Latest news with #GLeagueIgnite
USA Today
03-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Report: Nets sign F Fanbo Zeng, formerly of the NBA G League Ignite
Zeng went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, but since then, he has played for Beijing Shougang and has seen his stats improve. As Scotto said, Zeng is coming off his best season overseas. At one point in time, Zeng attended the NBPA Top 100 Camp in 2019, showing his potential. The Brooklyn Nets came into the 2025 NBA offseason with the goal of improving the roster for the 2025-26 season while taking chances on players that could be part of the franchise's future. Brooklyn has already made tweaks to the roster by adding veterans like Michael Porter Jr., but it seems that the team is also looking to take chances on young players as well. Per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto on Saturday, the Nets have agreed to a deal with forward Fanbo Zeng, who is currently considered one of the best prospects in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Scotto notes in his report that Zeng is coming off his best season in the CBA as he averaged 14.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 53.0% from the field and 40.9% from three-point land. Zeng, 22, first made his name known within NBA Draft circles when he attended the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Top 100 Camp in 2019, a showcase intended to show some of the best high-school players in the country. In October of 2021, Jonathan Givony reported for ESPN that Zeng would sign with the NBA's G League Ignite program in anticipation of declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft. Following the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, Zeng played in 22 games for the Ignite, but averaged just 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 38.5% from the floor and 31.0% from deep. After going undrafted in the 2022 Draft, Zeng signed with the CBA's Beijing Shougang where he would spend the next three seasons and play some of his best basketball. With Zeng signing to the Nets' roster, that now puts Brooklyn's total of players at 20, including forward Ziaire Williams, center Day'Ron Sharpe, and forward Ricky Council IV, whose transactions are still pending as of this writing. During the offseason, teams are allowed to carry as many as 21 players before having to cut the roster down to 18 players broken into 15 players on standard NBA contracts and three players on Two-Way deals.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Matas Buzelis glides for windmill slam at NBA Summer League
The post Matas Buzelis glides for windmill slam at NBA Summer League appeared first on ClutchPoints. Over the past couple of seasons, the Chicago Bulls have been a team that can't quite seem to pick a direction in terms of whether they want to tank or make the playoffs. They've been a team stuck in the play-in. But the Bulls have some intriguing young players on the team such as Matas Buzelis whose windmill dunk on Friday was one of the early highlights of NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. The highlight came in the second quarter of the Bulls' summer league game against the Toronto Raptors as they came up with a turnover, Matas Buzelis grabbed control of the ball and shot out on the break for the dunk. Buzelis' high-flying exploits were well-documented during his rookie season, and he was selected as a participant in the NBA Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend. The No. 11 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Bulls, Buzelis was among the final group of the G League Ignite before the NBA dissolved the team. A native of Chicago, the hometown hero put up a solid rookie season and was named to the All-Rookie Second Team. Buzelis appeared in 80 games as a rookie, including 31 starts, at a little over 18 minutes per game. He averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists with splits of 45.4 percent shooting from the field, 36.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Buzelis is among five players on the Bulls' summer league roster that figure to be on the roster when the regular season begins. The other four players are the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Noa Essengue, and two-way contract players Jahmir Young, Lachlan Olbrich and Emanuel Miller. Young and Miller were on two-way contracts last season while Olbrich was the No. 55 overall pick in this past draft. Whatever direction the Bulls end up choosing, they have a potential franchise building block in Buzelis. Related: NBA news: Charles Barkley recalls NBA Finals moment Michael Jordan humbled him Related: Michael Jordan's championship teammate fires back at Kevin Durant
USA Today
18-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Darius Bazley injury update: Lakers player taken off court in wheelchair
Los Angeles Lakers forward Darius Bazley appeared to suffer a serious leg injury Thursday night during the second quarter of an NBA Summer League game against the Boston Celtics. Bazley went down after his leg appeared to give out on him as he was driving toward the basket with two defenders on him. He was on the ground for a few minutes while he was being evaluated. He was eventually put in a wheelchair and was taken to the locker room. The severity of the injury has not been disclosed. Who is Darius Bazley? Bazley entered Summer League with five NBA seasons under his belt, for four different teams. He last played in the NBA during the 2023-24 season. He was drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, before he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He did not play college basketball, opting to play in the NBA's G League Ignite program. Bazley has averaged 8.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game during his NBA career. He has started 118 of the 237 games he's played in.
USA Today
04-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Report: Multiple teams showing interest in Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga
After a slow start to the free agency window, the Jonathan Kuminga saga with the Golden State Warriors has continued. The former lottery pick is currently a restricted free agent without a deal through the opening days of free agency. Different rumors and buzz have pointed towards multiple options regarding Kuminga, including a sign-and-trade with the Warriors and a new team or the 22-year-old wing potentially re-signing a new contract to stay in the Bay Area for the future. As the speculation continues, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported multiple teams are showing interest in acquiring Kuminga via sign-and-trade. The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards have been linked to the Warriors, per Slater. The Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets have "registered varying levels of interest" in the former G League Ignite product, according to Slater siting league sources. Read Slater's full update on Kuminga via The Athletic here. Kuminga is coming off an up and down season with the Warriors that included a significant ankle injury. In 47 games, Kuminga averaged 15.3 points on 45.4% shooting from the field to go along with 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists. After returning from injury and playing alongside new acquisition Jimmy Butler, Kuminga fell out of Steve Kerr's rotation at the end of the season. However, following Steph Curry's injury in the second round of the playoffs, Kuminga re-joined the rotation in impressive fashion in the postseason. In five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kuminga averaged 20.8 points on 54.3% shooting from the floor, including a 30-point performance in Game 3 against the Timberwolves. Stay tuned to Warriors Wire for the latest updates on Kuminga and free agency. This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
New York Times
30-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Jalen Green and Devin Booker can co-exist in a Suns backcourt and reversal
PHOENIX — As the Phoenix Suns rebuild their roster, adding size, length and toughness, their success next season likely will come down to a key question: How will players wired to score like Devin Booker and Jalen Green co-exist in the same backcourt? Booker, 28, is an organizational pillar, eligible this summer for a two-year extension worth $150 million that will keep him in place through the 2030-31 season. He is Phoenix's career scoring leader and arguably a top-15 player in the league. Problem is, Booker last season was not at his best. Although he put up strong numbers, his shooting percentages were among the worst of his career. He needs to rebound. Advertisement Green, 23, is the centerpiece of a recent trade that sent superstar Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. Once one of America's top high school prospects, the athletic 6-foot-4 guard skipped college and played a season for the G League Ignite before the Rockets selected him with the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft. Green played in Houston for four seasons, averaging 20.1 points and 3.4 assists. To help better understand how this might work, The Athletic talked with four coaches who have worked with Green at the pro level, and a 10-year NBA veteran who works as a television analyst for the Rockets. Their experiences with Green reveal his path to this point, and it might provide a glimpse of his future. Rasheed Hazzard was an assistant coach with the Ignite. In Walnut Creek, Calif., he lived in the same apartment complex as Green during their season together in the G League. When Hazzard opened his door, Green lived to his left and Jonathan Kuminga, a forward the Golden State Warriors would select seventh in the 2021 draft, lived diagonally to his right. Hazzard often made the two future NBA players breakfast — eggs with olive oil, avocado and crushed red pepper. The first thing that jumped out to Hazzard was Green's athletic ability. The guard would throw down dunks in practice that would leave coaches shaking their heads. The second thing Hazzard noticed: Green's competitive drive. Hazzard said that, during an early Ignite workout, the coaching staff matched Green with a veteran and told them to play 1-on-1. Green made a move, drove baseline and dunked on the vet, wanting to prove a point. For the entire season, Hazzard doesn't even recall Green losing a team sprint. The jump shot needed work, but the right attitude was there. 'Had he gone to college, he would've gotten in those shooting drills that college coaches put you through, so he would've gotten his reps in,' Hazzard said. 'It would've really helped him. We didn't get to make the tweaks and changes we probably would've made had the circumstances been a little different. We spent more time just trying to make as many corrections as we could within the framework of what he was doing.' Will Weaver and John Lucas were assistant coaches with the Rockets. Weaver coached Green in the NBA Summer League not long after the 2021 draft. In their second game, the Rockets played the Detroit Pistons, which featured the draft's first overall pick in Cade Cunningham. Weaver noticed a rivalry between Green and Cunningham. Advertisement 'First play, we ran it for Jalen,' Weaver said. 'They trapped his pick-and-roll and instinctively he made a perfect pocket pass to the big, which is a very sophisticated, unselfish, veteran-type play to make in a vacuum, much less your (second) Summer League game against the guy that you're trying to prove yourself against. You would've forgiven him for just trying to split it and go dunk on somebody, which he surely has the capacity to do, but I thought that was a really salient indication of who he is at his core.' A 14-year NBA veteran and longtime coach, Lucas recalled thinking of Green as just a really talented AAU player. But the rookie proved to be a quick study. Whatever Lucas asked, Green did. Meet in the gym for extra work at 6 a.m.? Green was there. Lucas worked with Green on his jumper. He worked with him on his defense. 'We still got some work to do,' Lucas said of Green's defense. 'That's the last piece that comes for an NBA player because everybody wants to score. They don't realize until they've won a little how important the defensive side of the ball is.' Stephen Silas was Houston's head coach for Green's first NBA two seasons. These were difficult, rebuilding years for the Rockets. They won 20 games in Green's first season, 22 in his second. Green, a starter from his first game, had to grow under fire. 'The way we were constructed wasn't necessarily to win, but it was for development for those guys,' Silas said. 'Jalen understood the big picture, but it didn't make it any less rough. He learned how to deal with adversity, learned how to be the leading scorer on the team and have a lot of responsibility that comes along with that. As a young kid, he was really just trying to figure it out.' The Rockets fired Silas after the 2022-23 season and hired Ime Udoka. They also added experience, trading for defensive ace Dillon Brooks (who will also come to Phoenix as part of the Durant deal) and signing veteran point guard Fred VanVleet. Over the next two seasons, as Houston turned into a Western Conference contender, Silas noticed Green's growth. Advertisement 'He is playing winning basketball, which is understanding you have to play hard on both ends,' he said. 'Every shot isn't your shot — he's grown to be a good shot taker. With experience and having the vets around him, showing him the right way to do things, it's really helped him grow. He's much more efficient. He's much more sure of what he wants to do.' Ryan Hollins is a 10-year NBA vet and the Rockets' television analyst. He watched Green struggle this spring in his first postseason action, a first-round series Houston lost in seven games to the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets' leading scorer during the regular season, Green averaged 8 points and shot 31 percent in their four losses. Much of the public blame for the series loss fell on his shoulders. Hollins doesn't think the criticism is fair. After Green scored 38 points in Houston's Game 2 win, the analyst said the Warriors adjusted. They trapped him. They picked him up sooner. They were determined to shut Green down. Hollins saw it more as the next step in the guard's development. 'He's going to have to add more strength because in the playoffs it was a different whistle,' he said. 'They put their hands on him. And for him, someone wanting to play in space, if someone who's stronger can grab and hold, it's going to be hard for him to get loose. He's still going to learn those tricks of how to draw those fouls or how to loosen up pressure. But, yeah, he was a focal point.' Hollins said if Green shows no improvement the rest of his career, he's at worst a great sixth man, a strong scorer off the bench. But if he stays on this path, learning how to win, feeding his competitive drive, he can boost his game to a higher level. 'Superstar,' Hollins said. Phoenix has an overflow of guards and wings, a group that includes three-time All-Star Bradley Beal. While the Suns are expected to keep Green, other moves are sure to follow. To start, Green's former coaches like the potential of a Green-Booker backcourt, no matter how it unfolds. 'First off, they're really good guys,' Silas said of Green and Booker. 'They're both selfless. They both want to win. They both have seen the goods and the bads and have a really good feel for team basketball and what it takes to help you get over the top and win. It remains to be seen, but I think when you start with the base that those two guys have, it could work.' Advertisement Weaver pointed out that it's 2025. The idea that a team needs to slot players into set positions is antiquated. Look at the Indiana Pacers and their run to the NBA Finals, he said. No one was concerned about redundancy with Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell. It will be the same with Phoenix, he said. Plus, Weaver has great respect for new Phoenix head coach Jordan Ott. 'It might surprise people how different the Phoenix Suns look next year,' Weaver said. Hollins said Green will learn from Booker. How to be efficient. How to deal with chippiness. How to perfect a one-dribble pull-up. A two-dribble pull-up. If Green can approach matching Booker in those areas, 'now we're jumping to a whole other hemisphere,' with his game, Hollins said. Hazzard didn't appreciate the question. He said it was disrespectful to Booker, who has molded his game around different teammates throughout his career. First Chris Paul. Then Durant and Beal. He said it also ignores the progress Green made in Houston, and the motivation he'll have upon arriving in the desert. 'Jalen Green, you put a chip on his shoulder,' Hazzard said of the Rockets trading him. 'You essentially said, 'We don't think you're good enough to take us to the mountaintop.' I have all the faith in the world as to how Jalen Green will respond. I can't say it because you can't write it. But you can imagine what I'm about to say. That's what (the Suns) are going to get from Jalen.' (Top photo of Devin Booker and Jalen Green during a Suns-Rockets game last March: Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
