NEWSLETTER
YOU ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO SEE IT!
- EuroBasket has come to an end. Spain took down Rudy Gobert and France on Sunday to claim the 2022 championship trophy. Juancho Hernangomez – aka the legendary Bo Cruz – took home Finals MVP honors with his 27-point performance. Now with the Toronto Raptors, Hernangomez represented just one of many current NBA players who had quite the impressive run overseason this summer.
- Indeed, if you’re interested, HoopsHype handed out grades to those NBA players that suited up in EuroBasket over the past few weeks. Goran Dragic received a B- for his stint with Slovenia, which I find a bit off considering he did average an extremely solid 14.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists at age 36. But I guess he and his home country did fail to meet expectations as the reigning champs, which could warrant a small demerit.
- Marko Simonovic was the only other Bulls player to take the floor, and HoopsHype handed him an underwhelming D+. He was the only player for Montenegro with NBA experience and averaged a meh 8.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. Once again, considering how needy the Bulls appear to be at the power forward position, I just want to say it’s a pretty big bummer that Simonovic has failed to really show anything that can get him on the NBA court soon. The front office handed him a full-time roster spot, and they risk having that go to waste for basically another whole season.
- I mean, at this rate, is it possible Kostas Antetokounmpo sees minutes before the Bulls’ former 2nd-round pick?
- I know he doesn’t even have a roster spot yet, but I think there is a pretty decent chance he can win one at training camp. Between Malcolm Hill and Carlik Jones, the competition doesn’t seem the stiffest, especially when we (once again) factor in the Bulls’ need for wing defense and power-forward depth. I know Antetokounmpo has yet to really impress during his time with both the Lakers and Mavericks, but he’s still 24 years old and has the kind of athletic fame that certainly fits NBA play. To be sure, I’m not going to sit here and believe the Bulls have found any kind of difference-maker in this Antetokounmpo brother. But it should still be cool to see what he’s got when training camp and the preseason tips off.
- Not to mention, if the Bulls sign him, they can throw him at Giannis each time they match up! He’s not going to completely embarrass his younger brother, right? The last thing he’ll want is a talking to from his mom at the next family dinner!
- Bleacher Report recently did a far-too-early re-draft of the 2021 class, and they moved No. 38-overall pick Ayo Dosunmu up to the No. 16 pick. As significant of a jump as that is, I think it’s pretty hard not to put the All-Rookie Second Team member into the lottery. Not only did he play some of the best defense from a rookie last season, but he filled in for Lonzo Ball in a surprisingly effective way. As far as I’m considered, Dosunmu belongs somewhere between the 11-14th pick, and I’d currently put him ahead of both Isaiah Jackson and Quentin Grimes.
- Will Perdue is spitting facts!
- The Last Dance drama could have been more ridiculous. Do I think Scottie Pippen could have received a little more praise? Sure. Do I think there were certain players who were left out that needed to be featured? Absolutely. But to complain about that documentary being heavily about The GOAT is absurd. As Perdue puts in, the whole premise was about winning championships under an aggressive spotlight – one that wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for His Airness. And, as Perdue said, this was all so long ago. Why complain about it now?
- Congrats to the Aces and first-year head coach Becky Hammon!
- Calling shotgun was still so dumb.
- Tell me more!
