Tag: Euroleague

Ex-Celtic floor general Shane Larkin won’t return to NBA as 3rd guard

Former Boston Celtics reserve point guard Shane Larkin won’t return to the NBA as a third guard after finding stardom in the Euroleague.

Don’t expect to see former Boston Celtics reserve point guard Shane Larkin back in green and white any time soon.

Larkin, who has since gone on to dominate the Euroleague with Turkish club Anadolu Efes since leaving the Celtics at the end of the 2017-18 NBA season, made it clear he has no interest whatever in returning to the league as a third guard, the role he had with Boston in his last stint in the Association.

And for good reason — he shattered the Euroleague scoring record, became the first Euroleague player in a century to score 40 or more points in back-to-back games, and set another record by winning player of the week four weeks in a row.

“I will not go back to the NBA as a third point guard,” Larkin explained (via Fansided’s Andrew Favakeh. “So, if any team asks about that, we’re not even gonna answer the phone.”

Instead, the Miami product would demand 18 to 25 minutes per game, and real responsibilities to go with them.

He’s earned such a role, if there’s a team out there looking for a real backup floor general who has actually demonstrated they can perform at a level commensurate with such a commitment.

Alas for Celtics fans who still carry a torch for Larkin, it seems likely the now-Euroleague superstar has elevated his game out of range for what Boston will be needing at point guard for the foreseeable future.

[lawrence-related id=36056,26288,20452,20228]

Gasol: Return to Lakers or Barcelona would be ‘attractive’

Gasol won two NBA titles while playing for the Lakers, where he stayed from 2008-14. He started his professional career with his home team in Barcelona, where he played from 1998-2001. He also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, the Chicago Bulls, the San Antonio Spurs and the Milwaukee Bucks. “My intention is to play another season if the foot is OK, either in the NBA or in Europe,” he said. “A final season with the Lakers is attractive, finishing at Barça is attractive, but you have to see the real possibilities and see what situation would be best for the circumstances of the moment.”

Marco Belinelli on free agency: ‘NBA remains my first option’

Marco Belinelli said that his priority in the next free agent will be to remain in the NBA. “I will be free agent in this damned summer of the virus, the least suitable to find a contract” Belinelli told La Repubblica. “I will check all the options, I count on having offers. Today NBA is and remains my first option, since the fire that pushed me to come here has not yet gone out” the Italian guard added. “Europe and Italy are not alternatives now due to calendar event. In the NBA we will be playing until August, there will be the draft in September and we will re-start later. This season is out of phase with the European season. In Europe teams are been built now, I believe I will be here to wait”.

Everything has changed in the last …

Everything has changed in the last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Euroleague officially canceled the season on May 25. How was the process of dealing with the league? Bostjan Nachbar: It was actually a very long process. We started with the players in Milano feeling very insecure about what’s going on, because that’s where the first outbreak was. So we started feeling a big need to suspend the season during the second week of March. There was a lot of talk with players, a lot of misinformation and a lot of unsureness on what to do, but we decided to notify early that the players were wishing to suspend the league because they didn’t feel safe anymore to travel and play. After the competition was suspended it started two months of long process communicating with the Euroleague and really making them aware of the players’ stance throughout this process. The first thing we wanted to secure were the minimum salaries that players must receive because there were no “force majeure” rules in players’ contracts. So we were able to achieve the minimum standard for players today which is 80 percent of their annual salary. Then the next step was talking with the players about whether they would like to continue or not, whether they felt safe enough to continue with the competition.

Bostjan Nachbar: The Euroleague has a …

Bostjan Nachbar: The Euroleague has a proposition to finish the season with a tournament in July. But the issue started mounting because players had difficulty traveling back the players and getting back on the court. So the biggest fear from players, interestingly enough, was not as much the virus itself but the injuries. They felt that having two to three weeks of training camp and then jumping right into the most important part of the season of playing up to nine games in 22 days was simply too much risk involved from the injury standpoint. So our communication was daily with the Euroleague, leading up to a meeting with two players from each team and the management of Euroleague in which the players were very direct and very honest about how they felt. And two days later the season was canceled.

That’s a big difference between the …

That’s a big difference between the Euroleague and NBA, because the NBA is willing to adjust its schedule to the new situation. Bostjan Nachbar: Yeah, this is the big thing. People sometimes forget that the NBA operates on their own schedule and on their own timeline. In Europe, you always have to adjust whether it’s to European competitions or to domestic competitions, depending on which side you’re looking from. So this is why it’s so difficult to be your own boss. You always have to look for permissions or look for adjustments and agreements. And that makes it much more complicated.

You’re an example of a player who went …

You’re an example of a player who went to the NBA and returned to Europe. And coincidentally you were a teammate of the current president of the NBPA, Chris Paul. Does it help the relationship between both organizations? Bostjan Nachbar: Honestly, I didn’t have any discussion with Chris on this topic. But I had a great experience playing with Chris. He was a rookie the year that I played with him and it would be great to see him again and catch up, especially in the roles we are now. But I have to say that Michele Roberts has been extremely supportive of what we do. And she is the one we keep in touch director to director, so to say. Same goes for Matteo Zuretti who is their international department director and he’s been amazing in this process.

Some overseas players have an …

Some overseas players have an NBA-buyout clause in their contract (also known as an NBA-out) that allows them to leave their international team if they get an offer from an NBA franchise. Some NBA-outs are monetary buyouts, but many of these buyouts give players a certain date in which they are allowed to test the free-agent market and secure an NBA offer. “Every year, there are a number of overseas players who exercise their buyout clause to sign with an NBA team, and the deadline for those buyout clauses is normally between July 10 and July 20,” one international agent said. “That way, it’s during the free-agency period and the player has the option of participating in Summer League beforehand to see if an NBA team is going to offer him a guaranteed deal or a two-way contract.”

“We’re in limbo because the dates no …

“We’re in limbo because the dates no longer match the NBA’s schedule,” one agent said. “It seems like the NBA doesn’t understand that moving free agency by several months will prevent most overseas players from coming over to the NBA because their contract only allows them to exercise their buyout clause in July.” Also, some NBA-buyout clauses “are based on a certain number of days after the team’s last game,” according to another agent. These could present some unique challenges as well.