USA Basketball Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Team USA, Bane, Jackson, All-Star Game, CBA

March 14th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill confirmed on Monday that Team USA won’t require its invitees to try out for World Cup or Olympic rosters or to make any sort of multiyear commitment to the program, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

Under former managing director Jerry Colangelo, Team USA invited more than 12 players to its World Cup camp and then made cuts from there to finalize its roster. Colangelo also asked stars to commit to taking part in Team USA activities for more than a single offseason in an effort to develop some roster continuity. However, Hill is hoping that continuity can be established quickly by selecting a 12-man roster early without going through the tryout process and then letting those dozen players develop chemistry with one another.

“There’s been a little bit of a generational shift that’s occurred in the league and basketball in general, and so I think we have to be willing to adapt and adjust to the times and adapt and adjust to players today,” Hill said, per Vardon. “We feel that it’s best served going forward to use that time to come together as a team and to really work on building that chemistry and that camaraderie and preparing for a very different game and a different style of play that exists in international play.”

Hill also announced on Monday that Team USA will play pre-World Cup exhibition contests against Spain and Slovenia this August ahead of previously confirmed tune-up games in Abu Dhabi. Spain, on the strength of its 2019 World Cup victory, is currently the No. 1 team in FIBA’s international rankings, while Slovenia will be led by Mavericks star Luka Doncic.

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

Grizzlies wing Desmond Bane and big man Jaren Jackson Jr. are among the players that have been asked by Team USA head coach Steve Kerr about the possibility of suiting up for the U.S. in the World Cup later this year, according to Vardon.
NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum acknowledged that the All-Star Game could benefit from some “tweaks,” but doesn’t believe the event needs to be fundamentally altered, he tells Leonard Solms of ESPN. “We have to be cautious. It is an exhibition game, so we don’t want players getting hurt during that game,” Tatum said. “Understand: there’s a balance there. It’s something that we’re looking at – and having conversations, by the way, with the players, on things that we might be able to do differently next year.”
Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports takes a deep dive into the challenges of collective bargaining for the NBA and its’ players union, exploring why the next CBA is more likely to include a series of modest tweaks rather than any sweeping changes.

And-Ones: Team USA, Referees, Most Improved Player, Oden

March 10th, 2023 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of this year’s World Cup, Team USA will play a pair of exhibition games in Abu Dhabi in August, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The U.S. national team will face Germany on August 18 and Greece on August 20 in the World Cup tune-ups.

As Windhorst outlines, the exhibition games seem to be part of a concerted effort by the NBA to further establish itself in the Middle East. The Bucks and Hawks played a pair of preseason games in Abu Dhabi this past fall, and the league opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Additionally, foreign sovereign wealth funds are now permitted to become minority shareholders in NBA franchises by purchasing stakes of up to 20%. According to Windhorst, Mubadala (Abu Dhabi’s fund) has reportedly displayed interest in making that sort of investment in an NBA team.

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

After blasting the league’s officiating – and singling out referee Ben Taylor – Raptors guard Fred VanVleet received a relatively light fine, which will give players the “green light” to continue criticizing the game’s officials, Windhorst stated during a Get Up segment on Friday (YouTube video link). VanVleet could have been fined up to $50K, but was only docked $30K, which Windhorst notes is less than Ja Morant and Marcus Smart were penalized earlier in the season for “heat-of-the-moment” curses at referees during games.
Josh Robbins, Kelly Iko, and Eric Nehm of The Athletic debated the frontrunners for Most Improved Player and weren’t in total agreement on which player deserves the award at this point. Robbins and Iko like Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, while Nehm favors Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. All three writers have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder as their current runner-up.
Mirin Fader of The Ringer takes an in-depth look at former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden‘s efforts to continue finding joy working in basketball following his brief, injury-marred NBA career.
Bill Duffy‘s BDA Sports is being acquired by WME Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who explores what the purchase means for the two agencies, Duffy, and BDA’s clients (a group that includes Luka Doncic).

And-Ones: Cheatham, Summer League, Udoka, Team USA

March 1st, 2023 at 6:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran forward Zylan Cheatham, who has appeared in NBA games for the Jazz and Pelicans since 2019, will resume his playing career in the EuroLeague. According to reporting from BasketNews.com, German club Bayern Munich added Chatham to its roster ahead of today’s deadline for EuroLeague teams to register new players.

After going undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019, Cheatham began his professional career on a two-way contract with the Pelicans, spending his entire rookie season with the team, though he only appeared in four NBA games.

Cheatham was sent to Oklahoma City in a sign-and-trade for salary-matching purposes during the 2020 offseason in the deal that landed Steven Adams in New Orleans, but was waived by the Thunder a week later. Since then, he has primarily played in the G League, though he did sign 10-day contracts with Miami, Utah, and New Orleans last season.

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

The NBA has officially confirmed the dates for this year’s Las Vegas Summer League, announcing (via Twitter) that it will take place from July 7-17.
Teams are beginning the vetting process of former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, according to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. Bulpett explores what teams want to know about Udoka and what steps he might have to take to land a new job following his year-long suspension and his subsequent exit from Boston.
Suns forward Kevin Durant and Kings forward Harrison Barnes are among the former Olympic medalists who are part of USA Basketball’s Board of Directors. Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press explores what that role entails, noting that Durant has sought to have real input on the program, rather than just having an honorary seat at the table.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic polled a handful of players at All-Star weekend about what they’d change about the NBA and received some interesting responses, including Anthony Edwards criticizing the concept of load management (“Just play, man. If you 80 percent, you got to play. I don’t like all this sitting, missing games and stuff”) and Tyrese Haliburton advocating for the league to expand (“The talent in the world right now is amazing, so to add two more teams would be good for our league”).

World Cup Notes: Team USA, Caruso, Carmelo

February 24th, 2023 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

USA Basketball clinched a spot in the 2023 FIBA World Cup with an 88-77 win over Uruguay on Thursday, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes. Longtime NBA guard Langston Galloway played a key role in Team USA’s comeback victory, scoring 11 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.

“Couldn’t be more proud about the group of guys that we have here,” Galloway said. “Just thankful for the opportunity. I’m getting to play and represent with the United States across my chest, and all the guys who have been part of this journey with me. … We accomplished the task at hand, which was qualifying for the World Cup.”

Team USA entered this month’s qualifiers needing to win one of two games to secure one of seven World Cup berths available to teams in the FIBA Americas region. Canada and the U.S. have now locked up two of those spots, but five remain up for grabs heading into the final day of qualifying matches on Sunday.

Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Brazil all have records of either 8-3 or 7-4 in qualifying so far and are battling to claim those five slots available in the FIBA Americas region — one of those six teams will be the odd man out after this weekend’s games and won’t compete in the World Cup later this year.

Here’s more on the World Cup:

Joe Vardon of The Athletic takes a closer look at the players and coaches (led by former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen) who did the dirty work of qualifying for a tournament that they won’t actually get to participate in. Steve Kerr will coach a Team USA roster made up of NBA players at the actual World Cup in August and September. “Nobody’s really gonna say, ‘Oh, congrats to so-and-so for doing this for us,'” said former NBA guard John Jenkins, who was part of the U.S. roster during qualifiers. “I don’t do it for recognition from the world. I just do it because I feel an obligation for my country and for a lot of the guys that are gonna play in the World Cup. They are my friends or I’ve played against them for a while.”
Within that same story, Vardon provides new context for a viral clip of Kerr telling Bulls guard Alex Caruso, “We’d love to have you” in December. According to Vardon, Kerr was actually talking to Caruso about Team USA’s World Cup roster, rather than trying recruit the veteran guard to the Warriors.
Veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, who won three Olympic gold medals with USA Basketball, has been named a global ambassador for this year’s World Cup, according to a FIBA press release. “I’ve proudly represented the USA on the world’s largest stages, and the World Cup is the toughest competition in international basketball,” Anthony said in a statement. “It’s all about striking a perfect balance of personnel, talent and having that great chemistry. I’m looking forward to supporting all the players at the World Cup this year and celebrating the sport on a global scale.” Argentina’s Luis Scola and Spain’s Pau Gasol are also serving as global ambassadors who will help promote the event.

And-Ones: World Cup Qualifiers, Nike Summit, MVP Race, Rising Stars, Draft

February 17th, 2023 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

With two more qualifying matches for the 2023 World Cup right around the corner, USA Basketball has officially announced the 12-man roster that will compete in February’s games. Team USA’s squad is made up primarily of G Leaguers, but features a number of players with NBA experience.

The 12 players who will represent the U.S. on February 23 vs. Uruguay and Feb. 26 vs. Brazil are Deonte Burton, Will Davis II, Abdul Gaddy, Langston Galloway, Treveon Graham, Dusty Hannahs, Nate Hinton, Jay Huff, Xavier Moon, Elijah Pemberton, Reggie Perry, and Craig Sword.

So far, Canada is the only team in the Americas field to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, having won all of its first 10 qualifying contests. However, Team USA – which has an 8-2 record so far – will clinch a World Cup berth by winning either one of its two games this month, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

Meanwhile, USA Basketball also announced the rosters for the 2023 Nike Hoop Summit, an annual showcase of U.S. high school prospects that will take place on April 8. The most notable name on the men’s roster is Bronny James, but Bronny isn’t the only son of a former Cavaliers lottery pick to be named to the event — the 13-player roster also includes Dajuan Wagner Jr.

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

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is building a strong case for his third consecutive MVP award and leads the way in the latest straw poll conducted by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Bontemps’ survey asks 100 media members for their current MVP ballots — Jokic received 77 first-place votes, easily besting runners-up Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks (11 first-place votes) and Joel Embiid of the Sixers (6).
Rockets guard Jalen Green (left groin strain) and Pistons center Jalen Duren (right ankle sprain) have been forced to withdraw from Friday night’s Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend due to injuries, according to the NBA (Twitter link). They’re being replaced by Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu and Rockets forward Tari Eason.
In his latest mock draft for The Athletic, Sam Vecenie moves Alabama wing Brandon Miller up to No. 3, writing that Miller is considered the safest bet in the 2023 draft class – outside of Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson – to be a “really good player” at the NBA level. Vecenie’s top five is rounded out by Overtime Elite guard Amen Thompson at No. 4 and Houston forward Jarace Walker at No. 5.

And-Ones: Taxpayers, Cap Room, Traded Cash, Sims, Lue, More

February 11th, 2023 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Prior to the trade deadline, 10 NBA teams projected to be taxpayers this season and the 20 non-taxpayers were each projected to receive $17.2MM as a result of those tax penalties, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

However, one of those 10 taxpayers – the Sixers – ducked below the tax line with a deadline deal, and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades reduced Brooklyn’s projected end-of-season tax bill by approximately $100MM, Marks notes. As a result of those changes, among others, the luxury tax distribution at the end of the season will now be split among 21 teams and will be worth a projected $14.5MM, based on current team salaries, says Marks.

Danny Leroux of The Athletic also considers the financial impact of a busy trade deadline week, though he’s looking ahead to the offseason, breaking down which teams project to have the most cap room in the summer of 2023.

Leroux anticipates there will be eight teams with the ability to generate significant cap space, ranging from the Rockets at $61MM to the Pacers at $28MM. The Spurs ($40-48MM), Jazz ($31-45MM), Magic ($22-58MM), Hornets ($27-37MM), Thunder ($31MM), and Pistons ($30MM) are also in position to operate under the cap, Leroux writes. The range in projections for some of those teams is related to decisions on options and non-guaranteed salaries.

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

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report has the details on the cash that changed hands at the trade deadline. In a series of tweets, Pincus reports that the Lakers sent $2MM to Magic in the Mohamed Bamba trade, the Suns sent $1MM to the Thunder in the Darius Bazley trade, the Clippers sent $1MM to the Hornets in the Mason Plumlee trade, and the Nets sent $1.36MM to the Pacers in the four-team Durant blockbuster.
Who will be available on the buyout market in the coming weeks? John Hollinger of The Athletic lists and ranks 32 buyout candidates (or players who have already been cut), starting with veteran guards Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson.
Circling back to a pair of pre-deadline stories: Knicks center Jericho Sims has committed to take part in this year’s dunk contest after Trail Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe dropped out, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). And Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue will replace Suns head coach Monty Williams as an assistant on Steve Kerr‘s Team USA coaching staff, per a press release.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that his company doesn’t plan to sell ESPN, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, who adds that Iger expressed a desire for ESPN to retain NBA rights when the league negotiates its next media deal.

Pacific Notes: Warriors, Curry, Holmes, C. Johnson

January 20th, 2023 at 12:05pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors tried out a new starting and closing lineup on Thursday in a Finals rematch again Boston, subbing in Jordan Poole for Kevon Looney. The five-man unit of Poole, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins was less stout defensively, but was more dynamic on offense — it’s a look head coach Steve Kerr suggested he plans to stick with for now, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

“Just wanted to open up the floor,” Kerr said. “Give us a little different look. Maybe get a spark. We’re past the halfway point and we’re .500. Like, let’s try something different. … It’s a lineup we know can be explosive. Against Boston, in particular, you have to open up the floor. I think I’ll keep doing it.”

Following Thursday’s loss, the defending champions are now 22-23, a game below .500. It makes sense that Kerr would be looking to generate a spark with a lineup shake-up, and his players are on board with giving the new starting group a shot.

“There’s strength and weaknesses to it,” Curry said after Thursday’s game. “But we got great shots with it tonight. Came out with a lot of juice. We gotta be better at rebounding. If we give up size, we gotta be more physical, prepared to rebound. But it gives us great space and gets us great shots, and you gotta like the way we can play fast and put pressure on defenses.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

In a Substack conversation with Marc Stein, Curry expressed interest in joining Kerr and Team USA in Paris for the 2024 Olympics and discussed how much longer he might want to play in the NBA. As the Warriors star explained, his hope when he entered the league was to match the 16 seasons his father Dell Curry played, but once he gets beyond that figure, he has no specific target in mind. “I don’t have any (longevity) goals other than maintaining the feeling that I have right now in my body and the night-in, night-out expectation of how I play and having that energy and joy and being able to recover from game to game,” Stephen Curry said.
With Domantas Sabonis out on Wednesday due to a non-COVID illness, Kings center Richaun Holmes got his first start since last February and played a season-high 31 minutes, registering 16 points (on 7-of-7 shooting) and 11 rebounds. As Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee outlines, it was a major achievement for a player who has gone through both professional and personal hardships in the last year. “It’s a testament to his character, his professionalism and his ability to play the game at a high level,” head coach Mike Brown said of Holmes. Sabonis is listed as questionable to play on Friday vs. Oklahoma City.
Cameron Johnson‘s return to action on Thursday – which saw him score 19 points in 22 minutes – provided a huge lift for a Suns team that has been mired in a lengthy slump, perhaps giving them a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, writes Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic. Head coach Monty Williams said Johnson “brought a level of juice to the arena that we haven’t felt in a while,” while Deandre Ayton said his teammate “definitely gave us a breath of fresh air.”

And-Ones: Franchise Valuations, World Cup, NBL, BAL

December 14th, 2022 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have an estimated worth of $7.56 billion, according to the sports business website Sportico, which put out its annual NBA franchise valuations this week. Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who formerly published the franchise valuations for Forbes, has the Warriors well ahead of the Knicks ($6.58 billion), Lakers ($6.44 billion), Bulls ($4.09 billion), and Celtics ($3.92 billion) on the site’s full list.

Those valuations for the Warriors, Knicks, and Lakers are all noticeably higher than the figures Forbes put out in October, while the numbers for the Bulls and Celtics fall slightly below Forbes’ estimates.

Sportico is a little more bullish on the value of NBA franchises on the whole, with an estimated average valuation of $3 billion per team. Forbes’ report had the estimated average worth of an NBA franchise at $2.86 billion.

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

Assuming Team USA qualifies for the 2023 World Cup, which is all but assured, the U.S. club will play all its games in Manila, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The World Cup will be played in Japan and Indonesia in addition to the Philippines, but each host nation got to pick one team it wanted to have for its group stage games. The Philippines, which will also host the final phase of the tournament, chose Team USA. Japan picked Slovenia (led by Luka Doncic), while Indonesia selected Canada.
Larry Kestelman, the owner of Australia’s National Basketball League, has interest in bringing an NBL team to the Las Vegas Summer League and says the NBA is open to the idea, according to Matt Logue and Michael Randall of the Herald Sun (subscription required). “We used to take teams to China, like an NBL All-Star-type set up,” Kestelman said. “We’ve discussed this with the NBA before and they were open to it, so we will continue those discussions.” The NBA has had some of its teams play exhibition games against NBL squads during the preseason in recent years.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) will tip off on March 11, 2023. As was the case in 2022, 12 top teams from 12 African countries will qualify to be part of the BAL season. Those teams will play a total of 38 games in Dakar, Senegal; Cairo, Egypt; and Kigali, Rwanda.

And-Ones: Trade Market, Spain, Coaches, Overtime Elite

November 18th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Even though we’re only a month into the 2022/23 NBA season, some front offices are “beginning to get itchy trading fingers,” writes Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, citing league sources. While the in-season trade market often doesn’t heat up until December 15, when most offseason signees become trade-eligible, some clubs may already be looking to make changes, according to executives who spoke to Bulpett.

“Everyone comes into the year having talked themselves into their roster,” one general manager said. “But then we start playing the games and soon enough reality sets in. Some teams shouldn’t read too much into it, because it takes time for guys to get on the same page if you’ve made some changes. But even though it’s crazy, some guys look at the standings and think, ‘Oh, s–t, I better do something.’ … And some of them are going to be under pressure to do something. It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens after December 15.”

Bulpett’s story features some speculation from executives about what struggling or inconsistent teams like the Lakers and Nets might do on the trade market, as well as a suggestion from one exec that clubs’ financial situations will be worth monitoring as the trade deadline nears.

“There could be some interesting players out there as we get deeper into the season, because I think teams are going to be looking to dump salary once it’s clear they’re not in the playoff mix — or maybe in the mix but with no chance to do anything if they get there,” the executive said. “Teams are going to start looking at that luxury tax bill and their record, and the two just aren’t going to mesh.

“Where it could get interesting is if some guys get the idea they need to make a splash to keep their jobs. But I think you’re going to see some owners step in and look at the bottom line. What’s funny is that they may end up saving their GMs from themselves — you know, keep them from doing something stupid.”

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

Spain has leapfrogged the United States as the No. 1 national team in FIBA’s men’s basketball rankings, according to a press release. The U.S. had held the top spot in FIBA’s rankings since 2010 and has won the last four Olympic gold medals, but finished seventh in the 2019 World Cup (which Spain won) and third in this year’s AmeriCup.
Zach Harper of The Athletic divides the NBA’s 30 coaches into “hot seat” tiers, starting with the ones who definitely aren’t going anywhere – such as Gregg Popovich and Erik Spoelstra – and working his way down to the coaches who might want to keep their LinkedIn profiles up to date — Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks and Doc Rivers of the Sixers are in that final tier.
A panel of NBA.com writers weighs in on the biggest surprises of the NBA season to date. Besides obvious choices like the Warriors‘ struggles and the Jazz‘s unexpected early success, the panel singled out the Pacers for their solid start and noted that offensive production has been off the charts in the early going.
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic checks in on where Overtime Elite stands heading into its second year, highlighting some of the tweaks the league has made. Among those tweaks? Offering recruits a choice of a scholarship or a salary, allowing them to leave the door open to eventually playing college ball by retaining their amateur status, if they so choose. “The scholarship option (for high-school aged recruits) has been big for us, if not bigger than NIL,” OTE general manager Damien Wilkins said. “Because now we can go out and recruit without restrictions. There’s no real downside.”

And-Ones: Team Canada, USA Basketball, Blockbuster Trades, Weber

November 13th, 2022 at 9:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Canadian national team has clinched a spot in next summer’s FIBA World Cup, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. Team Canada improved to 9-0 in qualifying rounds with a victory over Venezuela this week, taking a big step toward qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Even with a victory over Colombia on Monday, USA Basketball cannot yet clinch a spot in the World Cup, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tweets. At least five, and possibly six, of the seven World Cup spots for teams from the Americas region will be decided during February’s qualifying games, Reynolds adds. Team USA lost to Brazil 94-79 in a qualifying game on Friday, which prevented it from clinching a World Cup berth, according to an AP report. The U.S. does, however, still lead Group F with a 7-2 record, and will face Uruguay and Brazil in February.
Generally, blockbuster trades involving star players haven’t worked out for both parties, according to Louis Zatzman of FiveThirtyEight. Selling teams often haven’t improved beyond where they were with that star talent, while acquiring teams haven’t always found greater postseason success after bringing in that big-time player.
Former NBA player Briante Weber has been cut by the Israeli team Bnei Hertzliya, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets. Weber appeared in a total of 45 NBA games for a handful of teams, most recently during the 2017/18 season. He’s also played in Canada, Europe and Puerto Rico.