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Olympic Notes: Durant, Batum, Wembanyama, Awards

August 10th, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

After becoming the first men’s basketball player with four Olympic gold medals, could Kevin Durant stick around long enough to try for a fifth? He hinted at that possibility at Saturday’s post-game press conference when asked about the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, writes Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.

“Records are meant to be broken,” Durant said. “My goal was always to represent my country, my state, my street, my family name. And help to push the game forward. Since I’ve been there, I’ve done that. We’ve built on the 1992 Dream Team, and I’m glad we managed to carry it over. Regarding L.A., who knows, man? We’ll see.”

Durant is still playing at an All-Star level at age 35, and he’s under contract with the Suns for two more seasons. If he decides to extend his career beyond that, he’ll be the same age that LeBron James is now when the 2028 Olympics roll around.

Durant is one of the most accomplished players in Olympics history and is among eight men who have reached 500 career points. He passed Carmelo Anthony as the men’s all-time leading scorer for Team USA, and he recently eclipsed Lisa Leslie as well.

“For me, it’s about pushing the game forward on the biggest stage, helping USA Basketball,” Durant added. “I didn’t even think about who is the best player. You just try to contribute as much as you can to the big picture.”

There’s more from Paris:

  • Nicolas Batum‘s long career with the French national team ended with today’s loss in the gold medal game, according to BasketNews. Appearing on French television, Batum announced his retirement from international competition. “It was my last one with this jersey,” he said. “I spent 15 years playing four World Cups, four EuroBaskets and four Olympics. I did what I had to do: seven medals. I’m happy.”
  • Victor Wembanyama savored the chance to compete for a medal on his home soil, Urbonas tweets. The 20-year-old phenom was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament and was at his best in Saturday’s game, finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds. “It’s an incredible experience,” he said. “The anthem is one of my favorite parts. I know I’m only 20, but I don’t know when that will happen again. And it makes me want to cry again. It was just such a chance.”
  • Wembanyama was named to the All-Star Five, which recognizes the best players in the Olympics, along with Team USA’s James and Stephen Curry, Germany’s Dennis Schröder and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic, FIBA announced (via Twitter). Making up the second team are Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic, Germany’s Franz Wagner, France’s Guerschon Yabusele and Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. James was selected as Olympics MVP, Wembanyama is the Rising Star, France’s Vincent Collet is the Best Coach and Serbia’s Aleksa Avramovic is the Best Defensive Player.
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Olympic Notes: SGA, C. Jones, Wagner Brothers

August 5th, 2024 at 1:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

After helping the Thunder become championship contenders, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is doing the same thing for Team Canada, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman. The Canadians swept through tough competition in Group A and are among the favorites to win a medal as they prepare to face France in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

It would be a significant accomplishment for Canada, which is seeking its first men’s basketball Olympic medal since winning a silver in 1936. A recent influx of NBA players, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in this year’s MVP voting, has the country on the verge of becoming an international basketball power.

“We have a lot of talent, and we know that,” he said. “We all want to win, so we’re giving up whatever it takes to get to the final goal. … As far as Canada, we’ll be ready for whoever we see.”

They’re on different sides of the bracket, so Canada will likely face Team USA if it can advance to the gold medal game. Gilgeous-Alexander is looking forward to a possible rematch with the Americans after defeating them for the bronze medal in last year’s FIBA World Cup.

“They play to their strengths,” he said of Team USA. “They’re obviously very talented, very deep. You almost have to make no mistakes and play a perfect game when you play against them.”

There’s more from Paris:

  • Carlik Jones, one of the stars for South Sudan during its Olympics run, believes the nation has a bright basketball future, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The former NBA guard averaged 18 points, 7.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in three Olympic games. “It is just the beginning,” he said. “Not a lot of people expected us to be here. I do not think a lot of people expected us to compete as well as we did. And we just got to keep working. Only time will tell. I got a lot of faith in those guys. We play any of these three games over and am putting us over them any day of the week. So, I just think that we just need to keep the confidence in ourselves and keep moving forward.”
  • Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner sparked Germany to a 3-0 record in pool play. Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops examines the success of the Wagner brothers, both in the NBA and in international competitions, and compares them to some other prominent brother combinations in Olympic history.
  • All 12 of the men’s basketball teams decided to stay outside of the Olympic Village, according to Eurohoops. The first week of competition was held in Lille, so the teams opted for locations that were closer to Bercy Arena.
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International Notes: Olympics, Sneaker Deals, Wemby, Exum, Birch

July 28th, 2024 at 9:15pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Thirteen of the top 20 highest earners in the Paris Olympics are NBA players, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. They aren’t paid to play by the NBA or any Olympic committee, but players earn money through their shoe contracts from companies like Nike or Under Armour.

Sneaker companies have bonuses for games played in the Olympics because players using them are putting their products on a global stage. Adidas, for example, earns 76% of its revenue outside of North America.

Nike has a major presence in the Olympics since they’re a longtime sponsor of USA Basketball. Converse, a Nike-owned brand, recently extended Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and expects to launch his signature shoe in 2025. He was named creative director as part of the deal.

Countries can also shell out money for performance incentives. For example, Serbia has one of the largest gold medal bonuses for players, meaning Nikola Jokic would be eligible for $215K if Serbia were to win gold.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Victor Wembanyama has become the face of French basketball at a young age and he’s carried that into the Olympics in his home country, Andrew Lopez of ESPN writes. France lost by five points in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without Wembanyama and took home its first silver medal since 2000. Now, with him on board, the host country is aiming to take home the gold in 2024.
  • Mavericks guard Dante Exum is returning from a right index finger injury and missed Australia’s Olympic game against Spain. However, according to Sportando, there is “growing optimism” about Exum’s return for his country’s game against Canada on Tuesday.
  • Former NBAer Khem Birch served as an “insider” for Canada’s win against Greece since he played for Greek club Olympiacos, according to Eurohoops.net. “It’s definitely gold or nothing,” Birch said of Canada’s Olympic chances. “That’s the number one goal. I think we have a lot of parity in the Olympics right now. I think anyone can win it. so we have a big chance.”
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Olympic Notes: Wembanyama, SGA, Giddey, Landale, Team USA

July 27th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama has already been through a lot of big moments in his basketball career, but the idea of playing in the Olympics in front of his home fans made him nervous, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. That may be why the 20-year-old star got off to a slow start in Saturday’s opener against Brazil, but France began to pull away as he worked through the jitters. Wembanyama finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks in his Olympics debut, and he has the French team looking like a legitimate contender for the gold medal.

“I think for the first time of his career, he was a little bit stressed,” coach Vincent Collet said. “… In France, everybody waits for him like — I don’t know which word to use, but everybody waits for him. You have the people who know basketball, and they understand he’s only 20 years old. But people that like sports but (who) don’t know basketball, they think Victor is already Michael Jordan. (But) take time. Take time.”

Amick notes that Wembanyama has already become a leader for France despite the presence of Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, who have been with the national team for years. Batum said that along with Wembanyama’s obvious physical gifts, he has an IQ for the game that makes everything easier.

“He knows who he is. He knows what he has to do to be great,” Batum explained. “On one play, he was like, ‘OK, I’ll go to set a screen.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no. Stay down there and take the ball and play. Take us home. That’s who you are right now.’ He’s not scared for the moment. He showed that in the first half.”

There’s more from the Olympics:

  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a huge basket down the stretch as Canada withstood a furious comeback by Greece and a 34-point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo, per Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists, thought his team played well but needs to finish better. “We were the aggressors for most of the game. Especially in the first half, we were very good, we had the control of the game. I think we just closed the game a little bit better defensively,” he said. “Offensively, I think we got good looks down the stretch, just didn’t make them. Obviously, it’s never an excuse, you can always get stops and seal out the W in a nicer way.”
  • Josh Giddey and Jock Landale led the way as Australia opened the tournament with a win over Spain, observed Kane Pitman and Olgun Uluc of ESPN. They controlled the game with their chemistry in the pick-and-roll as Landale posted 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists to go with a +30 rating, while Giddey contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. “He’s got a fire about him,” teammate Nick Kay said of Landale. “You can see it in the warmups, you can see it every day at training. He’s really brought that to this group.”
  • Ahead of Sunday’s opener against Serbia, Rohan Nadkarni of NBC News examines how this year’s U.S. roster compares to the original “Dream Team” in 1992.
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Team Canada Finalizes 2024 Olympic Roster

July 10th, 2024 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Canadian national team has formally announced its 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics, making its final cuts ahead of Wednesday’s exhibition games against Team USA.

Team Canada’s 12-man squad is as follows:

While the group obviously isn’t as star-studded as the U.S. roster, it’s headed up by a 2024 MVP finalist (Gilgeous-Alexander) and a guard who was the second-best player on the 2023 NBA champions (Murray). In total, it features 10 active NBA players, and all of them played regular roles for their respective teams in 2023/24.

The only two non-NBA players are Birch, who spent six seasons in the league but now plays in Spain, and Ejim, a former Iowa State standout and a Team Canada veteran who has been a productive contributor for several teams in Europe since 2014.

Andrew Wiggins is among the notable names missing from Team Canada’s squad for Paris. He was on the original training camp roster but withdrew right before camp began due to what the Warriors referred to a mutual decision. Various reports, however, suggested that Golden State was the party driving that decision.

Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey also removed his name from the training camp roster in order to focus on Summer League and his first NBA season.

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, both of whom were coming off injuries that ended their 2023/24 seasons, were among the players who attended training camp but weren’t in the mix for roster spots for the Paris Olympics. Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller was in that group too.

This will be the first time Canada has been in the men’s basketball event at the Olympics since 2000.

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International Notes: Hall, Claver, SGA, Murray, Almansa, FIBA Rosters

July 1st, 2024 at 6:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Former NBA big man Donta Hall could have an opportunity to return to the league, Aris Barkas of Eurohoops reports. The American big man has an opt-out clause in his contract with his current team, Monaco, and is believed to be receiving NBA interest. Hall averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes over 38 games in EuroLeague action with Monaco last season. Hall has appeared in 22 NBA games with Detroit, Brooklyn and Orlando.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • Former NBA forward Victor Claver has announced his retirement, according to release from Valencia Basket. Claver, 35, played 18 years professionally, beginning and ending his career with Valencia, Eurohoops notes. Claver appeared in 82 games with the Trail Blazers from 2012-15. He was also a longtime member of the Spanish national team.
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray will be playing together on the Canadian national team for the first time. Murray couldn’t play the last two summers while recovering from injuries and long playoff runs. Michael Grange of Sportsnet and Eric Koreen of The Athletic examine how the two star guards will mesh together as they prepare for the Olympics. SGA doesn’t seem worried. “I drive, he shoots,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Simple as that.”
  • Izan Almansa, considered a first-round prospect in next year’s draft, has chosen to spend next season in the NBL Next Stars program with the Perth Wildcats, according to an NBL post. It’s the same path taken by this year’s No. 2 pick, Alex Sarr. Almansa, 19, participated in the NBA draft combine but decided to withdraw from this year’s draft and improve his stock for 2025. The 6’10″ big man, who hails from Spain, possesses a 7’1″ wingspan and was named MVP of the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, 2022 FIBA U18 European Championships and 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup.
  • The rosters for the 24 participating teams in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournaments have been confirmed. They can be viewed at this Eurohoops post. Those tournaments, which will determine the final four qualifiers for the Paris Olympics, tip off on Tuesday.
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Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray Headline Canada’s Preliminary Olympic Roster

June 19th, 2024 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Canada Basketball has formally announced its preliminary roster for the upcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris. The 20-man group will have to be trimmed to 12 players for Paris.

Here are the 20 players vying for spots on Team Canada’s Olympic roster, which will be coached by new Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez:

All 12 players who helped Canada clinch an Olympic berth and claim a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup are included in the preliminary roster, along with several notable newcomers, including Murray, Wiggins, Lyles, and Nembhard.

Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe and Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, whose seasons ended earlier due to injuries, will also attend training camp with Team Canada, but won’t be in the mix for roster spots this summer, according to today’s announcement.

Even without Sharpe or Mathurin in the mix, the Canadians can put together a formidable NBA-heavy squad that should be in contention for a medal in Paris. Gilgeous-Alexander, Barrett, Brooks, Dort, Powell, Olynyk, and Alexander-Walker were the top seven players on last year’s squad and look like relatively safe bets to represent Canada again. If Murray, Wiggins, Lyles, and Nembhard were to join them, that would leave just one open spot for the remaining nine invitees.

One notable omission from the 20-man preliminary roster is veteran guard Cory Joseph, who spoke to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca earlier this week to express his disappointment about being left off the list. Joseph was unable to compete for a spot on the World Cup team last year due to a back injury, but was among the 14 players who made a commitment in 2022 to be part of Canada’s “summer core” for the current Olympic cycle.

“I took the honor of playing for your country very seriously and did it many times over the years,” Joseph told Grange. “This is not me complaining, I’m not a complainer. But there were times when I put FIBA basketball and playing for my country over my NBA situation at the time, whether I was in a contract year and I had no contract at the time and I went to go play for my country, whether I had little bumps and tweaks, I was there. Whether guys came or not, I always thought we still had a chance. For me it’s a little disheartening to be like, ‘Wow, I wasn’t even given an opportunity to compete for whatever position?’

“… I had planned to go to camp, and when you’re talking about the (last three or four spots) on the roster, there’s a pool of talented guys you could put on the roster, (but) I don’t see, in that situation, where I wouldn’t at least be invited to camp to be one of those guys (to compete for a spot), so that’s where my disappointment is with the organization. … I don’t want to take away from the fact that Canada Basketball is in a great place. This is not that. I love all those guys. I want them to do well. Quote that. I just think I should have been invited to camp at the very least, 100 per cent.”

Team Canada will hold its training camp in Toronto from June 28 to July 7 before heading to Las Vegas for an exhibition game vs. Team USA on July 10. The Canadians will also play exhibition matches with France on July 19 and the winner of the Puerto Rico Olympic qualifying tournament on July 21.

Canada will be in Group A at the Olympics, along with Australia. The group will be filled out by the winners of the qualifying tournaments in Spain and Greece.

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And-Ones: Fan Favorites, Media Deal, Bacon, Shooting Guards

May 26th, 2024 at 3:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The votes have been tallied for league appreciators’ “Fan Favorites” for the 2023/24 season, per NBA.com. Fans voted for various categories via the NBA App, NBA.com and the @NBA handle on social media.

All-Star Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards won Block, Dunk and Photo of the Year honors, while Bulls swingman DeMar DeRozan won Assist of the Year, All-NBA Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was honored with the Style of the Year accolade, and Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving was praised for possessing the Handle of the Year.

There’s more from around the wider basketball world:

  • NBA players stand to reap major financial benefits from the league’s lucrative impending batch of media rights deals, writes Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. As Vorkunov notes, based on the terms reported, the agreement is set to pay the league $6.9 billion annually, which is about two-and-a-half times what the league is earning under its present TV deal. Suddenly, a $100MM maximum annual player salary is in play, and could possibly happen as soon as 2032/33.
  • Following a prolific season with Shanghai Dongfang in Chinese Basketball Association, former journeyman NBA guard Dwayne Bacon  has agreed to a deal with Puerto Rican team Leones de Ponce, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Bacon spent four years in the NBA, last playing for the Magic in 2020/21.
  • Keith Smith of Spotrac unpacks the top free agent shooting guards set to hit the market this summer in a new tiered ranking system. He lists seven starting-caliber wings, 17 rotation-level players, and 25 other players with upside at the position.
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And-Ones: TNT Sports, Trades, Santa Cruz, Award Votes

May 23rd, 2024 at 9:06pm CST by Luke Adams

With TNT Sports seemingly on the verge of losing its NBA broadcast rights to NBC during the current round of media rights negotiations, it’s possible the 2024/25 season will be the last one that features TNT’s iconic Inside the NBA studio show, featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (Twitter video link), Barkley admitted it has been discouraging to watch the process play out.

“Morale sucks, plain and simple,” Barkley said (hat tip to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic). “I just feel so bad for the people I work with. These people have families and I just really feel bad for them right now. You know these people I work with (management), they screwed this thing up, clearly. We have zero idea what’s going to happen. I don’t feel good. I’m not going to lie. Especially when they came out and said we bought college football. I was like, well, damn, they could have used that money to buy the NBA.

“… We’ve never had college football, never been involved with college football. I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, shouldn’t we be spending every dime we got to keep the NBA?’ So morale sucks, to be honest with you.”

Asked how TNT Sports got to this point, Barkley suggested that the comments made in 2022 by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav – who said his company “didn’t have to have the NBA” – didn’t help matters.

“They came out and said we didn’t need the NBA. I think that probably pissed (NBA commissioner) Adam (Silver) off,” Barkley said. “I don’t know that, but when (Warner Bros. and Discovery) merged, that’s the first thing our boss said. ‘We don’t need the NBA.’ Well, he don’t need it, but the rest of the people — me, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie and the people who work there, we need it. So, it just sucks right now.”

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

  • They were overshadowed by bigger deals at their respective trade deadlines, but the Celtics‘ 2022 acquisition of Derrick White and the Knicks‘ 2023 addition of Josh Hart are examples of non-blockbuster trades that helped turn good teams into contenders, writes Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link). Lowe provides some interesting tidbits on those deals, citing sources who say the Jazz were also interested in White when Boston was pursuing him and that the Trail Blazers didn’t open Hart talks to the rest of the league because New York was his preferred destination.
  • The Santa Cruz Warriors – Golden State’s affiliate – have been named the G League Franchise of the Year for the third time in the past four years (Twitter link). The team went 31-19 during the NBAGL’s Showcase Cup and regular season and ranked first in the league in both ticket sales and partnership revenue, according to the press release.
  • The NBA has officially released the full ballots from all the media members who voted on the major awards for 2023/24, including the All-NBA, All-Defensive, and All-Rookie teams. You can view those ballots – and find out which voters made this year’s most surprising selections – right here.
  • The Ringer’s staff ranked the NBA’s top 25 players who are 25 years old or under, with Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander topping the list.
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Edwards, Haliburton Earn Salary Increases With All-NBA Nods

May 22nd, 2024 at 7:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The maximum-salary rookie scale extensions that Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton signed last offseason will have starting salaries worth 30% of the 2024/25 salary cap instead of 25% after both players made All-NBA teams. Edwards earned a spot on the Second Team, while Haliburton made the Third Team.

As our maximum-salary projections for ’24/25 show, based on a $141MM cap, the five-year deals signed by Edwards and Haliburton will now be worth $245,340,000 instead of $204,450,000. Those numbers could change if the cap comes in above or below $141MM.

Edwards and Haliburton agreed to Rose Rule language in their respective extensions. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.

Hornets guard LaMelo Ball had similar language in his maximum-salary extension, but injuries prevented him from having any shot at All-NBA team in 2023/24, so his contract will be worth $204.45MM over five years.

Here are more of the financial implications of today’s All-NBA selections:

  • Because Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t make an All-NBA team, his maximum salary as a restricted free agent this offseason will be worth 25% of the cap instead of 30%. He’ll be eligible for a five-year deal up to a projected $204.45MM.
  • Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met the super-max performance criteria by earning All-NBA nods for a second straight year, but neither player has enough years of service yet to sign a designated veteran extension this summer. Both Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander will be eligible to sign super-max extensions, starting at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, during the 2025 offseason. As Bobby Marks of ESPN outlines (Twitter links), Doncic would be eligible for a five-year extension projected to be worth over $346MM that begins in 2026/27, while SGA could sign a four-year extension worth a projected $294MM+ that would begin in 2027/28.
  • Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is one year ahead of Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander — he met the super-max performance criteria by making a second straight All-NBA team in 2023, but was still one year away from having the required years of service at that time. He’ll be eligible this July to sign a five-year super-max extension that will start at 35% of the ’25/26 cap and be worth a projected $314.85MM.
  • Players who would have been eligible for super-max extensions if they had made an All-NBA team include Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. All of those players could still qualify if they remain with their current teams and earn All-NBA honors next season, though it’s worth noting that Ingram is considered a trade candidate this summer and is highly unlikely to get a super-max offer even if he qualifies.
  • Kings center Domantas Sabonis earned a $1.3MM contract bonus as a result of being named to the All-NBA Third Team, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.
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