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International Notes: Interviews, EuroLeague Salaries, Cooper, Cook

September 29th, 2024 at 10:06am CST by Rory Maher

In an interview with Bilal Baran Yardımcı of Eurohoops, former Wisconsin standout Nigel Hayes-Davis confirmed he hoped to return to the NBA this offseason and drew some interest, but a deal didn’t come to fruition.

“At the end of the day, it didn’t happen,” he said. “The reason isn’t important. I’ve always been someone who focuses on the things I can control. I feel like I did everything I could to prove my abilities. Sometimes things don’t go your way. Maybe this is better for me. I went through a similar process last summer, and I came back and broke a EuroLeague scoring record. We don’t know what the universe has in store for me this year, but we’ll see together.”

Hayes-Davis, who earned a spot on the All-EuroLeague First Team with Fenerbahce in 2023/24, re-signed with the Turkish team on a three-year deal. The 29-year-old also played on the U.S. Select Team this summer and raved about the experience.

“It was something I could only experience once in a lifetime,” he told Eurohoops. “It was the best three weeks of my life; I can’t remember being happier. Everything, from sunrise to sunset, was amazing. I’m very happy and grateful for the experience. Being in the camp, the things I learned, the atmosphere, the travels with the team—everything was perfect. There are people who would pay a lot of money to have these experiences. It was an unforgettable experience. I’m so glad I recorded most of it. Being able to share and watch it again in the future will be very special for me.”

Here are some more international notes:

  • Evan Fournier and Jordan Nwora also recently sat down for interviews with Antonis Stroggylakis and Semih Tuna of Eurohoops, respectively. After spending the past 12 years in the NBA, French wing Fournier returned to Europe with Greek club Olympiacos, while former second-rounder Nwora, who had spent the past four years in the league, signed with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes.
  • Aris Barkas of Eurohoops cites several sources in listing the top 10 EuroLeague salaries of 2024/25, noting that the values presented take into account local taxes. Sasha Vezenkov ($4.1MM), Shane Larkin ($3.7MM) and Mike James ($3MM) comprise the top three, with several other former NBA players included as well, including Fournier and Hayes-Davis.
  • Turkish team Merkezefendi has signed former NBA players Sharife Cooper and Tyler Cook, the team announced (Twitter links; hat tips to Sportando). Cooper, who signed with a Chinese team in April, inked a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers in February but didn’t receive any playing time. The former second-round pick, who played 13 regular season games with Atlanta in 2021/22 while on a two-way deal, has spent the past two seasons with Cleveland’s NBA G League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Cook, meanwhile, suited up for five NBA teams over the course of his three seasons in the league from 2019-22. He played with Joventut in Spain last season.
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And-Ones: Diallo, T. Cook, J. Green, Expansion, More

November 18th, 2023 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA big man Cheick Diallo, who opened this season playing for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate, intends to return to Kyoto Hannaryz, the Japanese team he played for in 2022/23, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com (Twitter link).

Diallo appeared in 180 NBA games from 2016-20, but has bounced around since then, playing in the G League and multiple international leagues, returning to the NBA for just three contests in 2021/22.

In other international basketball news, former NBA forward Tyler Cook has signed with Spanish club Joventut Badalona, per a press release from the team. Cook played in a total of 65 games for five different NBA teams between 2019-22, but wasn’t in the league at all last season. He played in the G League in 2022/23 and had a brief stint in Australia this fall.

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

  • Former NBA forward Johnny Green, who made four All-Star appearances between 1959-71, including three for the Knicks, has passed away at age 89, according to Richard Goldstein of The New York Times. Known as Jumpin’ Johnny, Green was a college star at Michigan State before recording over 12,000 points and 9,000 rebounds in the NBA.
  • Asked during an appearance on Sportsnet’s The Raptors Show (Twitter video link) about comments he made recently referencing the idea of expansion to a Canadian city like Montreal or Vancouver, commissioner Adam Silver stressed that the NBA has received interest from those markets but isn’t prepared to seriously explore the possibility yet. “It’s not an active discussion right now,” Silver said.
  • The early returns for the NBA’s first ever in-season tournament “have been pretty positive,” Silver said during that same radio appearance (Twitter video link). In addition to seeing a significant jump in television ratings for tournament games, Silver is encouraged by the buy-in from people around the NBA. “The players are really into it, and the coaches and teams have been very engaged and excited about it,” Silver said. “That’s what’s most important and what will ultimately translate into the most interest from the fans.”
  • Sam Amick, Josh Robbins, and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic take stock of the best and worst of the NBA’s first few weeks, identifying the Mavericks, Rockets, and Timberwolves as the teams that have most outperformed expectations and the Lakers, Clippers, and Bucks as a few that have underwhelmed.
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And-Ones: Holland, 2024 Draft, Cook, Player Participation

September 14th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

G League Ignite’s Ron Holland has moved up to No. 1 on Jonathan Givony of ESPN’s latest 2024 mock draft (Twitter video link). In recent exhibition games against Australia’s Perth Wildcats, Holland put up 56 points in 60 minutes, Givony notes, with the young forward displaying a tantalizing mixture of aggression, intensity, confidence, defense and shot-making.

Givony says NBA team’s will be attracted to Holland because “he is a winner” who raises the level of his teammates.

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

  • Elsewhere on his NBA Today appearance (Twitter video link), Givony said French big man Alexandre Sarr, who plays for Perth as part of the NBL’s Next Stars program, was another big winner from the exhibition contests. Sarr is up to No. 5 on Givony’s latest mock. The full top 10, in order, features Holland, Isaiah Collier (USC), Matas Buzelis (Ignite), Justin Edwards (Kentucky), Sarr, UConn teammates Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle, Izan Almansa (Ignite), Kyle Filipowski (Duke) and D.J. Wagner (Kentucky).
  • Former NBA forward Tyler Cook has signed with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the NBL announced in a press release. Cook, who turns 26 next week, has played 65 games with Cleveland, Denver, Brooklyn, Detroit and Chicago over his three seasons in the league, most recently suiting up for the Bulls in 2021/22 while on a two-way deal. Cook spent last season in the G League with Utah’s affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.
  • The NBA’s Board of Governors recently unanimously approved the new “player participation policy.” However, representatives from multiple teams have some reservations about certain aspects of the rules, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. One key concern is that a team may determine a player is fit to play the second game of a back-to-back, but the player might disagree and say he’s sore and needs rest. As Marks writes, since the rules weren’t part of the CBA, the team would be fined in that scenario, not the player. The participation policy might also contradict a team’s use of sports science, Marks adds.
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Three Players Signed, Waived By Jazz

October 15th, 2022 at 7:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz have placed forward Tyler Cook and guards Frank Jackson and Isaiah Miller on waivers, the team announced in a press release. Their signings were announced earlier today, as Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets.

Cook, a 25-year-old forward, appeared in 20 games with the Bulls last season on a two-way contract. He entered the league with the Cavaliers in 2019 and has also played for the Nuggets, Pistons and Nets.

Jackson spent the past two seasons with the Pistons and played two years with the Pelicans as well. The 24-year-old guard was the 31st pick in the 2017 draft.

Miller, a 24-year-old point guard, was waived by the Trail Blazers earlier this week. He spent last season with the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate.

All three players are likely to end up with Utah’s G League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, once they clear waivers.

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Warriors Working Out Ben McLemore, Elfrid Payton, Others

September 6th, 2022 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are bringing in a number of veteran free agents this week for workouts, league sources tell Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

According to Charania and Slater, some of the free agents taking part in the workouts are Ben McLemore, Elfrid Payton, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kenneth Faried, Miye Oni, Ty-Shon Alexander, Wesley Saunders, and Jon Axel Gudmundsson.

Golden State also held similar free agent workouts in August, according to Charania and Slater, who say that Shabazz Muhammad, Solomon Hill, Tyler Cook, and Kelan Martin were among the players who participated in those sessions about two weeks ago.

The purpose of this week’s workouts is twofold — as Tim Kawakami of The Athletic tweets, the players currently on the Warriors’ roster are beginning their informal pre-camp work at the team’s facility this week, so the free agents who join them will help ensure there are enough bodies to play 5-on-5 scrimmages. Additionally, there’s an expectation that the Warriors could sign one or more of the auditioning veterans to their 20-man training camp roster, per Charania and Slater.

Golden State currently has 18 players under contract (13 on guaranteed standard deals), with Jerome Robinson expected to be the 19th. That leaves one spot available for now.

Andre Iguodala has yet to decide whether he’ll retire or return to the Warriors for another season, so it’s possible he could fill that 20th and final roster spot (and become the 14th man on the team’s projected regular season roster). Robinson, Mac McClung, Pat Spencer, and Trevion Williams are among the camp invitees who could compete for a place on the 15-man regular season roster, especially if Iguodala doesn’t return.

Charania and Slater also note that that, while Lester Quinones and Quinndary Weatherspoon are currently on two-way deals, those roster spots are flexible. According to The Athletic’s duo, the Warriors are high on Weatherspoon, who is a candidate to join the 15-man roster either this fall or later in the season

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Injury Notes: DiVincenzo, Bulls, Wiseman, Nuggets

January 4th, 2022 at 8:25am CST by Luke Adams

Donte DiVincenzo‘s string of bad luck continued over the weekend, as the Bucks guard rolled his surgically repaired left ankle during warmups on Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for a little while, according to Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).

The Bucks haven’t issued a formal update on DiVincenzo’s status or his potential recovery timeline, but Owczarksi says there’s a belief he’ll be out for “a few weeks.”

It’s a frustrating setback for DiVincenzo, who missed the start of the season while recovering from ankle surgery, then contracted COVID-19 when he was about to return last month. He appeared in just three games for the Bucks before sustaining his latest injury.

Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:

  • The Bulls are expected to be without guard Javonte Green and forward Tyler Cook for a little while. As Jamal Collier of ESPN writes, head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday that Green will likely miss two-to-four weeks due to a strained groin. Donovan also stated that Cook has a “pretty significant” ankle sprain and will be out for a couple weeks, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
  • The Warriors hope that second-year center James Wiseman, who participated in the team’s shootaround on Monday, can begin contact drills next week, says Ali Thanawalla of NBC Sports Bay Area. Wiseman has exited the health and safety protocols, but continues to work his way back from the knee surgery that ended his rookie season.
  • In a recent interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said the team will give stars Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) all the time they need to recover from their respective injuries. Unlike Porter, who is expected to return in 2022/23, Murray has a chance to return to the court this season, though Malone warned that’s not a given. “I’ve told him many times — and I think it’s important for him to hear it from me — (that) there’s absolutely zero pressure for him to come back this year,” Malone said. “At the same time, I tell him, ‘Listen, if it’s in the cards for you to come back and play this year, great. If it’s not in the cards for you to come back and play this year, great.’ He’s gonna come back when he is ready.”
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Bulls Converting Tyler Cook’s Contract To Two-Way Deal

October 16th, 2021 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls will hang onto big man Tyler Cook for the regular season, converting his Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Chicago’s roster now appears set for the regular season. In addition to their 13 players on guaranteed contracts, the Bulls are carrying Cook and Devon Dotson on two-way deals, along with Alize Johnson and Matt Thomas on non-guaranteed contracts.

Although Johnson and Thomas each have fewer than four years of NBA experience, they were ineligible to be converted to two-way contracts due to the deals they signed — neither one included Exhibit 10 language, but Cook’s did, making him the obvious candidate to fill the team’s open two-way slot.

A 6’8″ forward out of Iowa, Cook played for the Cavaliers and Nuggets as a rookie in 2019/20, then spent time with the Nets and Pistons during the 2020/21 campaign. After signing a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, he inked a pair of 10-day pacts with Detroit and then agreed to a multiyear deal in April. The team waived him at the end of July.

In 32 total games in 2020/21 for the Nets and Pistons, Cook averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 games (13.7 MPG). He made 67.0% of his field goal attempts, but just 48.6% of his free throws.

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Bulls Sign Tyler Cook

September 8th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to confirming several previously-reported additions to their roster, the Bulls announced today in a press release that they’ve signed free agent forward Tyler Cook to a contract.

While the terms of Cook’s contract aren’t known, Chicago’s other recent deals with Stanley Johnson, Alize Johnson, Matt Thomas, and Ethan Thompson are non-guaranteed, so Cook’s likely will be too.

A 6’8″ forward out of Iowa, Cook played for the Cavaliers and Nuggets as a rookie in 2019/20, then spent time with the Nets and Pistons during the 2020/21 campaign. After signing a 10-day contract with Brooklyn, he inked a pair of 10-day pacts with Detroit and then agreed to a multiyear deal in April. The team waived him at the end of July.

In 32 total games in 2020/21 for the Nets and Pistons, Cook averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 32 games (13.7 MPG). He made 67.0% of his field goal attempts, but just 48.6% of his free throws.

Chicago has 13 players on guaranteed contracts, plus one on a two-way deal, so there are at least a couple spots up for grabs on the 17-man regular season squad. Cook figures to compete with the team’s other recent signings for one of those spots.

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Pistons Waive Cory Joseph, Deividas Sirvydis, Tyler Cook

July 31st, 2021 at 5:07pm CST by Luke Adams

5:07pm: The Pistons have officially waived Joseph and Sirvydis, the team confirmed in a press release. Detroit also announced that Cook has been waived. As noted below, his salary for 2021/22 had been fully non-guaranteed.

3:36pm: The Pistons are waiving a pair of players from their roster, according to Shams Charania and James Edwards III of The Athletic, who report (via Twitter) that Cory Joseph and Deividas Sirvydis will be released.

Joseph’s $12.6MM salary for the 2021/22 season was only partially guaranteed for $2.4MM. Sirvydis had a fully guaranteed salary for the coming season, but his cap hit was just $1.52MM and his 2022/23 salary was non-guaranteed.

Detroit will have the option of either applying the dead money for Joseph and Sirvydis solely to the team’s 2021/22 cap or stretching those cap charges across multiple seasons to generate more space this offseason. That possibility shouldn’t be ruled out, since the Pistons’ trade of Mason Plumlee suggested the club is looking to open up cap room for free agency.

John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link) estimates that Detroit could get up to about $22MM in cap space by stretching Joseph and Sirvydis and cutting Rodney McGruder and Tyler Cook, who have non-guaranteed contracts.

Joseph, who will turn 30 in August, began last season with Sacramento and was sent to Detroit at the March trade deadline. He played well with the Pistons down the stretch, averaging 12.0 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 3.2 RPG on .506/.368/.878 shooting in 19 games (26.4 MPG). Joseph should be an appealing target for teams in the market for a backup point guard.

A Lithuanian wing, Sirvydis was the No. 37 pick in the 2019 draft and was stashed for a year overseas before signing his first NBA contract in the 2020 offseason. His rookie season was uninspiring, as he played limited minutes in 20 games, averaging 2.1 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 6.7 MPG. A return to Europe seems like a possibility for Sirvydis.

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Eastern Notes: Bulls, Cook, Pistons, Nets

June 20th, 2021 at 7:25pm CST by JD Shaw

Multiple Bulls players discussed how the team can improve after finishing the 2020/21 season with a 31-41 record, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes.

Among those players was Thaddeus Young, a 14-year-veteran with several years of playoff experience. Young is coming off his second season with the club and averaged 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 24.3 minutes per game on the campaign.

“It starts with the leadership and the direction,” Young said. “I think we took some steps and strides forward this year with the change and leadership in direction of the organization, which was hiring AK and Marc. They are competitors. They want to win just a bad as the players want to win. And they want to make sure they get everything right.

“They started off getting things right with preaching culture and winning. Then bringing in (coach) Billy (Donovan). I think they did a phenomenal job in getting Billy, and Billy put together a great staff, as well as AK and Marc making trades. I think they did a phenomenal job on trade day in making those trades.”

Here are some other notes from the Eastern Conference:

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