Armands Skele to leave Barons?

According to kasjauns.lv, Armands Skele(1.92-PG/SG) wants to leave Riga and Barons LMT. According to the articles Skele has another season in his contract with Barons and the owner of the team Ivo Zonnes managed to keep him in the team by paying him in time. Barons have had financial issues this season.

Zonnes would like to keep him in the club for another season, as he is one of the most popular players in Latvia but he does understand that he is an expensive player and that he might easily find a better contract abroad. This season he has averaged 17.5 points 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 24 games in the latvian league and also 16.3 points 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 21 games of the Baltic League.

Tabuse wants another shot at the NBA

Former Phoenix Suns guard Yuta Tabuse is leaving the Japan national men's basketball team for another shot at the NBA. Tabuse had been training with Japan's national team but decided to leave the squad and head to the United States after receiving an invitation to attend the Dallas Mavericks' summer camp next month.

"I got the news all of a sudden and am happy I was able to get another opportunity," Tabuse said at a news conference Saturday. Tabuse, 28, played briefly for the Suns in the 2004-05 season and is the only Japanese player to make it to the NBA.

The 5-foot-9 point guard joined the Suns' training camp in 2004 and made the opening-night roster. He scored seven points in his first NBA game against the Atlanta Hawks but was waived by the Suns on Dec. 16, 2004.

source : espn.com

Tepic already signed with Panathinaikos?

According to greek portal sport-fm.gr, Milenko Tepic (2.02-PG/SG/SF) has already signed his contract with Panathinaikos. The deal is for 3 seasons and the total amount of the contract comes to 2.5 million euros for those 3 seasons, according to the article. The buy-out clause of his contract was 500.000 euros. This money will go to Partizan Belgrade for releasing the player that had a contract for one more season with Partizan.

Tepic found out from his agent yesterday that Panathinaikos faxed the contracts and he proceded to signing them. The article also says that Tepic had another offer from CSKA Moscow but he decided to turn it down. He will find in Panathinaikos former teammate, Nikola Pekovic (2.10-C) that signed with Panathinaikos last summer. He averaged 9.7 points 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 19 games in the Euroleague.

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos for Velickovic

Another set of teams comes to be added to the already long list of teams interested in the winner of the Rising Star award, serbian forward Novica Velickovic(2.05-SF/PF). According to prasinea.gr, a portal affiliated with the team of Panathinaikos, it implies that the athenian team are interested in signing the talented youngster but there is also interest from Olympiakos as well.

There is a "cold war" between the 2 greek powerhouses when it comes to claiming players and the media do tend to feed that frenzy. Nevertheless, after that award it is only natural that Velickovic's name appears so often in sports media. He finished the season in the Euroleague as Partizan's top scorer, with 11.5 points per game, and it's second best rebounder, with 5.1 on average. Velickovic was also among his team's best three players in steals, assists and blocks.

Kecman to Panellinios?

According to sport.gr, Dusan Kecman(1.97-SG/SF) has been approached by the team of Panellinios and it implies that he is very close to agreeing with them. This might seem odd as the greek play-offs are still in progress but very close to their end. 

Kecman did not have much playing time in Panathinaikos amongst stars like Diamantidis and Spanoulis, but surely he will have a much more active role in Panellinios if he chooses to play for them. The 32-year old serbian guard/forward, who played for years for Partizan Belgrade, averaged 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 31 games with Panathinaikos so far in the greek A1 league. 

Ginobili might retire from Argentina NT

Argentinian superstar Manu Ginóbili expressed doubts about his participation with the national next year at the World Championship in Turkey. If Argentina is to qualify through the Americas Championship this year (which will not have the participation of the guard), the 31-year-old is still unsure about joining, as his body is already reflecting the many years of competition both at club and national team level. 

In the Beijing Olympics last year, Ginóbili got injured in the game semi-final game against the United States and no longer returned for the bronze medal match. According to the player, a decision, on which the San Antonio Spurs have no special say, is to be taken just next year, when the tournament approaches.

source : basket-spot.blogspot.com

Virtus Bologna is out, owner wants to sell

On Thursday night, Benetton Treviso defeated Virtus Bologna 78-72, advancing to the Serie A Semifinals, in which will meet the almost unbeatable Montepaschi Siena. The loss suffered by the top Bologna team will prevent the club to play in Euroleague next season, and this triggered a true earthquake: Claudio Sabatini , the Team Owner, stated to media that the team is on sale. 

His first moves were to not renew the contracts of GM Andrea Luchi and coach Matteo Boniciolli, who are now both free agents, and to not extend the agreement with Guilherme Giovannoni (202-F-80). Another player who won' t be anymore with Virtus is NBAer Earl Boykins (168-G-76, college: E.Michigan), who disappointed Sabatini in last playoff games. The only arrive is the one of Massimo Faraoni , who will serve as the new General Manager of the team, running all the market operations starting from next week. As you can see, an immediate, true budget reduction process has started, as will become common very soon in all Italian basketball.   

source : eurobasket.com

Petravicius to leave Lietuvos Rytas

According to basketnews.lt, Marijonas Petravicius(2.08-C) is likely to leave Lietuvos Rytas and not renew his contract with them that expires this summer. The GM of the club, Jonas Vainuskas said that Petravicius has become far too expensive a player for Lietuvos Rytas to afford. Already they have signed Dejan Borovnjak and Aron Baynes (who will effectively replace him) and it seems that the days of Petravicius in Lietuvos Rytas will soon be over.

Vainuskas also denied rumors that they are interested in Vule Avdalovic(1.89-PG), former point guard of Valencia. He said that the team was interested in Avdalovic 3-4 years ago but not anymore.

Lietuvos Rytas announced Aron Baynes

Lietuvos Rytas announced australian center Aron Baynes(2.08-C) this morning who will be one of their import players for the next season. Baynes' game is very physical and he adds formidable size to the front line of Lietuvos Rytas. 

In the last 4 seasons he has been playing for the Washington State Cougars and this will be his first pro season in Europe. In statements he made to the Lietuvos Rytas newspaper he said he how happy he was that he will be playing in the Euroleague with Lietuvos Rytas and that in the back of his mind he would want to play in the NBA one day.  He also said that he spoke to fellow australian, Matthew Nielsen who told him how important it is for the Lietuvos Rytas fans to see their team win and he understands the pressure. In his last season with the Cougars he averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 33 games.

Djordjevic and Bavcic for Olimpia

According to dnevniavaz.ba, point guard Dusan Djordjevic(1.95-PG) will be signing a 2 seasons contract with Olimpia Lubljana. According to the article the deal has already been agreed and it's very likely that it will be announced soon. Djordjevic was one of the top players in assists in the Adriatic League and last season he was 2nd best in that category. Last season he played for Vojvodina and this season he led the team of KK Bosna. He averaged 8.6 points 3.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 26 games for the Adriatic League.

Another player that is rumored to interest Olimpia is power forward Edin Bavcic(2.11-PF) that started the season in Antalya and later on moved to Koln 99ers. He was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, 56th overall. Bavcic was also the captain of Bosnia and Herzegovina National Team. He averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 19 games with Koln in Germany.

Bosna renewes with Vukoicic

After the excellent season in Bosna ASA BH Telecom Sarajevo, Vlada Vukoicic signed a new, long-term contract with the bosnian team. The administration of Bosna ASA BH Telecom Sarajevo and Vukoicic signed today 3+1 years contract. Vukoicic started his career in FMP Zeleznik in the youth leagues from 1994 till 2004. In season, 2003-2005 Vukoicic was assistant coach in FMP Zeleznik's senior team. 

He was head coach of FMP Zeleznik from 2005 till March 2008 when he moved to Hemofarm Stada till the end of the season. Vukoicic started season 2008-2009 in BC Oostende, but he left the team in October 2008. In season 2005-2006 he won the Adriatic league and in season 2006-2007 Vukoicic won tje National Cup Radivoj Korac with FMP Zeleznik. In the same season Vukoicic played with FMP Zeleznik in the semi final of ULEB Cup. In the European Championship U-20 of 2007 Vukoicic led the U-20 National Team of Serbia to the gold medal.

source : eurobasket.com

Hermann might leave the NBA

Free agent forward Walter Herrmann may return to Spain, according to a French-language Web site. The report said that the club Pamesa Valencia is rebuilding after losing three key players and that club president Manuel Llorente wants to bring Herrmann back.

Herrmann played four seasons in Spain after beginning his career in his native Argentina. The Pistons traded for Herrmann in December 2007 in a deal with Charlotte that helped clear the contract of center Nazr Mohammed, who had fallen into a limited role.

The Pistons hoped Herrmann could back up the forward spots, use his athleticism to break teams down, push the pace and make things happen.

At times he did, but he was inconsistent. Reports from the end of the season said the team was unlikely to bring him back. His scoring average was below four points in each of his two seasons with the Pistons.

source : freep.com

Brezec and Nachbar returning to the NBA?

Primoz Brezec(2.16-C) and Bostjan Nachbar(2.06-SF/PF) spoke to slovenian portal siol.net expressing their views on the future of their careers.

"My team status will remain uncertain for quite some time. My agent is never aggressive in finding a new contract foe me. We're waiting primarily on July 1 when they the negotiations officially begin in the NBA. I will see what team interests me in the U.S. and only then will I make my decision. I do not want to make promises to any European team in July and then realize that I wanted to play for a team in the NBA, "said the slovenian forward. As a player of Dynamo this season, he averaged 16.2 points 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24 games of the russian Superleague and 16.1 points 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 16 games of the EuroCup.

"Nobody expected from us that we will be out beaten by Biella in the first round of italian playoffs. I can't be satisfied with the season. We did a good job in the beginning of the season and I was also happy for my performances. But after we changed coach everything went down. I am leaving Roma, but at the moment I don't know where I will continue my career. There are a lot of possibilities. I'll be deciding between NBA and Europe. At the moment I am not thinking about this. I want to rest first and wait a bit. My agent will soon get in contact with some NBA clubs, due the fact that I was not playing there this year, we can do some negotiations before the 1st of July" said Brezec. He averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 25 games of the italian LegaA1 league. In the Euroleague he averaged 9.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 14 games.

Still no passport for Logan

Poland coach Muli Katzurin has announced a 16-man preliminary squad for September's EuroBasket and both David Logan and Marcin Gortat are included. American Logan, the high-scoring guard of Asseco Prokom Sopot, is hoping to have his application for a Polish passport approved in the coming days.

Gortat is the reserve big man of the Orlando Magic who has played big minutes in the NBA play-offs with his team just one victory shy of reaching the Finals. Katzurin, the former Israel national team boss, has also included Spanish-based players Michał Ignerski of Cajasol Sevilla and Michał Chyliński of LEB side Clinicas Rincon Axarquia, and Maciej Lampe of Russian Superleague outfit BC Khimki.

Poland veteran Adam Wójcik of BG Basket Poznań and Logan's Asseco Prokom teammate Filip Dylewicz are among the domestic based players in the group. The 40-year-old Wójcik made his EuroBasket debut nearly two decades ago when Poland played in the Final Round in Rome in 1991. He was also in the team that competed in Barcelona in 1997 and at the EuroBasket in Spain two years ago. Bartłomiej Wołoszyn, Pluta, Radosław Hyży, Kamil Pietras and Przemysław Frasunkiewicz played at EuroBasket 2007 in Spain but will not be involved. Logan is a player that Katzurin is anxious to incorporate into his line-up.

"This player may be very useful for our team," Katzurin said.

"I'd like to broaden our tactic as soon as possible taking David Logan into consideration."

source : eurobasket2009.org

Zalgiris paid off salaries, Maciulis to leave

Zalgiris Kaunas managed to pay off all their players and coaches' salaries according to basketnews.lt. Vladimir Romanov's investment bank injected 5 million lytas into the accounts of the team so that the salaries of all the players that were owed money to were paid off in full.

All the players of Zalgiris became free agents in January but some remained with the team to finish the season. GM of the club Paulius Motiejunas said that all the contracts will be renegotiated and there will be reductions in the contracts of the order of 25%

The interest here focuses on the star of the team, Jonas Maciulis(1,98-SF) who said that he wants to play for a foreign team next season. He mentioned the names of Real, Barcelona, CSKA or Panathinaikos regarding the teams that he wants to play in. Maciulis averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 10 games for Zalgiris in the Euroleague.

CSKA to reduce budget by 30%

According sportbox.ru, CSKA Moscow is to reduce their budget for the new season and the reduction will be 30% of the current budget according to GM of the club Andrey Vatutin. Vatutin said that the budget of the team last season was between 55 and 60 million dollars which accounts for all the expenses of the team and not just the players.

Given this reduction in the budget it remains a possibility that certain players will be released from the team if they have really high contracts and they don't offer as much.

Lietuvos Rytas booked Dejan Borovnjak

Lietuvos Rytas signed one of the most sought after players of the Adriatic League, serbian power forward Dejan Borovnjak(2.09-PF) of Vojvodina. The lithuanian team this way strengthen their front-line as they will be playing in the Euroleague next season after conquering the Eurocup for a 2nd time. The deal was announced by the player's agency, Beobasket, via their official website. The deal is rumored to be for 2 seasons.

Borovnjak played for 3 seaons for Partizan Beograd and he has also played for the youth National Teams of Serbia. Borovnjak averaged 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds in 25 games in the Adriatic League.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu to Maccabi?

There are rumors in many different european media about a possible deal of ghanaian power forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu (2.06-PF) will be signing a 2+1 seasons deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Bonsu becomes another player in a very long list of players that have been associated with rumors to Maccabi. He signed a 10-day contract with San Antonio back in February and after that he signed with the Raptors.

He was born in London and played collegiately at George Washington University. He spent four years with the Colonials finishing his career second on the school’s all-time blocks list (141) while earning Atlantic-10 All Conference First Teams honors during his senior year. Mensah-Bonsu was signed by the Dallas Mavericks after going unpicked in the 2006 NBA Draft.

During the 2006-07 season he appeared in 12 games with the Mavericks, averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds in 5.9 minutes. The 25-year-old Mensah-Bonsu had also played for the Austin Toros, the Spurs NBA D-League affiliate. In eight games with the Toros, he averaged 26.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.50 blocks in 39.8 minutes. 

His best game with the Toros came on 2/22 vs. Colorado where he had 39 points and 18 rebounds in 47 minutes.  He is also a member of the National Team of Great Britain and he will be taking part with them in the Eurobasket 2009 in Poland. In Europe he played for Benetton Treviso, Badalona and one game for Granada that actually saved the team from relegation. He averaged 5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 19 games with the Toronto Raptors.

Oglesby to play in Europe

Just a couple days after Nick Calathes decided to leave for Europe, Clemson sophomore Terrence Oglesby has opted to do the same. Oglesby, a 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 13.2 points per game last season, told FOXSports.com that he will bypass his final two years in college and play in either Italy or Spain.

"It's a very good opportunity for me to go over there and be a professional and practice twice a day and work out six hours a day," said Oglesby, who made 92 3-pointers last season and is considered one of the top perimeter shooters in the ACC. "It was too much to pass up."

Oglesby's mother is from Norway and he has dual citizenship, which is also the case for Calathes — the Florida standout who is expected to withdraw from the NBA Draft to sign in Greece — where he has citizenship.

Oglesby's father, Tony, played in Norway and Australia. While sources indicate Oglesby could earn about $500,000 per season, it wasn't about money. "That had nothing to do with it," said Oglesby, whose family is more than comfortable financially. "It had everything to do with living the dream of playing pro basketball. I'm lucky to get the opportunity. It's exciting."

Oglesby said he will sign with an agent shortly. "I've been thinking about it for a long time," he said.

source : msn.foxsports.com

Calathes to arrive after the play-offs

Nick Calathes will be arriving after the end of the play-offs for Panathinaikos. The greek point guard will not be withdrawing his candidancy for the 2009 NBA Draft as the predictions for his pick are quite good. He is currently estimated to be between 18 and 30 in the 1st round and he would ideally like to play for a team that will allow him to stay in Europe for a year or two. Reports from Greece say that his 3 season contract is estimated to be either 2.1 million euros or 2.4 million dollars in total.

The latest estimation is that he will end up either at number 22 or 23 in the 1st round. The general consensus is that he will be picked by a team that might not want to integrate him to their roster straight away. In this case instead of playing in the NBDL, Europe and Panathinaikos are the favourable option.

4 youngsters tried by Bilbao

Bilbao will be trying 4 youngters over the next few days. Alexandros Sigkounas(2.02-SF) is one of them. The 21-year old forward was playing for Olympia Larissa this season but due to the team's financial problems he had to leave. Sigkounas is interested in either finding a spot in the roster of Bilbao or securing a contract where he would initially play in one of the lower leagues in order to get some playing time.  Sigkounas played 17 games in the A1 league accruing 37 points and 33 rebounds.

Slovenian point guard Danijel Vujasinovic(1.80-PG), who is 20 years old will also be tried. He was previously playing in slovenian team Hopsi Polzela and averaged 10 points and 4.3 assists in 35 games in Slovenia. Even younger is bulgarian guard/forward Hristo Zahariev(1.97-SG/SF), who comes from Fortitudo Bologna.

Finally there is czech center David Steffel(2.11-C) who played for BK Synthesia Pardubice in the Czech Republic and he averaged 15.3 points and 8.2 rebounds in 32 games.

Panellinios are working on new transfers

The first new transfers this season might start early this transfer season for greek team, Panellinios. They seem to be in contacts with 3 greek players at the moment. Coach Zouros' attitude to base the team on greek players is a given.

The first 3 new transfers seem to be Dimitris Papanikolaou(2.01-SF), Giannis Georgalis(2.00-SF) and Vassilis Xanthopoulos(1.86-PG). The latter 2 have been playing for Panionios this season in the greek A1 league and the Euroleague while veteran Dimitris Papanikolaou played for AEK Athens once again after a previous season plagued with injuries. The announcement for these transfers are rumored to appear soon. 

AEK have been plagued by financial problesm and still owe salaries to Papanikolaou, while the president of Panionios, Ilias Lianos, made it clear that the team's budget will be decreased in the next season.

CSKA interested in Javtokas?

According to Lietuvos Rytas, CSKA Moscow is interested in lithuanian center Robertas Javtokas(2.11-C).  Javtokas' contract with Dynamo Moscow expires this summer and so the player will become a free agent. He has also played in the past for Lietuvos Rytas and Panathinaikos but they ended their contract mutually and he signed with Dynamo Moscow.

Javtokas played with Dynamo this season in the russian Superleague and the Eurocup. He averaged 8.2 points 6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 24 games in Russia, also he averaged 11.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in 13 games in the Eurocup.

Rodriguez left Manresa

Javi Rodriguez(1.89-PG) is ever closer to Bilbao after being released by Manresa. Manresa announced via their official website that the administration of the team and the player decided to mutually end their contract. The president of Manresa thanks Rodriguez for his contribution to the club and wished him the best in his future career.

The 30-year old veteran was the 2nd best in assists in the regular season behind Ricky Rubio(6.2) with 6.1 assists and leaving Pablo Prigioni in third place with 5 assists per game. He averaged 6.8 points 3.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 28 games in the regular season in the ACB. He has also been a member of the Spain National Team.

3 basic players to leave Partizan

OK, so much for the Very Important News from Serbia but in another article, Blic reports about the future of the Partizan basketball team, news that was of course less interesting these days.

First of all, the Serbian newspaper confirms three players' interest in leaving Partizan.
Besides the Europe-bound Tripkovic, Partizan are set to be deprived of the services of both Novica Velickovic and Milenko Tepic in the next season. The black-whites' point guard is expected to continue his career in Panathinaikos, and thus join his two compatriots and former teammates in the Athens club.

But the quote of the day came from Partizan head coach Dule Vujosevic, who commented on the rumors of leaving the club for a financially more interesting team.

More money was poured into the project - and I stress the word "project" - of the Belgrade Universiade than in the top sport in Serbia, which is a disgrace. Partizan is something far more for me than just a job and I can leave only if I receive a financially satisfactory offer. Also it would have to be a team who aims to win the Euroleague, which means I certainly won't be leaving for Benetton.

I'm guessing that management in Treviso doesn't really like to hear that?

source : ballineurope.com