Raul Neto Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: 2025, Balance, Expansion, Neto, MVP

January 2nd, 2025 at 7:13pm CST by Rory Maher

In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Tim Bontemps lists seven storylines people around the NBA will be monitoring in 2025. Due to their combination of young players, draft assets and a coach (Ime Udoka) that players want to play for, the Rockets are widely viewed as the team to watch the next time a star becomes available on the trade market.

“The whole landscape of the league,” an Eastern Conference scout said, “could change based off what they do.”

Although no one actually expects anything to change, since it would require certain teams to vote against their best interests, league sources tell Bontemps that the imbalance of power between the two conferences may see more calls for playoff seedings to be ranked 1-to-16 instead of the traditional format of 1-to-8 in each conference.

League insiders are also keeping a close eye on the Celtics‘ impending sale — specifically how much the team sells for — as a potential bellwether for expansion, according to Bontemps. The cities of Seattle and Las Vegas continue to be mentioned in league circles as possible expansion spots.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

ESPN insiders Ohm Youngmisuk, Jamal Collier, Chris Herring, Dave McMenamin and Tim MacMahon answer some key questions related to the remainder of the 2024/25 season. Youngmisuk and MacMahon picked Victor Wembanyama to be the breakout player of 2025, with Paolo Banchero, Donte DiVincenzo and Trae Young also receiving votes.
Former NBA guard Raul Neto and Spanish EuroLeague club Barcelona have parted ways, according to a team press release. Barcelona described the move as mutual. The Brazilian point guard has had terrible injury luck over the past two seasons. After missing the entire 2023/24 campaign due to a knee injury, he was limited to just two appearances with Barcelona, getting injured on each occasion. In his debut in late November, he sustained an injury that sidelined him for four weeks. In his return on Dec. 27, he suffered a left thigh injury that will sideline him for 12 weeks. An eight-year veteran, Neto’s last NBA action came for Cleveland during the ’22/23 season.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports ranks his current top-five choices for the 2025 MVP award, though he only views three players as “serious contenders” for first place: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic.

And-Ones: Harrell, Covington, Neto, Awards, More

November 25th, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA big man Montrezl Harrell, who won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2020, is currently playing in Australia’s National Basketball League as a member of the Adelaide 36ers. The 30-year-old received a three-game suspension on Monday for his part in on- and off-court incidents during a Nov. 17 game vs. Melbourne United.

As Olgun Uluc of ESPN details, United big man Rob Loe drew a charge on Harrell early in the fourth quarter of the contest, and while both players were on the ground, Harrell shoved Loe. That led to a “melee involving most players” for both teams. Harrell appeared to throw a punch at one opponent and “multiple open-handed strikes” at other United players, per Uluc.

Directly after the on-court scuffle, 36ers staffers and players — including Harrell and teammate Kendric Davis — were involved another altercation, this time with spectators behind the team’s bench. Davis received a two-game suspension for initiating contact in that incident, which saw four spectators ejected. Davis claimed a fan directed racist language at him; the United put out a statement saying they were unable to corroborate that allegation.

The 36ers have 24 hours to appeal the suspensions, according to Uluc, who says Harrell has suggested multiple times on social media he may not return to Australia, pending the outcome of his punishment; he’s currently back home in the United States with the NBL season on pause due to the FIBA window (qualifiers for international tournaments).

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

In an interview with Sam Yip of HoopsHype, free agent forward Robert Covington says he’s confident he can still contribute to NBA teams. “Ain’t nothing changed,” Covington said. “Someone that can give energy on the other side, the defensive side, can come in space the floor, move the ball, do the little things that won’t show up on the stat sheet, what made me very effective.” The 33-year-old, who holds 11 seasons of NBA experience, dealt with a knee injury for most of last season, last suiting up on December 30, 2023, but he says he’s fully healthy now. Covington is currently playing for Team USA in a qualifying round for the AmeriCup. One recent report said he might be open to playing in the G League as he attempts to make it back to the NBA.
Former NBA guard Raul Neto has signed a rest-of-season contract with Spanish club Barcelona, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Neto, who played eight seasons in the NBA from 2015-23, missed all of last season with a knee injury, but he’s “fully recovered” now. Barcelona was looking for backcourt help after losing Nicolas Laprovittola to a season-ending ACL and meniscus injury, Askounis notes.
Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports lists his award winners for the first month of the 2024/25 season. As of now, O’Connor has Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the frontrunner to win his fourth MVP in five years, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama leading the race for Defensive Player of the Year, and Sixers guard Jared McCain as the league’s top rookie.
On a somewhat related note, with the first month of the season finished, several writers for The Athletic to compiled a list of each team’s biggest concern, with one exception — the 17-1 Cavaliers don’t have a have a real weakness right now, says Joe Vardon.
Magic guard Anthony Black and Rockets guard/forward Amen Thompson are two of the six young players John Hollinger of The Athletic highlights as showing marked improvement in their season seasons.

And-Ones: Neto, Rookie Scale Extensions, 15th Men, More

October 16th, 2024 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran point guard Raul Neto has signed with Pinheiros Basquete in his home country of Brazil, the team announced in a press release.

Neto, the 47th overall pick in the 2013 draft, made his NBA debut in 2015 and spent eight seasons in the league, appearing in 435 regular season games with four teams. He signed with the Turkish club Fenerbahce during the 2023 offseason, then ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee while representing Brazil during last year’s World Cup and missed the entire 2023/24 season.

Neto said in a statement that he’s in the “final stages” of his recovery from that knee injury.

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

The contracts signed within the past year by Immanuel Quickley (five years, $162.5MM) and Jaden McDaniels (five years, $131MM) are the ones coming up most often in rookie scale extension negotiations this fall, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). “Those are two contracts that are being referred to a lot and are looked at as sort of the break-even line for some of these agents,” Windhorst said. “Like, ‘I can’t have my guy get less than Quickly got’ or ‘I can’t have my guy get less than, you know, Devin Vassell,” (who) got a similar contract (five years, $135MM) to McDaniels as well. Those seem to be the ranges that we’re talking about.”
Keith Smith of Spotrac takes an interesting, in-depth look at the trend of teams becoming less inclined to fill their 15th roster spot – especially early in the season – and considers the factors that have pushed clubs in that direction.
The NBA is expected to update its policy on cell phone and social media use by players and coaches between the start and end of games, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), who explains what the revised rules will look like and why they’re a priority for the league.
Fred Katz of The Athletic runs through some notable preseason developments from around the NBA that have caught his eye, including Isaiah Stewart‘s usage at center for the Pistons, the Timberwolves deploying Donte DiVincenzo as a ball-handler, and Julian Strawther‘s strong preseason for the Nuggets.
Diamond Sports Group is asking a judge to approve an agreement that will allow FanDuel to become the new naming sponsor of the Bally Sports networks for the 2024/25 season, reports Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter links). The deal, which could become a longer-term arrangement if Diamond Sports exits bankruptcy, would give FanDuel a 5% stake in the company, Vorkunnov adds.

And-Ones: Nunn, Hield, Harris, Westbrook, Wagner, Brazil Roster

May 19th, 2024 at 8:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA guard Kendrick Nunn signed a two-year contract extension with Panathinaikos in Greece earlier this month, but he’s not ruling out an NBA return, he told Vangelis Papadimitriou of Eurohoops.net. The contract includes NBA out clauses, under specific conditions.

“I’ll be honored to go back. You never know,” he said.

In the meantime, he hopes to bring multiple EuroLeague titles to his current team. Nunn was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team in his first season with the club.

“To play here with one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Playing at a high level. With great guys in the locker room that I enjoy playing with and bonding. It wasn’t hard. I love Panathinaikos and Greece,” he said.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Which impending free agents hurt their stock during the postseason? HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina identifies four players — Buddy Hield, Tobias Harris, Russell Westbrook and Moritz Wagner — who fall in that category. Westbrook has the ability to exercise a player option for next season, while Wagner’s deal includes a team option.
Brazil has announced a roster of 17 players for its Olympic qualifier tournament in Riga, Latvia. The roster will eventually be pared to 12 players. Gui Santos, who played 23 games with the Warriors as a rookie this season, made the list. Raul Neto, Cristiano Felicio, Didi Louzada and Bruno Caboclo are among former NBA players who are also on the preliminary roster, Sportando relays.
In case you missed it, Taylor Jenkins, Willie Green and Chauncey Billups top the list of coaches on the hot seat next season.

Olympic Notes: France, Australia, Germany, Brazil

May 17th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the host nation has announced its preliminary 19-man roster (Twitter link). As Eurohoops relays, the headliners on France’s squad are big men Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, the top two finishers in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year vote.

However, there are several more notable NBA names on the list, including Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Bilal Coulibaly, and Ousmane Dieng. Other recent NBAers who didn’t finish the 2023/24 season on a roster include Killian Hayes, Frank Ntilikina, and Theo Maledon.

One player not on France’s roster is veteran guard Mike James. The 2023/24 EuroLeague MVP is an American, but according to a report from L’Equipe (hat tip to BasketNews.com), the French Basketball Federation explored the possibility of getting a French passport for James, who has played for AS Monaco in France’s LNB Pro A since 2021. That effort didn’t make any real headway, however.

“We do not have the culture of other nations which use naturalized players in a systematic way,” an unnamed executive told L’Equipe. “But we have a duty to explore all possibilities. In this case, we were asked, we looked at it and quickly established that it was not a question.”

The French national team will have to make seven cuts and set a 12-man roster for this July’s event.

Here are a few more updates related to the 2024 Olympics:

The Australian national team has trimmed its preliminary Olympic roster from 22 players to 17, the Boomers announced in a press release. None of the NBA players on the roster – including Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Matisse Thybulle, and Dyson Daniels, among others – were among the cuts, but potential 2024 first-round pick Johnny Furphy was. The plan is for those 17 Australian players to attend training camp this summer before setting the final 12-man roster.
The German national team announced this week that head coach Gordon Herbert won’t continue on in that role after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics (hat tip to Sportando). The two sides are going their separate ways after a fruitful partnership that included a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Brazilian national team has announced its preliminary roster for this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament in Latvia. The notable names include veteran point guard Raul Neto, former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo, Warriors rookie Gui Santos, and former NBA guard Didi Louzada. The Brazilians will need to win the six-team qualifier to earn a spot in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament.

Davis Bertans On Thunder Expectations, World Cup, More

August 26th, 2023 at 2:56pm CST by Rory Maher

Forward Davis Bertans is coming off a disappointing NBA season, averaging a career-low 10.9 minutes per game in 45 contests (also a career low) with Dallas in 2022/23.

He was traded to the Thunder last month, with the Mavs motivated to dump his salary. Oklahoma City is facing a roster crunch, so Bertans isn’t a lock to be on the team’s roster entering ’23/24, despite carrying a $17MM cap hit for the upcoming season and a $5MM partial guarantee for ’24/25.

The 30-year-old sharpshooter is currently competing for his native Latvia at the 2023 World Cup. The Latvians got off to a strong start on Friday, easily defeating Lebanon by a score of 109-70.

Bertans spoke to Antonis Stroggylakis of Eurohoops.net ahead of Latvia’s Sunday clash with France, touching on a number of topics.

On Bertans’ expectations with the Thunder:

“My role has always changed for reasons that have to do with what every team expects from me and wants from me. I always try to adapt. Whatever the coach is going to ask from me, that’s what I’m going to do. Everyone knows that when I step on the court I go 100 percent regardless of what I have to do on the court. Whatever the role is, I’ll try to be the best player I can be on that role.”

On hearing about Brazilian guard Raul Neto‘s major knee injury (they were teammates with the Wizards from 2020-22):

“Great guy, great teammate when I was in D.C. Knowing him, he’s a tough guy and he’ll bounce back and hopefully sooner than later he’ll be back on the court.”

On Latvia’s matchup with Olympic silver medalist France, which was dominated by Canada in its opener:

“Even if they won the game, it would be the same France coming at us. Of course, they are facing relegation, in a way of speaking. Honestly, I think they would’ve probably played the same way regardless of the outcome against Canada. That’s because they know that we can be a dangerous team. It’s going to be more about us and the way we command the game. The first minutes are going to be important. You got to be ready for physicality anyway. On offense try to get to our shots, use our advantages and be extremely physical on the defensive end with their big guys.”

World Cup Notes: Neto, Jones, Doncic, Bogdanovic

August 26th, 2023 at 12:03pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Brazilian guard Raul Neto ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee during Brazil’s 2023 FIBA World Cup opener against Iran, Eurohoops.net reports. Neto will miss the rest of the World Cup.

It’s a brutal blow for Neto, who recently signed overseas with Turkish club Fenerbahce. In a recent interview with Eurohoops, the veteran spoke about his excitement for joining one of the top overseas clubs. Neto, who played in the NBA from 2015-23, didn’t rule out a return stateside, but said he was a bit disappointed not to receive a contract offer.

Neto averaged 8.7 points per game with the Wizards in 2020/21. After leaving Washington in 2022, he signed with the Cavaliers, where he spent all of last year, but he didn’t play much.

“I just think that the NBA season… it’s very hard if you aren’t a role player,” Neto said. “It’s hard on you. You don’t play much.”

Neto, 31, was hoping that his time with Fenerbahce would allow him to see the floor more and show that he’s still got his guard skills, according to his interview with Eurohoops. However, this recent injury puts his time with Fenerbahce in doubt. Patellar tendon ruptures typically take six-to-12 months to recover from, so it’s safe to say that Neto’s ’23/24 season is in jeopardy.

The Brazilian guard was poised to be a significant part of not only Brazil’s national team, but also Fenerbahce, as he was essentially signed to replace Nick Calathes.

We have more World Cup notes:

Bulls guard Carlik Jones, playing with South Sudan in the World Cup, put up a record-breaking performance in the team’s opening loss to Puerto Rico. Jones recorded 38 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and four steals in the defeat, hitting four of his nine attempts from downtown. According to HoopsHype, that is the best scoring mark for any African national team at the World Cup. He also recorded the first 30-point, 10-assist game in tournament history. This was South Sudan’s World Cup debut. Jones is signed to a non-guaranteed deal for the Bulls — it becomes partially guaranteed for $250K if he makes the opening-night roster.
Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic made a statement in Slovenia’s opening game of the World Cup, putting up 37 points in their matchup with Venezuela. Doncic’s 37 points were a tournament high briefly before Jones had his record-setting performance. Former NBA center Mike Tobey had a terrific game for Slovenia, putting up 21 points on 9 of 9 shooting.
Serbia’s World Cup experience has been a roller coaster so far. While the team blew out China 105-63, it also lost center Filip Petrusev due to injury. Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is one of the leaders on Serbia’s team and spoke about its World Cup experience thus far in a recent interview with Eurohoops. “We expect the next two games to be much harder than the first against China. They’re both experienced teams, with a lot of good players,” he said of the schedule. Serbia takes on South Sudan and Puerto Rico next. In the interview, Bogdanovic talked about his main goal for the World Cup, which is to qualify for the Olympics and medal in the event.
In case you missed it, we had more World Cup notes on Friday.

World Cup Notes: Green, Brazil, Naturalized Players, U.S. Coaches

August 22nd, 2023 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks guard Josh Green, who sat out Australia’s final World Cup tune-up game on Tuesday due to a minor ankle injury, is considered healthy and available for the Boomers’ World Cup opener on Friday, per Basketball Australia (Twitter link via Olgun Uluc of ESPN).

Green, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension with Dallas this offseason, is expected to play a key role for an Australian squad looking to improve upon its fourth-place finish at the 2019 World Cup.

Here are a few more notes on the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which tips off this Friday:

The Brazilian national team has officially announced its 12-man roster for the World Cup (Twitter link). While no current NBA players are on the roster, former NBAers like Raul Neto, Bruno Caboclo, and Cristiano Felicio will be representing the Brazilians.
FIBA is permitting each national team to have one “naturalized” player on its roster for the 2023 World Cup, prompting Meliksah Bayrav of Eurohoops to highlight some of the notable players who fall into this group, including Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (Philippines) and Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson (China).
As Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes, it’s not just the players who are asked to accept lesser roles than they’re accustomed to when they join Team USA. Vardon takes an in-depth look at a talented U.S. coaching staff under Steve Kerr, noting that accomplished title-winning head coaches like Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue have happily performed the “grunt work” expected of assistants during the lead-up to the World Cup.

Raul Neto Signs With Fenerbahce

August 5th, 2023 at 8:46am CST by Tristan Tucker

Free agent point guard Raul Neto is signing with Turkish club Fenerbahce after spending the last eight seasons in the NBA, according to an official release. Nearly two weeks after reports surfaced that he was working on signing with the club, Neto’s deal, a one-year pact with an option for the second year, is finalized.

Neto, a 31-year-old point guard from Brazil, averaged 3.3 points and 1.6 assists in 48 games with the Cavaliers last season after signing a one-year deal with the team in the summer of 2022. Neto’s role with Cleveland never expanded past third-string point guard and, as such, he played just 10.5 minutes per game, his lowest average since the 2016/17 season, his sophomore year in the NBA.

Neto began his career in Utah before playing in Philadelphia, but he never got a major role in either city. Before signing with Cleveland, Neto had an underrated stop in Washington. The veteran guard signed with the Wizards in 2020 and emerged as a key rotation piece for a competitive Washington team. In two seasons in D.C., he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 assists, his highest average for any one franchise in the league. Neto became a playoff starter for the Wizards, starting in three of five of their games in the ’20/21 season and averaging 6.4 points in the playoffs.

Neto, the No. 47 overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, has 464 games of NBA experience (102 starts) in the regular season and the playoffs. After being selected in that year’s draft by the Hawks, Neto’s rights were traded to the Jazz. Neto didn’t play with the Jazz until the ’15/16 season, in which he made 53 starts. After spending time with four NBA franchises, Neto is making the move back overseas. Neto played with Acunsa GBC of the Spanish ACB from 2011-14 and then with Spain’s UCAM Murcia CB in the ’14/15 season.

Neto is the latest signing by a Fenerbahce club with plenty of NBA connections. Fenerbahce recently signed Nate Sestina, who went to training camp with the Nets in 2020, and Georgios Papagiannis, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Yam Madar, a draft-and-stash piece by the Celtics who may come stateside in future seasons, is also playing for Fenerbahce in the upcoming season.

International Notes: Neto, Edwards, Bone, Brazdeikis, Cornelie

July 21st, 2023 at 3:00pm CST by Tristan Tucker

After spending the past eight seasons in the NBA, free agent guard Raul Neto could be headed to an opportunity overseas. Turkish club Fenerbahce is reportedly working on a deal with the 31-year-old point guard, who averaged 3.3 points and 1.6 assists in 48 games with the Cavaliers last season, tweets Shot Vetakis of LiveSport and SDNA.

Neto signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with Cleveland in the summer of 2022 after spending the previous two years with the Wizards. The Brazilian guard’s best statistical seasons came in Washington, where he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 assists in 134 games across two seasons.

Before his successful stint with the Wizards, Neto also had stops with the Jazz and the 76ers. Neto didn’t end up playing big minutes for the Cavaliers last season as a third-string point guard and he entered unrestricted free agency this summer.

There’s more from the international scene.

Point guard Carsen Edwards officially signed with FC Bayern Munich of Basketball Bundesliga, the club announced. Edwards, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2019 draft, played two seasons with the Celtics. The Purdue product wound up making a stop in the G League with the Salt Lake City Stars before briefly joining the Pistons at the end of the 2021/22 season, his most recent NBA team. Edwards holds NBA career averages of 3.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 72 NBA games. He spent last season with Fenerbahce.
Former Pistons and Magic guard Jordan Bone officially signed with Vanoli Cremona of Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, the club announced (hat tip to Sportando). Bone hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2020/21 season, when he appeared on a two-way contract with the Magic. Before that, he was on a two-way deal with the Pistons after being selected with the 57th pick in the 2019 draft. Bone holds career averages of 2.8 points and 1.1 assists per game at the NBA level but played more extensively in the G League, where he averaged 15.6 points and 5.8 assists.
Zalgiris Kaunas of the EuroLeague announced that it has retained former Magic, Knicks and Sixers wing Ignas Brazdeikis. Brazdeikis spent last season with the Lithuanian club, averaging 11.6 points and 2.9 rebounds. The Knicks acquired Brazdeikis’s draft rights after he was selected with the 47th pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and he spent two seasons there before making stops with the 76ers and Magic. Brazdeikis has 64 games of NBA experience and holds career averages of 5.0 points and 1.9 rebounds. The club also retained guard Keenan Evans, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game but was briefly on a two-way contract with the Pistons in 2018.
Petr Cornelie, the No. 53 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, signed a three-year contract with AS Monaco Basket of the EuroLeague, according to a tweet from the club. Cornelie is fresh off winning the EuroLeague with Real Madrid last season, averaging 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds during the Spanish team’s run. Cornelie was drafted by the Nuggets in 2016 but didn’t come stateside until the 2021/22 season, when he signed a two-way contract with Denver. The French big man only played in 13 games with the Nuggets, averaging 1.1 points and 1.1 rebounds, but he played a much bigger role with Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, where he averaged 17.7 points and 12.8 rebounds.