chest.”
New Clippers Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks, acquired in a weekend trade with Utah, are looking forward to contributing to their playoff push, Janis Carr of the Orange County Register writes. Eubanks, in particular, could play a key role as the backup center. “There’s a lot of familiar faces around this team and locker room and staff that I think will give me the confidence to be the veteran leader that I am and be vocal in that standpoint as well,” Mills said. “But as I said, once I get a feel for how things work and how I can make an impact, that will be it.”
The Lakers blew out the Clippers by 25 points on Tuesday, infuriating head coach Tyronn Lue, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Clippers lost to Toronto and narrowly earned a win against the woeful Hornets in their previous two contests. “We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and think about do we want to win or not,” Lue said. “That’s got to be our mentality. And so three games in a row we come out with not a great defensive performance and it’s just not putting enough into the game. Even on the offensive end, not putting a lot into the game. And so when that happens you get blown out like we did.”

Clippers Trade Tucker, Bamba To Jazz For Eubanks, Mills

February 1st, 2025 at 2:18pm CST by Tristan Tucker

2:18 pm: The trade is official, according to press releases from both teams.

11:39 am: The Clippers are trading forward P.J. Tucker, center Mohamed Bamba, a future second-round pick and cash to the Jazz for big man Drew Eubanks and guard Patty Mills, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The second-rounder is the Clippers’ 2030 pick, per Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).

It’s a cost-cutting move for the Clippers, who will dip below the luxury tax line by swapping Tucker ($11.54MM) out for Eubanks ($5MM). Both Bamba ($2.1MM) and Mills ($2.1MM) are on expiring minimum-salary contracts.

Los Angeles had been operating about $2.47MM above the tax line, but will move below it by approximately $4.07MM as a result of this deal.

Besides generating significant savings this season, the move could financially benefit the team in the long run, since it’s a first step toward resetting the repeater taxpayer clock after spending the previous four years in tax territory.

The Clippers will also create trade exceptions worth $6.54MM and $2.1MM as a result of the deal, as cap experts Yossi Gozlan and Marks note (Twitter links).

Tucker was originally acquired in the trade that brought James Harden to Los Angeles. He only appeared in 28 regular season games (along with two playoff outings) with the franchise in 2023/24.

In February 2024, Tucker spent time away from the team just before the All-Star break. The forward was unhappy with his playing time, but was not traded before last year’s deadline and had a player option worth $11.54MM that made him an unrealistic buyout candidate.

Tucker picked up that option during the 2024 offseason, since he would have had no chance to earn that sort of guaranteed money on the free agent market. Los Angeles was expected to part ways with Tucker over the summer, but a trade or waiver didn’t come to fruition at that time. In October 2024, he and the Clippers mutually agreed that he would remain away from the team while the sides worked toward finding him a new home.

Approximately 15 months after he first arrived in Los Angeles, Tucker has finally been traded and now looks like a prime buyout candidate. The 39-year-old didn’t suit up at all this year for the Clippers and seems unlikely to play for the Jazz either. It’s reasonable to assume that Tucker would prefer to play for a contender with an opportunity to contribute, unless both he and Utah are happy with keeping him in a mentorship role.

Tucker started 75 games for the 54-win Sixers in 2022/23 and 70 games for the 53-win Heat in ’21/22. Any team would be eligible to sign him if he’s bought out since his pre-waiver salary of $11.54MM is lower than the $12.8MM mid-level exception.

Eubanks, who turns 28 today, has seen the most action this season of any the four players involved in the deal. He’ll give the Clippers a new look in the frontcourt. In 37 games (four starts) this season, he has averaged 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per night.

Eubanks signed with the Jazz this past summer on a two-year deal worth $9.75MM. However, the $4.75MM he’s due next year is fully non-guaranteed, giving Los Angeles some extra flexibility.

Mills was holding the Jazz veteran slot that Tucker could potentially take over. The 36-year-old split last season between Atlanta and Miami before signing in Utah. He has appeared in 17 games in 2024/25, averaging 4.4 points per contest. According to Murray (Twitter link), the Clippers plan to keep Mills on the roster for now. It’s possible that changes, however, depending on what additional moves the team might make at the trade deadline or on the buyout market.

Bamba signed with the Clippers during the summer of 2024. He appeared in 28 games with Los Angeles, making two starts and recording averages of 4.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.0 BPG. The former lottery pick is still just 26 years old and could get a look down the stretch from the Jazz, perhaps claiming Eubanks’ spot on the depth chart.

Jazz Notes: Tanking, Markkanen, Mills, Williams, Collins

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:26am CST by Luke Adams

Several Jazz players who have sat out recent games likely would’ve been playing more if the team were contending for a playoff spot, writes Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.

That group includes Lauri Markkanen, who missed four consecutive games due to back spasms, and John Collins, who was out for eight straight due to left hip injury management. Third-year center Walker Kessler sat out a game last week in a non-back-to-back situation due to “rest.”

As Larsen writes, the Jazz are in full-on tank mode, which is probably the right long-term move for the franchise, given the challenges of attracting free agents to Utah and the need to build through the draft. Still, Larsen isn’t in favor of the NBA system that incentivizes losing and sought out a pair of Jazz veterans to get their thoughts on tanking.

“I don’t think losing, or purposefully losing, should be part of professional sports,” said Markkanen, who signed a long-term extension with Utah in August. “I feel like athletes always want to compete. I understand why some organizations around the NBA are doing it, but I feel like it sucks, in my opinion. There should be a better way to build rosters. That’s the way it’s been, so I understand it, but that’s my opinion.”

Veteran guard Patty Mills conveyed a similar sentiment.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve always played for purpose. I play for purpose, that’s for sure. So when purpose isn’t there, it’s definitely hard,” Mills said. “It’s obviously a business, and everyone realizes when you get to this stage. There are situations that will happen that will remind you of that. At the end of the day — it’s a business call for sure — our job is to go out there and help develop, help teach, especially these young guys, how to be professionals.”

Here’s more on the Jazz, who fell to 10-32 with a loss in Oklahoma City on Wednesday:

Jazz rookie Cody Williams, who left Monday’s game vs. New Orleans due to what the team referred to as a left ankle sprain, was wearing a boot and was on crutches in the locker room after the game, according to Larsen, who suggests (via Twitter) the No. 10 overall pick may be facing a “decently long” absence. Williams wasn’t available for Wednesday’s game in OKC.
In a separate Salt Lake Tribune story, Larsen highlights Collins’ return from his eight-game injury absence, noting that the big man’s performance on Wednesday certainly didn’t hurt his trade value — Collins had 22 points and 12 rebounds vs. the Thunder and was a plus-12 in 26 minutes in a game Utah lost by nine points. Larsen also explores whether rumors linking Collins to the Kings make sense.
Appearing on the Jazz’s game broadcast on Wednesday, general manager Justin Zanik explained the thinking behind the team’s decision to trade three “least favorable” first-round picks in 2025 and 2027 and 2029 to the Suns in exchange for Phoenix’s unprotected 2031 first-rounder, as Larsen relays. “The way it makes sense for us is that we now have another shot at a pick that has a lot of variability. The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does,” Zanik said. “It balances out what we want, but we’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it also is about the quality of the swings, and this is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”

Jazz Sign Patty Mills To One-Year Contract

September 5th, 2024 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

September 5: Mills’ contract with the Jazz is now official, the team announced in a press release.

August 14: The Jazz have agreed to sign veteran point guard Patty Mills to a one-year contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Wojnarowski says it’s a $3.3MM deal, which is equivalent to Mills’ minimum salary for 2024/25 ($3,303,771). It will be fully guaranteed, Woj adds.

Mills, who turned 36 on Sunday, will be entering his 16th NBA season this fall. The 2009 second-round pick has appeared in 892 total regular season games for five teams and spent most of his prime years in San Antonio, where he won a title in 2014 and overlapped with current Jazz head coach Will Hardy from 2015-21, when Hardy was an assistant on Gregg Popovich‘s staff.

Mills has seen his playing time and production fall off in recent years. In 2023/24, he appeared in 32 games for the Hawks and Heat and averaged just 4.0 points, 1.1 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game while shooting 35.1% from the field and 27.6% from the beyond the arc, far below his career averages of 42.4% and 38.6%, respectively.

However, the Australian showed during this year’s Paris Olympics that he still has something left in the tank. He averaged 16.5 PPG with a .409 3PT% over the course of the Boomers’ four games.

Mills figures to serve as a locker room leader and a mentor for the Jazz’s young players, including second-year guard Keyonte George. He projects to fill the 15th and final spot on Utah’s regular season roster, providing depth at point guard.

The club is carrying 14 other players on standard guaranteed contracts, as well as three players on two-way deals. While it’s possible the front office will continue to wheel and deal during the rest of the offseason and preseason, the Jazz’s roster will essentially be regular-season-ready once Mills is officially signed.

Western Notes: Mills, Booker, Mavericks

August 17th, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Tristan Tucker

New Jazz guard Patty Mills is a respected veteran who has been a key part of several contenders and championship winners across the span of his 15-year career. That’s what made him an appealing target for Utah, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes.

As Jones observes, Mills and Jazz coach Will Hardy crossed over in San Antonio and Hardy observed as Mills worked hard to become the player who helped the Spurs win a ring in 2014. Mills isn’t the player he was a decade ago, but his hard work and veteran guidance could help aid Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George and others in their professional development.

Jones notes that the Jazz have been interested in Mills for a while now and almost acquired him at the February trade deadline. The guard was eventually bought out from Atlanta and finished the 2023/24 season with Miami. While the Jazz won’t officially announce the signing quite yet as they continue exploring taking in salaries from trades, it says a lot about Mills that he was able to land a guaranteed deal with the team.

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Stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant rightfully dominated Olympic headlines as the U.S. brought home the gold, but there were impressive showings up and down the roster. One such “unsung” player is Devin Booker, Doug Haller of The Athletic writes. Haller ponders whether Booker will gain more respect as he enters his 10th NBA season, arguing that he isn’t as “strongly appreciated” as he should be outside of Arizona.
Bucks guard Damian Lillard praised Booker for his role on the Olympic team, saying he was able to put his head down and fill various team needs, Dana Scott of Arizona Republic writes. “Watching the games, I thought it was extremely obvious that he went into it with that mentality,” Lillard said of Booker. “Like, ‘I’m gonna pick guys up, I’m gonna get into the ball, make open shots, I’m gonna compete for the team.’ I think it takes a special type of person to take that role when there’s so many outside voices and people talking about every little thing, and he definitely did that.” Lillard sees the Suns superstar as holding a critical role on the 2028 iteration of Team USA.
The Mavericks are holding their training camp in Las Vegas this year, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. They’ll train on UNLV’s campus from Oct. 1-4 before returning to Dallas, where they play Memphis in their preseason opener on Oct. 7.

Olympic Notes: Durant, Embiid, Australia, Ingles, Mills, Canada

August 6th, 2024 at 7:58pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Kevin Durant became the highest scorer in USA Basketball history during Team USA’s 122-87 quarterfinal win over Brazil on Tuesday, surpassing Lisa Leslie‘s 488 career points, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon observes. Durant finished with 11 points against Brazil and is trying to become the first men’s player ever to win four gold medals.

“I mean, that’s Captain America status,” teammate Devin Booker said of Durant (Twitter link via NJ.com’s Adam Zagoria). “I feel like he has every record, every Olympic record, now we have to get him his fourth gold.”

We have more from the Olympics:

Joel Embiid had his best game of the Olympics against Brazil, scoring 14 points and seven rebounds. In the same Athletic article, Vardon notes that Embiid rolled his ankle and was held out of the second half. Given that the U.S. was already up big, Embiid being held out seems mostly precautionary. Bam Adebayo started the second half in his place.
Australia’s 2024 Olympics ended on a turnover and now the Boomers are entering a new era filled with unknowns and looming decisions, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc writes. The team will likely continue to pass the torch to its younger players, including Dyson Daniels and Jack McVeigh, who emerged this summer as key pieces, while it seems likely that Joe Ingles and Patty Mills have played in their last Olympics. We wrote more earlier on Tuesday about what could have been Mills’ final game this summer. “It was up to us to get him that ultimate goal of a gold medal,” teammate Josh Giddey said of Mills, per The Athletic’s David Aldridge. “Whether it’s his last or not, he’s poured so much into this program. His legacy will never, ever be forgotten within this country and this tournament. You talk about FIBA Patty — one of the greatest to ever do it in these types of tournaments. We’re very, very lucky to play with him. I am, as well.“
Other issues Australia needs to address in the coming years include mending relationships with players and determining the next coach, Uluc writes. Uluc points to Matisse Thybulle, who was cut from the Olympic team but could help down the line. Other players the team should be welcoming with open arms include youngsters Johnny Furphy, Rocco Zikarsky, Alex Toohey and Tyrese Proctor, Uluc writes. With Brian Goorjian out as head coach, Australia may turn to assistant Matt Nielsen.
Canada national team and Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez took the blame for his country’s loss in the quarterfinals loss to France, per Eurohoops.net. “I will always support my players. Personally, I put this one on me because I should have helped them better,” Fernandez said. “Better with two ball handlers. Better with getting better shots. Better with playing with better pace. And I couldn’t find a way. It starts with me, then we’ll come back strong.” It’s a disappointing loss for a Canadian team that brought back the majority of the same squad who won bronze in the World Cup a year ago but also added Jamal Murray and Andrew Nembhard, among others. Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes that the team’s inexperience on the international stage was on full display in its loss to France.

Heat Notes: Mills, Jovic, Adebayo, Swider, Williams

August 6th, 2024 at 5:26pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Unrestricted free agent and Australian national team guard Patty Mills, who finished last season with the Heat, turned back the clock in an Olympic quarterfinal game against Serbia on Tuesday. He made 11 of his 21 shots to finish with 26 points in a 95-90 overtime loss to Serbia.

“I mean, he deserved better,” Australian teammate Josh Giddey said, per The Athletic’s David Aldridge.

Mills scored 12 of his points in the first quarter and knocked down a shot over Nikola Jokic that forced overtime.

“I thought we threw everything at them in the first half,” Mills said. “You’re playing against world-class individuals, world-class teams, world-class coaches. And this is why you play international basketball. It’s a different sport than any other league around the world. It brings the best out of everyone. I think for us, we just threw everything we could at them, and maybe nothing left in the tank at the end of the day. Full credit to what Serbia was able to do — get us out of our comfort zone. And in international basketball, once you lose that momentum, it’s hard to get it back.”

The 35-year-old guard signed with the Heat toward the end of the 2023/24 regular season after being waived by the Hawks and immediately stepped into a sizable role. He started in five of his 13 appearances with the team and appeared in three playoff games.

However, barring a trade, Mills is unlikely to be back with Miami, at least for the first part of the season. Due to their positioning against the second apron, the Heat don’t appear willing to add a 15th player to their roster to begin the year.

We have more on the Heat:

Heat forward Nikola Jovic missed Serbia’s win over Australia due to an illness, Ira Winderman of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel reports. Jovic’s offseason has been marred with an ankle sprain that threatened his Olympic availability and now an illness.
If Jovic is healthy, he and Heat teammate Bam Adebayo will face off for the third time this summer in the Olympic semifinal round, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald observes. Team USA defeated Brazil on Tuesday, with Adebayo finishing with nine points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Adebayo is averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in the Olympics while Jovic has averaged 7.0 points for Serbia. The two previously matched up in an exhibition on July 17 and the group stage opener on July 28. The U.S. won each game by more than 20 points.
Due to the fact that the Heat don’t seem to be bringing in a 15th player on a standard contract to begin the season, it was always unlikely they’d be able to funnel all the talented pieces who brought home a summer league championship to their G League affiliate. That rang true when Cole Swider signed with the Pacers after averaging 13.5 points on 49.1% shooting from deep in eight summer league games. In a recent mailbag, Winderman explores Swider’s departure, ultimately concluding that the Heat rarely play pure shooters and that Duncan Robinson‘s minutes only came around when he developed other areas of his game. While the exact details of Swider’s deal with Indy are unknown, it’s possible he competes for a standard roster spot if not a two-way pact, giving him a higher likelihood of ending up with the NBA team than if he came back to Miami.
Unrestricted free agent Alondes Williams, who – alongside Swider – finished last season on a two-way deal with the Heat, finds himself in a similar position. Williams had an impressive summer league, averaging 11.5 points and 4.4 assists in eight games but remains unsigned. The Heat currently have Keshad Johnson, Josh Christopher and Dru Smith on two-way deals. However, Isaiah Stevens also positioned himself well to compete for and potentially replace one of the Heat’s two-way players, giving Williams an outside shot to earn back his spot on the roster. If he doesn’t end up signing a standard contract elsewhere, Winderman is optimistic Williams would get the chance to compete for a two-way deal in training camp.

Stein’s Latest: LaVine, Vucevic, Nembhard, Morris, C. Jones, More

July 26th, 2024 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

While Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic remain trade candidates, it appears increasingly likely that both players will open the 2024/25 season as Bulls, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.

League sources tell Stein that the Bulls are “resigned” to the fact that they’re unlikely to find a deal they like for LaVine before opening night and may have to try to help him rebuild some trade value early in the season.

As for Vucevic, his contract (two years for about $41MM) should be easier to move than LaVine’s, but the expectation is that it will be easier for Chicago to find a deal sometime after the season begins than before that, Stein explains.

Here are a few more items from within Stein’s latest look around the NBA:

According to Stein’s sources, Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard was only willing to accept a three-year extension from Indiana rather than a four-year deal. The contract will put Nembhard in position to sign his next contract in 2028 when he’s 28 and presumably right in his prime.
The Mavericks remain committed to re-signing forward Markieff Morris, even after filling their 15-man roster by adding Spencer Dinwiddie, Stein reports. As Stein observes, A.J. Lawson is the most vulnerable of the 15 players on standard contracts, since his 2024/25 salary is non-guaranteed.
Former NBA guard Carlik Jones, a key member of the South Sudan Olympic team, is committed to playing for KK Partizan next season after not exercising his NBA out by the July 25 deadline, according to Stein, who notes that Donta Hall‘s new two-year contract with Baskonia has an NBA out after the 2024/25 season.
Evan Fournier and Patty Mills, who finished last season on NBA rosters but don’t have contracts for 2024/25, are among the notable free agents to watch at the Olympics, according to Stein. Stein is also curious about whether a strong showing from Nets guard Dennis Schröder in Paris could help boost his trade value as the German enters a contract year.

International Notes: Olympic Qualifiers, Robinson, Australia, Canada, Hayes-Davis

July 4th, 2024 at 9:28pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of NBA superstars will match up this weekend in Greece as they look to keep their home countries’ Olympic hopes alive. The Greek national team, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, will take on Luka Doncic and the Slovenians in the semifinals of one of four ongoing Olympic qualifying tournaments (link via ESPN). The winner of Greece vs. Slovenia will go on to face the winner of Croatia vs. Dominican Republic for a spot in the men’s basketball Olympic tournament in Paris.

In total, four Olympic berths still remain up for grabs. The other semifinal matchups in Olympic qualifying tournaments around the globe are as follows:

Riga, Latvia:
- Latvia vs. Cameroon
- Brazil vs. Philippines
Valencia, Spain:
- Spain vs. Finland
- Bahamas vs. Lebanon
San Juan, Puerto Rico:
- Puerto Rico vs. Mexico
- Lithuania vs. Italy

While none of the other teams fighting for a spot in the Olympics has a perennial MVP candidate like Antetokounmpo or Doncic on its roster, there are many NBA players competing in the qualifying tournaments, including All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis for Lithuania and Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield, and Eric Gordon representing the Bahamas.

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

Former NBA lottery pick Jerome Robinson has signed with Saint-Quentin in France, the team officially announced (via Twitter). Robinson, who was drafted 13th overall in 2018, has appeared in a total of 135 NBA regular season games, including 22 with Golden State last season while on a two-way contract with the Warriors.
The Australian national team has set its 12-man roster for the Olympics, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN, who notes that eight active NBA players – Josh Giddey, Josh Green, Dante Exum, Jock Landale, Duop Reath, Dyson Daniels, Patty Mills, and Joe Ingles – made the cut, along with former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova. Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle is the most surprising omission, Uluc adds.
Team Canada hasn’t set its Olympic roster yet, but pared it down a little on Wednesday, with Oshae Brissett among the cuts. According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links), Brissett – who is coming off a championship season as a Celtics reserve – asked to withdraw to focus on his NBA free agency. It looks like there are 10 NBA players who are safe bets to be on the Canadian squad, with two roster spots still up for grabs, as Lewenberg outlines in another tweet.
Nigel Hayes-Davis, the former NBA forward who is part of the U.S. Select Team and was rumored this spring to be drawing NBA interest, has re-upped with Fenerbahce, signing a three-year contract with the Turkish team, according to a press release.

Southeast Notes: Mills, Spoelstra, Gueye, Bufkin, Windler, Wagners

June 18th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Patty Mills only appeared in 32 games with the Hawks and Heat this season but the 35-year-old guard isn’t ready to retire. Mills will head into free agency looking for a new deal, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

“I take really good care of myself and my body and the plan is to continue to play until the wheels fall off is how I see it,” he said. Mills, who added he’d prefer to stay with the Heat, will play for Australia in the Paris Olympics.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

The Heat‘s early postseason exit has allowed coach Erik Spoelstra to spend more time evaluating draft prospects, though he’s offering opinions rather than getting too involved in the process. “I figured I had three days to get up to speed on the draft last year,” he told Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “The eight weeks leading up to [this year’s draft], I think I’ll just be probably overconfused by overanalysis. I’ll stay out of the way. Now that I have more time, I’m probably dangerous. I’ll stay out of the way of our scouting department. They do an exceptional job — Adam Simon and his staff — preparing for that draft.”
Mouhamed Gueye, Kobe Bufkin and Dylan Windler are expected to play on the Hawks’ Summer League squad next month, Brad Rowland of the LockedOnHawks podcast tweets. General manager Landry Fields made that revelation during his press conference on Monday. Gueye and Bufkin were on Atlanta’s 15-man roster to finish the season, while Windler was a two-way player.
Germany won the FIBA World Cup last summer, defeating Team USA along the way. The Magic‘s Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner will now try to lead their home country to a gold medal at the Olympics. “It’s a dream come true for me as a player,” Franz told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel. The Magic hold an $8MM option on Moritz’s contract for next season, so he could wind up as a free agent next month.