Scottie Wilbekin Rumors

International Notes: French Rookies, Yao, Mannion, Larkin, More

November 1st, 2024 at 3:02pm CST by Rory Maher

French teenagers Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks), Alex Sarr (Wizards) and Tidjane Salaün (Hornets), who were selected first, second and sixth overall in June’s draft, have gotten off to slow starts to begin their NBA careers, per John Hollinger of The Athletic. Risacher (.354/.238/.583 shooting line) and Sarr (.297/.238/.833) are struggling with offensive efficiency, while Salaün isn’t yet a regular member of Charlotte’s rotation.

As Hollinger writes, that outcome was always expected, as all three players were viewed as relatively raw prospects, drafted more for what they could be than what they are now. While Risacher and Sarr have shown promising flashes on defense, they’ve also struggled with the size and strength of the NBA, something Risacher’s teammate Bogdan Bogdanovic is familiar with, having played in Serbia and Turkey before signing his first NBA contract.

“Athleticism in the NBA is very different,” Bogdanovic said. “There is not a league on the planet where you can see this type of length, athleticism and talent on the floor. Just adjusting to the speed of the games and the pace.”

Hollinger asked Risacher about his early adjustment to the league in training camp, and the 19-year-old was modest in his reply.

“Back in France I was super athletic, and now I’m just a regular dude,” Risacher said.

Time will tell whether or not the three rookies will become impact players in the NBA, but for now, their teams will have to be patient as they develop, Hollinger notes.

Here are a few more international notes:

Hall-of-Famer Yao Ming has resigned from his role as president of the Chinese Basketball Association, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Yao, who played NBA nine seasons with the Rockets, was president of the CBA for the past seven years.
Former NBA guard Nico Mannion is signing a three-year contract with Italy’s Olimpia Milano, reports Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Mannion’s current club, Pallacanestro, will receive a buyout of €300,000. Mannion’s NBA rights are controlled by Golden State, the team that selected him No. 48 overall in 2020. The 23-year-old spent the 2020/21 season on a two-way deal with the Warriors and would be a restricted free agent upon his return to the NBA as long as Golden State keeps issuing him two-way qualifying offers.
Former first-round pick Shane Larkin will return to the Turkish national team for the 2025 EuroBasket tournament, according to Eurohoops. Head coach Ergin Ataman recently announced the news in a podcast appearance, adding that another nationalized citizen, Scottie Wilbekin, will be on the roster as well. It’s unclear if Wilbekin will actually be ready to play by next summer, as he suffered a torn ACL this fall.
NBA veterans Bruno Caboclo and Patrick Beverley are currently playing in Israel with Hapoel Tel Aviv, but they’re both drawing interest from EuroLeague clubs, according to Maggi. Caboclo has reportedly received a contract offer from Real Madrid, which has multiple players sidelined by injuries. The Spanish powerhouse may be eyeing Beverley as well, though it’s unclear if he’s open to leaving his current team.

Skylar Mays Waived By Timberwolves, Close To Signing With Fenerbahce

October 15th, 2024 at 4:43pm CST by Luke Adams

4:43pm: Mays has been waived by Minnesota, the team’s PR department announced (via Twitter). That paves the way for him to sign with Fenerbahce.

8:35am: Timberwolves guard Skylar Mays is close to reaching a deal to join the Turkish club Fenerbahce, according to reports from Eurohoops and Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. Arale Weisberg of Walla Sport (Twitter link) first reported that Fenerbahce was in talks with Mays.

Fenerbahce is on the lookout for backcourt help after veteran guard Scottie Wilbekin sustained a torn ACL that is expected to sideline him for the entire 2024/25 season.

Although Mays is technically under contract with the Timberwolves for now, he’s on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal, so the expectation is that he’ll be waived before the regular season tips off. The Iowa Wolves – Minnesota’s G League affiliate – acquired Mays’ returning rights last month, signaling that they hoped to have him on the roster this fall, but the 27-year-old will almost certainly earn more with Fenerbahce than he would in the NBAGL.

The 50th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Mays has appeared in 105 games across four seasons for the Hawks, Trail Blazers, and Lakers. The 6’3″ guard, who played his college ball at LSU, split his time between Portland and L.A. last season, appearing in 38 total NBA games and averaging 4.1 points, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. He owns a career shooting line of .445/.345/.859.

Mays was rumored to be considering a move overseas earlier in the offseason — an August report indicated that he was drawing some interest from Olimpia Milano in Italy.

International Notes: Bertans, Lee, Bogdanovic, Jokic

October 6th, 2024 at 9:01am CST by Arthur Hill

After changing teams frequently in the NBA, Davis Bertans was looking for stability when he decided to move overseas. In an interview with Mozzart Sport (translation via BasketNews), Bertans said part of the attraction of joining the new Dubai Basketball Club is long-term security.

“I also got a contract for three years, which was very important for my family, so that I don’t have to move every year,” he said.

Bertans was traded from Washington to Dallas at the 2022 deadline, then was moved to Oklahoma City in a 2023 draft-night deal. He got sent to Charlotte at this year’s deadline and was waived by the Hornets in July.

There were rumors this summer that Bertans might return to his former Partizan team in Belgrade, but he said that never came close to happening.

“I didn’t get an offer to go to Partizan,” Bertans said. “Maybe there was a chance to go for one season, but it wasn’t for me. I wanted to spend a longer time in the same city. I was traded four times in two years in the NBA, it’s very difficult for the family.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

There’s a growing market for Saben Lee, who signed with Turkey’s Manisa Basket in August, according to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. Sources tell Barkas that Fenerbahce is nearing a deal with the former NBA point guard after losing Scottie Wilbekin with a torn ACL. Maccabi is also interested in adding Lee, Barkas adds in a separate story, but he may be hesitant to play in Israel due to the fear of a war. Lee recently had a stellar debut in the Basketball Champions League with 36 points and six assists.
Former NBA center Pero Antic hopes to convince Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to join Belgrade’s Crvena Zvezda once his NBA career is done, according to BasketNews. “We corresponded two days ago,” said Antic, who’s now president of the Basketball Federation of North Macedonia. “We’re in constant contact, we joke, we’ve been roommates. I’ll bring him to Crvena Zvezda sometime. He said that he would finish his career in Partizan, but I think that he will do it in Crvena Zvezda.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said over the weekend that Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic have all requested exhibition games in their native countries. However, Jokic told reporters that he never asked for a game in Serbia, BasketNews relays. “I don’t have approval to talk about it, I didn’t demand it,” Jokic said in Abu Dhabi, where the Nuggets are playing their second preseason contest today.

International Notes: Bjelica, Calathes, Pullen, Larkin, Wilbekin

August 26th, 2023 at 1:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Fenerbahce’s general manager says he has informed former NBA players Nemanja Bjelica and Nick Calathes that they aren’t in the Turkish club’s plans for 2023/24, despite both players being under contract, as Alessandro Maggi of Sportando relays.

Bjelica, 35, played seven NBA seasons, most recently helping the Warriors win the championship in 2021/22. He signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce last summer, but the veteran forward was limited to seven EuroLeague games in ’22/23 due to a calf injury, Maggi writes.

Calathes appeared in 129 games with the Grizzlies from 2013-15. The 34-year-old has spent most of his professional career overseas, primarily with Greece’s Panathinaikos, though he has also played for teams in Russia, Spain and Turkey. The veteran guard averaged 8.2 PPG, 5.1 APG, 4.2 RPG and 1.1 SPG in 34 EuroLeague contests with Fenerbahce in ’22/23.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Former Sixers two-way guard Jacob Pullen, who played three games with Philadelphia in the ’17/18 season, has signed a one-year contract with Italy’s Napoli Basket, the team announced in a press release. The 33-year-old is a well-traveled veteran, having played in Kuwait last season after spending most of his career in Europe.
Shane Larkin and Scottie Wilbekin failed to report to the Turkish national team during the 2024 Olympic pre-qualifying tournament earlier this month, which saw Turkey lose to Croatia in the final. As such, the Turkish Basketball Federation has fined both guards approximately 3,000 Euros and suspended them for five games apiece during the upcoming Turkish Super League season, per Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. Both players are eligible to represent Turkey in international tournaments because they’re naturalized citizens, though each team only has one naturalized slot in FIBA events. Larkin, who currently plays for Anadolu Efes, appeared in 256 NBA regular season games from 2013-18. Wilbekin, meanwhile, plays for Fenerbahce. He signed a partially guaranteed deal with the Sixers in 2015, but never appeared for Philadelphia, having been waived before ’15/16 started.
In case you missed it, we passed along several World Cup notes this afternoon.

Atlantic Notes: Prokhorov, Sixers, Friisdahl

October 30th, 2015 at 6:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is close to acquiring majority control of the Nassau Coliseum, sources have informed Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The plan is for Brooklyn’s future D-League team to eventually be situated at the refurbished arena, Mazzeo notes. The Nets hope their future D-League team begins play in time for the 2016/17 campaign, but for now they are one of the 11 NBA teams without an affiliate to call their own this season.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

It’s difficult to know for sure, given GM Sam Hinkie‘s unpredictability, but the pairing of No. 3 overall pick Jahlil Okafor with Nerlens Noel appears to give the Sixers a glimpse at what their team will look like in the future, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the Raptors‘ parent company, went in a different direction with their hire of Michael Friisdahl as the new president and CEO, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes. “Quite frankly they [MLSE] looked at it in totality and said what we need is an overall executive to lead the whole organization,” said Friisdahl. “And then we’re going to rely on the very strong leadership in each of the sports organizations and have them focus on that. You will not see me heavily involved in any kind of sports decisions, which is fairly obvious from my background.”
Knicks coach Derek Fisher, speaking about the draft day trade of Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Hawks in return for the draft rights to Jerian Grant, said that Grant has more skills as a guard than Hardaway, which is why the deal was made, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets.
Point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who was waived by the Sixers on Monday, has signed a two-year, $780K deal with the Turkish club Darussafaka, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter links). The contract does include an NBA out clause, Pick adds.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Atlantic Notes: Nets, Wilbekin, Stackhouse

October 27th, 2015 at 8:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Count GM Billy King among those curious to see how the retooled Nets roster will fare this season, writes Andy Vasquez of NorthJersey.com. “We know we’re not a finished product at this point, and the goal is to get better,” King said. “We’ve revamped, got some youth, and now I want to see how we play, see how some of the pieces we acquired fit, how they go. We’ve got some young guys and it’s going to take time. They have to play and they’re going to make mistakes and we’ve got to live with them because the only way we’re going to get better is applying it on the court. We have the ability to get better as a team because we do have some inexperience with some guys. But we need our main guys, our veteran guys to carry us, to do their part to allow the young guys to sort of blend in and help.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who was waived by the Sixers on Monday, has lucrative overseas offers lined up, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays.
Despite being a rookie assistant coach this season, Jerry Stackhouse is fitting in well with the Raptors and notes that he doesn’t feel like a newcomer to the coaching ranks, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. “Man, it’s nothing new to me,” Stackhouse told Lewenberg. “I’ve been coaching for the last 10 years and I don’t feel any different. It’s just about trying to get guys better, better prepared for what they’re going to see during game action. The best way to do that is to build more repetition, more repetition. And that’s the key, being creative to come up with ideas everyday so things don’t get stagnant and guys [don’t] get bored.“
Coby Karl and Derrick Alston were officially hired by the Knicks‘ D-League affiliate in Westchester as assistant coaches, the team announced.
You can view the opening night regular season rosters for the Celtics, Nets, Knicks, Sixers, and Raptors by clicking on the link beneath each team name.

Sixers Sign, Waive Jordan Railey

October 26th, 2015 at 4:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers signed and waived Jordan Railey, the team announced via press release. The move involving the undrafted Washington State center is designed to secure his D-League rights, the team says. Philadelphia will make Railey one of four camp cuts whose D-League rights it’s allowed to claim through the affiliate player rule, providing he clears waivers. The statement from the Sixers also confirmed that they’ve waived Jordan McRae, Furkan Aldemir, Scottie Wilbekin, Pierre Jackson, and J.P. Tokoto, as a series of five previous reports indicated.

Philadelphia first connected with Railey when he played for the Sixers summer league team in July, scoring three points in at least 15 minutes of action spread over three games. Railey had signed during the summer with BC Igokea of Bosnia, but either that contract included an NBA escape clause or the team decided to part ways with the 23-year-old 7-footer. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 block in 16.4 minutes per game as a senior last season at Washington State, where he played his final two collegiate seasons after starting at Iowa State.

76ers To Cut Scottie Wilbekin, Keep Christian Wood

October 26th, 2015 at 1:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers will waive Scottie Wilbekin and have told Christian Wood that he’s made the opening night roster, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Wilbekin has a partial guarantee of $200K, while Wood’s partial guarantee is worth only $50K. The move takes the Sixers closer to the regular season roster limit of 15, though with Wilbekin, J.P. Tokoto and Pierre Jackson the reported cuts today, the team still must part ways with at least two more players.

Wilbekin, 22, displayed a scoring touch in the preseason, averaging 10.0 points in 17.6 minutes per game across five appearances. Still, it wasn’t enough for the undrafted shooting guard from the University of Florida.

Wood, another undrafted rookie, joined the Sixers after a deal with the Rockets fell through. The 20-year-old power forward from UNLV posted 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game over five preseason contests with Philadelphia.

Eastern Rumors: Pistons, Wilbekin, Pacers

August 3rd, 2015 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Ersan Ilyasova would have been a top target for the Pistons if he had been a free agent this summer, coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Ilyasova was acquired in a trade with the Bucks, who re-signed restricted free agent Khris Middleton, another Detroit target, according to Langlois. “If he’d been a free agent, he’d have been the guy at the top of our list at power forward,” Van Gundy said of Ilyasova. The Pistons also would not have pursued a free agent small forward if Marcus Morris had been made available sooner. He was acquired in a salary dump by the Suns in early July after Detroit came up empty in its aim to sign either DeMarre Carroll or Danny Green. “There’s no question we would have opted to take him rather than go into free agency had that been there [before July 1],” Van Gundy said to Langlois. “It wasn’t at the time, so we did try to make a play for a couple of guys. But when it didn’t work out and that presented itself, we were fortunate.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Scottie Wilbekin received a $200K guarantee from the Sixers for the upcoming season, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The remainder of the four-year, $3.5MM contract that the ex-University of Florida point guard signed is not guaranteed, Pincus adds. Wilbekin will make $525,093 in the first year if he’s still on the roster January 10th. He played in Australia and Greece last season after going undrafted.
Monta Ellis has the potential to ultimately become one of the Pacers’ greatest free agent signings, argues Mark Montieth of Pacers.com, who nonetheless ranks David West, who bolted for the Spurs this summer, as the most significant free agent addition in team history. Montieth addressed that and other topics in a mailbag format.
Drew Gooden‘s $3.547MM salary for the 2016/17 season becomes guaranteed on July 15th, according to Pincus (Twitter link). The Wizards forward, who has a guaranteed $3.3MM contract for the upcoming season, has a no-trade restriction on his deal which lifts on January 15th.

Sixers Sign Scottie Wilbekin

July 24th, 2015 at 9:04am CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 24TH, 9:04am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

2:39pm: The first season includes a partial salary guarantee, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops tweets.

JULY 18TH, 11:56am: The Sixers have reached a contract agreement with unrestricted free agent Scottie Wilbekin, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The deal is for four years, Charania notes, though the exact amount of the pact, and if any guaranteed money is included, is unknown at this time.

Wilbekin will opt out of his current deal with the Cairns Taipans of Australia’s National Basketball League to join the NBA. The 22-year-old played for the Magic in this year’s Orlando Summer League before suiting up for the Sixers in the Las Vegas Summer League.

The 6’2″ point guard will likely have a solid shot to stick in Philly since the team is sorely in need of additional backcourt depth. In four seasons with the Florida Gators before going undrafted in 2014, Wilbekin notched career averages of 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists to go along with a slash line of .422/.389/.787.