Will Magnay Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Wiggins, Canada, Magnay, Draft History

May 31st, 2024 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2024 Olympics just a month-and-a-half away, Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins offered no clarity during a conference call on Thursday about whether he’ll be part of the Canadian national team competing in Paris, as Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca relays.

“They had a great summer last year when they had qualified for the Olympics, all those guys did their thing and really put on [a show] for the country, and I’d be honored to play for our country,” Wiggins said. “We’ll see what happens, you know, you guys just stay tuned and, you know, we’ll see what the road brings.”

Wiggins has represented his country in past international tournaments, including the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. He also competed in the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship, leading the team in scoring and helping Canada claim a bronze medal.

However, he wasn’t part of the Canadian squad that won bronze at the 2023 World Cup last summer and didn’t make the three-year commitment to the program in 2022 that many of his fellow countrymen did, so it would probably require some buy-in from the core to have him “parachute in” for the Olympics, Grange observes.

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

Australian center Will Magnay, who won a National Basketball League title with the Tasmania JackJumpers earlier this year, is exploring NBA opportunities this offseason, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN (YouTube link). Magnay has a workout lined up with the Hawks and will also audition for four other NBA teams, Uluc reports. Magnay spent most of the 2020/21 season on a two-way contract with New Orleans, but appeared in just one NBA game that season.
The recent history of top-20 picks who are 22 years old or older isn’t great, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, who takes a deep dive into the players who have met that criteria since 2008. As Vorkunov points out, a number of players who are 22 or older look like potential top-20 picks in the 2024 draft, which will make it a fascinating case study on how much age still matters to teams picking in that range.
Meanwhile, Howard Beck of The Ringer examines the history of No. 1 overall picks, noting that the only two No. 1 picks since 1993 who have led their teams to titles (as the best player on the roster) are Tim Duncan and LeBron James. As Beck acknowledges, a few other No. 1 picks have won titles as co-stars (Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Wiggins) or role players (Glenn Robinson, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard). “I think actually the no. 1 pick in the NBA mostly has a perception problem,” Sixers president Daryl Morey told Beck, “because there have been so many iconic players selected no. 1. And the fanfare around them is so large when they’re coming into the league that people remember that.”

Former Pelican Will Magnay Resumes Career In Australia

May 9th, 2021 at 2:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Pelicans big man Will Magnay, who was on a two-way contract with New Orleans until he was waived last month, has returned to his home country of Australia, signing with the Perth Wildcats for the rest of the 2020/21 campaign, per a press release from the team.

“The opportunity to play basketball again, at such a historic team like Perth, is exciting,” Magnay said in a statement. “I’m just dying to get back on the court.”

A 6’10” center, Magnay appeared in just one game for the Pelicans as an NBA rookie, going scoreless in three minutes. He also averaged 9.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 10 appearances (22.2 MPG) for the Erie BayHawks in the G League. He was released in April when New Orleans signed James Nunnally to a two-way deal.

Magnay, who will turn 23 next month, played one year of college ball at Tulsa in 2016/17 before heading back to Australia, where he spent his first three professional seasons under contract with the Brisbane Bullets in the National Basketball League. He was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player in ’19/20 and was the runner-up for the Best Defensive Player award, earning him a shot in the NBA this season.

Pelicans Sign James Nunnally, Waive Will Magnay

April 12th, 2021 at 11:35am CST by Luke Adams

11:35am: The Pelicans have officially signed Nunnally and cut Magnay, the team confirmed in a press release.

11:24am: The Pelicans will waive Magnay to make room for Nunnally, a source tells Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A 6’10” center from Australia, Magnay appeared in just one game for the Pelicans this season, going scoreless in three minutes. He also averaged 9.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 10 appearances (22.2 MPG) for the Erie BayHawks in the G League.

10:08am: The Pelicans intend to sign veteran wing James Nunnally to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Nunnally, 30, made his NBA debut back in the 2013/14 season, but only played in 13 contests that season, then didn’t appear in an NBA game again until ’18/19. In total, he has played in 28 regular season games for four teams, having spent most of his professional career overseas in Europe and Asia.

Most recently, Nunnally played for Fenerbahce during the 2019/20 season. While he had a limited role for the Turkish club in EuroLeague play, he continued to knock down three-pointers at a high rate (.417 3PT%), something he has done throughout his international career.

The Pelicans don’t currently have an open two-way contract slot, but have an opening on their 15-man roster, even if they re-sign Isaiah Thomas to a second 10-day contract once his first deal expires tonight.

Naji Marshall has been a rotation player for the Pelicans as of late and seems unlikely to be waived, so if the team cuts a two-way player, Will Magnay is the more likely choice. New Orleans could also promote Marshall to the standard roster to open up a two-way spot for Nunnally, though the club doesn’t have much breathing room below the luxury tax line.

Southwest Notes: Wood, Aldridge, Jackson, Hinton, Pels

March 11th, 2021 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

There was some optimism that Rockets center Christian Wood, who has missed the team’s last 13 games due to a right ankle injury, might be able to return to start the second half, but it appears he’ll need a little more time to get back on the court.

Wood has been listed as out for the Rockets’ Thursday game in Sacramento, after ESPN’s Tim MacMahon first reported (via Twitter) that he was expected to miss the game. Wood has resumed basketball activities, per MacMahon, so his absence shouldn’t last much longer.

The odds of the Rockets making a run at a play-in spot are long, but if they want to have a chance, they’ll need Wood back in action — they’ve lost all 13 games he has missed.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

The impending divorce between LaMarcus Aldridge and the Spurs has been a long time coming, according to Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News, who suggests the team was starting to move on from the veteran big man last summer, when it made a push for a playoff spot without him. As the Spurs have adopted a new offensive approach, they’ve played better this season with Aldridge off the court (+2.5 net rating) than on it (-5.6 rating).
Grizzlies power forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who has yet to play at all this season due to a knee injury, will be out for a while longer. A source tells Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal that Jackson is continuing to ramp up his basketball activities and will be back this season, but his status won’t be updated until later this month or early next month.
With the NBA G League season about to end, more young players are being recalled to their NBA clubs. The Mavericks have transferred two-way guard Nate Hinton back to the NBA from the Santa Cruz Warriors (Twitter link), while the Pelicans brought back Wenyen Gabriel, Naji Marshall, and Will Magnay from the Erie BayHawks (press release).

G League Assignments: Pokusevski, Oturu, Magnay, Azubuike, Forrest

February 2nd, 2021 at 7:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Thunder rookie big man Aleksej Pokusevski has averaged 17.4 minutes per game in 17 appearances but he’s headed to Orlando to join the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. The 17th overall pick, who played 20 minutes in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, is shooting just 24.7% from the field and the team wants him to develop his offensive game.

Guard Ty Jerome and two-way players Moses Brown and Josh Hall are also going to Orlando. “A lot of time and effort has gone into deciding who to send and when to send them,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We felt like sending the four of them together, all for different reasons developmentally, was the best decision.”

We have more G League transactions from Western Conference clubs:

The Clippers assigned rookie big man Daniel Oturu to the Agua Caliente Clippers, according the RealGM transactions log. Oturu has appeared in 10 NBA games this season but has only averaged 4.2 MPG. He’s only gotten on the court once since January 22 and the organization wants Oturu to get some extended playing time during the bubble season in Orlando.
The Pelicans have transferred two-way player Will Magnay to the Erie BayHawks, the Pelicans’ PR department tweets. The 22-year-old rookie power forward out of Tulsa, who played in Australia last season, has not appeared in a game this season.
The Jazz duo of rookie center Udoka Azubuike and Trent Forrest are joining the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League team tweets. Azubuike, the team’s first-round pick out of Kansas, has made 12 limited appearances this season. Forrest, an undrafted guard out of Florida State, has played in two NBA games.

Will Magnay Signs Two-Way Contract With Pelicans

November 26th, 2020 at 4:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

DECEMBER 1: Magnay has formally signed his two-way deal with New Orleans, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

NOVEMBER 26: The Pelicans have agreed to sign center Will Magnay to a two-way contract, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN (via Twitter).

The 22-year-old most recently played in the Australian NBL. The 6’10” big man was voted that league’s Most Improved Player for the 2019/20 season, while playing for the Brisbane Bullets. For the season, Magnay tallied averages of 8.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and an NBL-leading 2.1 BPG. Magnay went undrafted in 2018.

The Pelicans have been active in reshaping their center rotation this offseason. They recently traded for former Thunder center Steven Adams and signed former Hornets big man Willy Hernangomez to be his primary backup. Raw second-year center Jaxson Hayes remains on the roster as well.

Magnay joins undrafted forward Naji Marshall in reportedly filling out both of New Orleans’s two-way contract slots. This year, two-way players can partake in up to 50 games for their NBA clubs.

And-Ones: G League, Mitchell, Magnay, GM Moves, Jones

November 15th, 2020 at 3:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The G League plans to have its elite Ignite team, which includes top 2021 draft prospects Jalen Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd, face G League alumni in closed-door scrimmages in Walnut Creek, California this week, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. They will also hold two streamed scrimmages next month, Charania adds. The Ignite team, which is based in Walnut Creek, was formed as a part of the league’s development program for top prospects.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Donovan Mitchell, Lonzo Ball and John Collins are some of the high-profile rookie scale extension candidates who might not be worth a full max, according to The Athletic’s John Hollinger. Hollinger anticipates Mitchell will get a max extension but the Jazz might be wise to go four years rather than five. Hollinger takes a closer look at the value of all extension-eligible candidates from the class of 2017.
Australian big man Will Magnay is drawing interest from NBA clubs, ESPN’s Olgun Uluc tweets. His current club, the Brisbane Bullets, is preparing to play without him this season, Uluc adds. Magnay, 22, was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player last season.
What are the best and worst moves that top NBA executives have made with their current teams? ESPN’s Bobby Marks takes a closer look at all the GMs who haven’t been recently hired by their current organizations.
Former NBA player Jalen Jones may have suffered a torn Achilles playing in Italy, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. Jones was playing his first game this season for Pallacanestro Varese. The prognosis was first reported by La Prealpina. He last appeared in the NBA during the 2018/19 season during a 16-game stint with Cleveland.

Warriors Notes: Magnay, Rest Of Season, Draft

May 21st, 2020 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Brisbane Bullets big man Will Magnay, who has played in Australia’s NBL since 2017, said this week on the Gibbo Goes One-On-One podcast that the Warriors had interest in him earlier this year, but never formally offered him a 10-day contract.

“The Golden State Warriors had asked the Bullets if they had offered me a 10-day contract, would the Bullets release me,” Magnay said (link via NBL.com.au). “That was the conversation that went down and somehow that news got out. There was never anything on paper, there was interest and whatnot but never anything on paper.”

Magnay, who played his college ball at Tulsa, was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player in 2020 this season. The 21-year-old averaged 8.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 27 games (21.9 MPG) for the Bullets.

Here’s more on Golden State:

The Warriors still don’t expect they’ll be part of a resumed NBA season, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who notes that it’s unclear whether veteran stars like Stephen Curry and Draymond Green would even suit up if the team does have to play a few regular season games this summer. As Slater explains, Golden State’s focus is on next season and the club would view a resumed 2019/20 campaign as a de facto Summer League.
Within that Athletic article, Slater previews the offseason outlook for everyone on the Warriors’ roster, suggesting that Marquese Chriss and Damion Lee will almost certainly receive the rest of their partial guarantees, while Juan Toscano-Anderson, Ky Bowman, and Mychal Mulder (all on non-guaranteed contracts) might end up competing for one or two roster spots.
Many of the Warriors’ virtual draft interviews so far have been with non-first round prospects, according to Slater, who says the team is looking to “gain a wide view of the draft landscape.” The Dubs haven’t officially formed a draft board yet, sources tell Slater.