Berrocal called up 15 for Vienna: Macedonia plays one game worth four years

Head coach Josep Maria Berrocal announced a squad of 15 players for the second round of pre-qualifiers for the 2029 European Championship. In FIBA's August window Macedonia plays only one match - away to Austria on 30 August in Vienna. The list includes Nenad Dimitrijevic, Viktor Tasovski, Viktor Efremovski, Vojdan Stojanovski, Luka Stojanovski, Adem Mekic, Andrej Jakimovski, Stojan Gjuroski, Leyson Zekiri, Valmir Kakruki, Rezart Memed, Toma Stojanoski, Petar Bosaleski, Kristijan Nikolov and Moses Wright. Where Nate Sestina and DeWayne Steward Jr held the naturalised slots against Luxembourg and Ireland, that role now goes to Wright. Preparations begin on 24 August at the T Arena in Skopje, and Group F also contains Cyprus alongside Austria. One match, one window - and the consequences run all the way to 2029.

Klay Thompson ends up in Miami, and the Lakers were left empty-handed

The story circled Los Angeles for weeks and finished in Florida. Klay Thompson bought out his contract with the Dallas Mavericks and signed for the Miami Heat - a two-year deal worth almost 13 million dollars, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. Dallas owed him 17.5 million in the final season of a three-year, 50-million contract, but after failing to find a solution via trade, they let him go. Last season Thompson averaged 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.7 minutes, shooting 38.3 per cent from three in 69 games. He is not the player from the Golden State years, but he is far from finished. And that is the point: he wanted a team fighting for a title, not a team promising him minutes. Miami, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, was the more credible answer than the Lakers.

Denver agreed terms with DeRozan: Jokic gets a six-time All-Star alongside him at 37

DeMar DeRozan intends to sign for the Denver Nuggets, reports Chris Haynes. The six-time All-Star remained one of the biggest names on the free-agent market deep into the summer, after Sacramento released him in July, ending a two-year spell there. He turned 37 this month, and last season posted 18.4 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and one steal in 77 games, shooting 49.7 per cent from the field and 86.8 per cent from the line. Across 17 seasons with Toronto, San Antonio, Chicago and Sacramento he averages 21.1 points. The move came right after Denver resolved the Peyton Watson question by sending him to Cleveland. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray already there, this is a team not building for the future - it is building for this season, and doing so quite openly.

Jokic carried Serbia past France: the duel with Wembanyama ended with no winner on the poster

In front of 20,000 spectators at the Belgrade Arena, Serbia beat France 90:87, with quarters of 22:19, 24:26, 26:17, 18:25. The hosts led for most of the game, and the French came back after a scattered third quarter. Sylvain Francisco shot for three before the buzzer - and Aleksa Avramovic blocked it. Nikola Jokic came close to a triple-double: 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 29 minutes. Avramovic added 11 points and 5 assists, Nikola Jovic 10 points and 4 rebounds. On the other side, Victor Wembanyama struggled - 10 points, 4 rebounds and six turnovers in 24 minutes. The duel was sold as a clash of generations. It ended as a reminder that the photograph on the poster and the game on the floor are two different things.

Kumanovo signed an American point guard, Rabotnicki promises a final

The domestic league is being assembled quietly, but the assembling is under way. MKK Kumanovo, a finalist in the Macedonian Cup, has signed American point guard Cameron Gooden - a guard standing 183 centimetres, born 3 December 1998 in Slidell, Louisiana, who last played for Rayos de Hermosillo in Mexico's CIBACOPA league and in the NCAA turned out for the University of Utah and Dixie State. The club had previously agreed deals with Bojan Krstevski, Boban Stajic, Renato Dimitrievski and Alek Petkovski. In Skopje, Vladimir Mirkovski enters his 24th season as a coach and his second on the senior bench at KK Rabotnicki - the club with the most titles in independent Macedonia, 15. "Last season was turbulent, but it made us united," he says, announcing nine friendly matches and an expectation of reaching the final. The ambitions have been stated plainly. From September comes the part where they get tested.