And-Ones: Baldwin, Johnson, Okobo, Wembanyama
Former first-round pick Patrick Baldwin Jr. has signed with Crvena Zvezda, Alessandro Maggi writes for Sportando.
Baldwin, the 28th pick in the 2022 draft, split time between three teams this season, starting the year with the Clippers before playing one game with the Sixers and finishing out the season on a two-way contract with the Kings.
He spent the majority of his time last season in the G League, where he averaged 21.3 points and 7.6 rebounds, though he struggled with his long-range efficiency, hitting 33.3% of his 5.3 threes per game.
The former five-star recruit joins a pair of former NBA players, Jonathan Motley and Jared Butler, on the Serbian club, which came in 10th in EuroLeague play last season and lost in the play-in tournament to Barcelona.
We have more news from the international basketball world:
- Stanley Johnson has signed with the Gunma Crane Thunders in Japan, the team announced on Friday. A top-10 pick in 2015, Johnson played in Japan last season for Nagasaki Velca, where he averaged 22.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists and helped lead them to the best record in the league and the eventual league championship.
- Dubai Basketball has signed French point guard Elie Okobo to a multi-year deal, the team announced in a press release. Okobo, who played two seasons with the Suns after being selected with the 31st pick in 2018, is coming off a season where he was named MVP as well as Finals MVP of the French League for his standout play with AS Monaco. He joins a team loaded with NBA talent, as Dubai currently rosters Dwayne Bacon, Davis Bertans, Justin Anderson, Dzanan Musa, Mfiondu Kabengele, McKinley Wright IV, and Jaron Blossomgame.
- ICYMI: Victor Wembanyama has resumed training in France following his trip to the NBA Finals and is expected to re-join the French national team’s World Cup qualifying roster, where he will play alongside Okobo and others. Their first game is against Slovenia on August 27.