Tag: Marko Simonovic

2 former Bulls summer league players sign for same team

Two former Chicago Bulls Summer League players just signed for the same team.

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For the past few weeks, the Chicago Bulls have been able to keep an eye on their young talent during summer league. Javon Freeman-Liberty and Adama Sanogo showed out, while others, such as Dalen Terry, struggled to live up to expectations. Regardless, summer league is the perfect opportunity to evaluate rookies, sophomores and other unproven talent.

However, not every player who appears in summer league will earn a shot in the NBA. In fact, very few will. Some will end up in the G League. Some will make their way overseas. Two former Bulls summer-leaguers signed with the same overseas club.

According to Daniel Greenberg on Twitter, Yago Dos Santos, who played for the Bulls summer league team this year, and Marko Simonovic, who played in summer league last year and was recently waived by Chicago, have both signed with KK Crvena Zvezda Belgrade.

KK Crvena Zvezda Belgrade is located in Serbia who competes in the EuroLeague and Serbian KLS. Last season, former NBAers Jaylen Adams, John Holland, and Facundo Campazzo played for the club.

In four appearances for Chicago’s summer league team this year, Dos Santos averaged 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 39.1% from the field and 44.4% from distance.

Meanwhile, in five summer league appearances last year, Simonovic averaged 15.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2 assists per contest while shooting 50.8% from the floor.

They will team with Mike Tobey, Milos Teodosic, Shabazz Napier and Joel Bolomboy on KK Crvena Zvezda Belgrade’s squad, giving it a team full of former NBA players and NBA-level talent.

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Report: Chicago Bulls waive center Marko Simonovic

According to reports, the Chicago Bulls have waived big man Marko Simonovic.

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The Chicago Bulls are waiving big man Marko Simonovic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Chicago selected Simonovic with the 44th pick in the 2020 NBA draft. He came over to the league the next offseason (2021), and the Bulls signed him to a three-year, $4.3 million contract with a team option in the final season.

During his time with the Bulls, Simonovic failed to make any significant impact. The 6-foot-11 big man appeared in 16 total games across two seasons, playing 3.4 minutes per contest. He averaged 1.4 points and 0.8 rebounds while shooting 27.3% from the field and 22.2% from behind the three-point line.

The 23-year-old played fairly well in the G League this past year, however, averaging 15.9 points and 10.0 rebounds on 52.4% shooting overall and 39.3% shooting from distance. However, it wasn’t enough for Chicago to keep him around on a standard roster spot.

Simonovic will go down as one of the more disappointing picks in recent Bulls memory: Multiple rotation-level players were selected behind him, including Isaiah Joe (49th), Kenyon Martin Jr. (52nd) and Paul Reed (58th).

Making second-round picks is difficult, but signing Simonovic to a three-year deal showed that Chicago had faith in him. It just didn’t pan out.

By waiving Simonovic, Chicago will open another spot on the roster, likely in hopes of adding more win-now talent, as they have their sights set on getting back into the postseason next year.

With Simonovic gone, the Bulls have 12 players under contract. That number could move to 11 if they waive Carlik Jones, but it also doesn’t include rookie Julian Phillips, who has not yet signed.

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Simonovic scores 26, leads Bulls over 76ers in summer league finale

Chicago closes out their time in Las Vegas with a double-digit victory.

The Chicago Bulls finished out their Las Vegas Summer League schedule with a 119-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

Marko Simonovic led the way for the Bulls, finishing with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor.

Carlik Jones played his best game of summer league on Saturday, filling up the stat sheet with 18 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assist, and 5 steals on 7-of-12 from the field.

The Bulls leave Las Vegas with a 4-1 record in summer league as their young talent showed some promise, led by Simonovic and 2022 first-round pick Dalen Terry.

Stay tuned to Lonzo Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Simonovic’s double-double leads Bulls over Mavs in overtime

The Bulls big man was dominant in Chicago’s summer league opener.

The Chicago Bulls kicked off Las Vegas Summer League on the right foot on Friday, earning a 100-99 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas led by as many as 16 points before a fourth-quarter comeback by Chicago forced the extra period.

The Bulls were led by Marko Simonovic, who notched a 27-point, 13-rebound double-double along with 3 blocks in the victory.

Simonovic and company outlasted the high-scoring duo of Jaden Hardy and A.J. Lawson, who each scored 28 points for the Mavericks.

The Bulls will look to follow up their overtime victory with a win against the Knicks on Sunday.

Stay tuned to Lonzo Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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2020 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0: Final update ranking Top 100 prospects

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

After numerous delays and postponements, front offices and draftniks have had more time to analyze the 2020 NBA draft than any previous year.

Originally scheduled for June, the ongoing pandemic pushed the big night back by five months. While this may cause some teams to overthink their decisions, it gave analysts plenty of time to study all of the top prospects eligible in this class.

This year, players had to participate in a mostly virtual pre-draft process. On the bright side, this meant that teams had the opportunity to interview more candidates than ever before.

However, the number of in-person visits were incredibly limited due to the restrictive parameters set by the league. Similarly, the NBA draft combine was conducted without the typical scrimmages where players can separate themselves from the others with impressive on-court performances.

Overall, the players that stood out in this pre-draft process had a different path to recognition than any other year. College basketball players did not have the opportunity to showcase themselves during March Madness. The nation’s top seniors did not get to participate in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

As such, executives will rely mostly on the existing game footage as well as the intel they gathered during their conversations with the prospects. We also depended on similar strategies, getting access to one-on-one interviews with more than three dozen prospects and exchanging our thoughts with various scouts across the league.

This helped us put together our final big board, looking at the Top 100 players ranked on their potential to make a difference for teams in the NBA.

Relevant statistics were pulled from Synergy Sports Tech, Bart-Torvik, KenPom, Open Look Analytics and RealGM. Note that the age listed for each player references how old they will be on the night of the draft.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

2020 NBA aggregate mock draft 8.0: Draft day ranges for top prospects

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done. 

The 2020 NBA draft is fairly unpredictable and prospects have wider ranges in where they could get selected when it is all said and done.

We looked at mock drafts from NBADraft.net, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Stadium, SI.com, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s Rookie Wire, USA Today and Yahoo to give us a more clear understanding of consensus rankings and projections.

This also provided context for realistic high-end and low-end predictions for the players most often included in mock drafts.

Please note that the range included for each player is not based on our own reporting or intel and it only reflects the data pulled from the various mock drafts.

The full list of our latest aggregate mock draft rankings can be found here. HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

Sixers 2020 NBA mock draft: Marko Simonovic a long term project at 58

Serbia prospect Marko Simonovic has been mocked to the Philadelphia 76ers at 58.

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The very back end of the draft in the NBA is always filled with draft and stash, long-term projects that teams will have interest in. These players will be selected, but they will most likely remain overseas and some might not see an NBA court.

The Philadelphia 76ers have needs for shooting and people who can put the ball on the floor in this draft, but those needs will most likely be filled at picks 21, 34, and 36. With their other two picks at 49 and 58, they will likely look at some of those long-term projects.

Bryan Kalbrosky of Rookie Wire has put together his latest mock draft and he has the Sixers taking one of those prospects in the form of Serbia’s Marko Simonovic.

Kalbrosky on Simonovic:

The Philadelphia 76ers are not going to be able to offer a roster spot to every player they draft, so they likely will be evaluating draft-and-stash prospects.

Mega Bemax’s Marko Simonovic is a prototypical big man who shined at the U20 European Championship in 2019. He has since become one of the most productive players in the Adriatic Basketball Association.

During his first game of the season in 2020-21, Simonovic recorded 19 points and 13 rebounds while also connecting on six of his seven attempts from the field.

Simonovic will most likely not see an NBA court for a couple of seasons as he is a guy who will need a lot of development. However, if he can continue to work and add a jump shot or anything of that nature, then the Sixers could find a diamond in the rough for the future. [lawrence-related id=38659,38656,38653]

Sixers Round 2 mock draft: stretch big Marko Simonovic mocked at 59

Stretch 4 option Marko Simonovic has been mocked to the Philadelphia 76ers at 59 overall.

The Philadelphia 76ers are not guaranteed a first-round pick at the moment. That will depend on how well the Oklahoma City Thunder perform when the season resumes on July 30 in Orlando at the league’s designated “bubble site” at Disney World.

What is guaranteed for them is their four second-round picks that will come on draft night in October. After taking a look at their earlier picks in Round 2, the final pick to look at is 59. By this point, the Sixers will probably have a lot of their needs filled, but it would not hurt to grab an international prospect.

Bryan Kalbrosky of Rookie Wire has put together his mock draft 4.0 and has the Sixers taking a flier on Serbian Marko Simonovic with the 59th overall pick.

Kalbrosky on Simonovic:

Marko Simonovic is a prospect who was one of the top scorers in the Adriatic League, averaging 16.8 points per game. The 20-year-old prospect added 8.0 rebounds with 1.2 blocks per game in 2019-20. He also averaged 17.3 points while shooting 41.7% from 3-point range and adding 3.0 rebounds per game at the U20 European Championship in 2019. He has been especially productive when operating as the roll man out of pick-and-roll sets. Simonovic would be a strong draft-and-stash option for Philadelphia if the 76ers do not consolidate their picks and trade up.

Standing at 6-foot-10 and at 20-years old, Simonovic would be a perfect option for Philadelphia this late in the draft. The 3-point shooting ability for a guy that tall fits exactly how the NBA is played in 2020. That would help the Sixers space the floor in a big way in the future. [lawrence-related id=33339,33331,33324]

Five 2020 draft-and-stash candidates for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics brought on seven rookies in 2019-20, and have as many as four incoming 2020 picks; here’s five players already overseas who might be draft-and-stash candidates.

The Boston Celtics have a lot of rookies this season — seven, in fact — and have as many as four draft picks in the 2020 NBA Draft.

You don’t need to be a general manager or math expert to realize a 15-man roster with 11 players with a season or less experience isn’t exactly an optimally constructed team, which is a roundabout way of saying the Celtics are going to have to make some moves to avoid wasting draft assets.

Some players aren’t likely to come back. Others may choose to leave. Trades may be made — to consolidate players, draft assets, or both. But there’s one other possibility in team president Danny Ainge’s toolkit that he may dust off despite it not working out so well last time around.

That time of course would be when he drafted French big man Guerschon Yabusele, who, while an interesting prospect, failed to develop into the prospect hoped for once he arrived stateside.

But this time, the bulk of the Celtics draft assets are in the late first round, with a second rounder likely still in range for a quality prospect, with some luck.

Who might be a good option to spend a season or two overseas while the team takes some more time sorting out who’ll stick from it’s current, colossal class of rookies?

Drawing from HoopsHype’s “Ranking the Top 20 international prospects eligible for 2020 NBA draft“, we’ll take a look at several prospects already “stashed” abroad.

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