Jokic personally persuaded DeRozan to come to Denver for 3.9 million, and Macedonia sets off for Vienna

Jokic called personally: how Denver got DeRozan for 3.9 million

When a team wants a player, it sends the general manager. When Nikola Jokic wants a teammate, he calls himself. According to insider Chris Haynes, Jokic, together with Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, was in contact with DeMar DeRozan before he formally signed for the Nuggets. The deal is for one year and worth 3.9 million dollars - a laughable figure for a six-time All-Star who last season averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 77 games at 49.7 percent from the field. At 37, DeRozan chose Denver over Miami, Washington and New Orleans. Not for the money, obviously. For the Serb who is at the centre of everything Denver does.

Klay Thompson to Miami: 13 million to wait alongside Giannis

Klay Thompson has signed a two-year deal worth around 13 million dollars with the Miami Heat, after Dallas bought out his contract. He was due to earn 17.5 million in the final season of a three-year, 50 million arrangement, but asked for a team competing for a title. Dallas found no trade partner and let him go. Last season Thompson averaged 11.7 points in 21.7 minutes across 69 games, shooting 38.3 percent from three. He is no longer the Golden State player who was breaking records alongside Curry, but for a team being built around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, a veteran who still hits from distance is not badly spent money.

The market is open past August too: Kuminga is still choosing, and teams are still assembling

The end of August usually means the rosters are closed. Not this year. Jonathan Kuminga still has two finalists, Miami is hunting a veteran centre for the last roster spot, and the Nuggets, having brought in DeRozan, will probably trade another big man. What used to be settled in July is now dragging on for weeks, and the reason is simple - the new salary rules force clubs to wait. Every move pulls three others with it. For the fan it means the team they watched in June bears little relation to the team they will see in October.

Macedonia begins preparations for Vienna: Berrocal named 15

The basketball national team begins preparations today for the August cycle of pre-qualifiers for the 2029 European Championship. On Sunday it travels to Vienna to play Austria, and that is the only game in this cycle in group F, which also contains Cyprus. There are three cycles - August and November this year, February next - and only the group winner advances to the main qualifiers. So: one group of three teams, one place. Head coach Josep Maria Berrocal called up Nenad Dimitrijevic, Viktor Tasovski, Viktor Efremovski, Vojdan Stojanovski, Luka Stojanovski, Adem Mekic, Andrej Jakimovski, Stojan Gjuroski, Lejson Zeqiri, Valmir Kakruki, Rezart Memed, Toma Stojanoski, Petar Bosaleski, Kristijan Nikolov and Moses Wright. Qualifiers for a championship three years away - and there is already no room for a mistake.

TFT lost to PAOK 94-69, and the coach brought wine

The first friendly before the new season gave TFT exactly what was expected from a trip to Thessaloniki - a 94-69 defeat to PAOK, a team playing in the EuroCup this year with ambitions. The Greeks led after every quarter: 27-22, 50-38, 71-53. For the Macedonian side Sila and Cvetkovski were the most efficient with 15 points each, Harris added 14, Stojanovski and Nikolov eight apiece. Coach Boro Smilkovski gave PAOK's Italian strategist Andrea Trinchieri a bottle of Macedonian wine. A gesture that will not change the scoreline, but says something about how you travel. A friendly against a rival of that rank is worth more than three easy wins at home.