NBA

It was an up-and-down EuroBasket from Jovic, but he ended things on a high note, even if it was an early-than-expected loss for Serbia. Jovic’s 20 points were a tournament-high for him, which will hopefully help propel him into a big season with Miami. The 2022 first-round pick is an exciting late-round pick with plenty of upside.

It was another monster performance from Jokic, who has carried the load for Serbia throughout EuroBasket. However, it wasn’t enough for them to secure the win over Lauri Markkanen (29 points) and Finland. Serbia’s run ends in the Round of 16, which means Jokic will have some time to recover ahead of the regular season. That is a good thing, since managers will certainly be investing at least a top-two pick on him in every league.

It wasn’t the most efficient shooting performance from Markkanen, but he did lead the team in scoring in the upset win over Serbia. He was effective at the free throw line, which includes going 5-of-6 in the final minute to seal the victory. Finland will face the winner of France and Georgia on Wednesday.

Despite the loss, this was easily Porzingis’ best game of EuroBasket and is really encouraging heading into next season. The loss knocks Latvia out of the tournament, which means Porzingis’ next game will be his first for the Hawks. He didn’t dominate every game for Latvia, but he ended on a high note. The dynamic stretch big should get a ton of good looks playing alongside Trae Young.

Wagner didn’t have his best performance of the tournament, but it was more than enough for Germany to win this game handily. Wagner will need to have a better game on Wednesday, when they take on the winner of Italy and Slovenia.

Queta has been the star for Portugal throughout the tournament, and that continued in Saturday’s blowout loss. Queta will have a chance to be the starting center for the Celtics this season, which makes him an intriguing late-round option, especially after averaging 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game during EuroBasket.

Sengun was dominant in the Group Play games, and that carried over to the Round of 16. This was his second straight double-double and his fifth straight 20-point game. With the win, they’ll take on the winner of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Poland in the next round of the tournament.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Harper suffered the injury during a workout on Wednesday. The hope is that the second overall pick in this summer’s draft will be fully healthy in time for San Antonio’s October 22 season opener against the Mavericks. The Spurs have good depth on the perimeter, led by De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell, so they’ll have the pieces needed to account for Harper’s absence if he is not ready for the season opener. He should be one of the top rookies in fantasy basketball next season, so Harper’s recovery is something that fantasy managers should continue to track ahead of their league drafts.

Oklahoma City will not have its first-round pick available for the second consecutive season due to a knee injury. Nikola Topić sat out the entire 2024-25 campaign after suffering a torn ACL, and Sorber met the same unfortunate fate during an on-court workout on Thursday. The 6-foot-9 forward/center out of Georgetown did not play during summer league due to a foot injury that ended his lone college season in February. While Sorber’s absence is unlikely to impact his value in redraft leagues due to Oklahoma City’s frontcourt depth, that may not be the case for dynasty leagues.

Giddey is a restricted free agent, so the Bulls hold the leverage in their negotiations. While the team has reportedly increased its offer to Giddey from four years, $80 million to four years, $88 million, that still does not align with Giddey’s hopes of a deal that would pay him an average annual salary of $30 million. According to Marks, the AAV of $22 million is on the low end for starting point guards. One option available to Giddey is to sign a one-year qualifying offer worth $11 million. Doing so would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. Qualifying offers expire on October 1. From a fantasy standpoint, Giddey was close to a top-50 player last season and meshed well with fellow guard Coby White.