Are you looking to watch Lebanon vs. Canada or Russia vs Puerto Rico in the first day of World Championships’ group play?

Follow all the pool play matches in Interbasket’s World Championships of Basketball forum where we’ve created game-specific threads so you can follow your favorite national teams,

find out where to watch the game online, comment, and cheer along with Puerto Ricans, Angolans, Lebanese and other diehard basketball fans from abroad.  Check out the individual game threads below:

* Looking for Greece-China and the earlier matches – go here: Watch Greece-China Live in World Championships

It’s been a busy week for FIBA as they announced the four wild cards on Saturday, and determined the top four seeds for the World Championships of Basketball on Sunday.

Now the federation that overseas international basketball has announced the draw results that will determine the groupings for the 2010 world basketball event in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 24 participating nations were drawn into four groups of six teams each:

• Group A: Serbia, Argentina, Australia, Jordan, Germany, Angola
• Group B: Croatia, Brazil, Tunisia, Slovenia, Iran, USA
• Group C: China, Turkey, Russia, Puerto Rico, Ivory Coast, Greece
• Group D: Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand

(Discuss the draw results in our forum)

The draw was held at the the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul, on 15th December 15th, 2009 at 11:30AM local time.

The draw was conducted jointly by FIBA and the LOC in the presence of participating nations’ representatives, “National Federation members, prominent public figures and members of the international media.”

The FIBA World Championships are held every four years and determines the world’s top country in basketball.

The FIBA Wild Cards will determine four teams’ fates for the 2010 World Championships of basketball.

With a few days remaining before FIBA announces their selections, which countries do you think FIBA will select for the event in Turkey in 2010? Below are Interbasket’s top 11 contenders:

• Cameroon
• Dominican Republic
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Korea
• Lebanon
• Lithuania
• Nigeria
• Poland
• Russia
• Taiwan

Seems that Interbasket members mostly agree that Russia and Germany will be locks to receive a ticket to the huge basketball event.

Go to our forum and pick the four countries that you think FIBA will choose based on their criteria of sporting, economics, and governing factors with a maximum of three wild cards from any one zone (that means you, Europe!).

It’s already been hinted that the sporting factor will weigh more heavily, benefiting teams from Europe and the Americas.

After the Wild Cards have been determined, the draw for the World Championships will be held at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Istanbul on Tuesday, 15th December 2009 at 11:30AM local time.

Tijani Umar, the President of the NBBF (Nigeria Basketball Federation) recently returned from Zurich, Switzerland after a meeting with FIBA World officials to chat about the FIBA wild cards for the 2010 World Championships.

However, Umar’s meeting with FIBA officials did not make him very positive on Nigeria’s chances.

While speaking with Ungar, FIBA hinted that they would be selecting the wild cards based on a country’s potential to make some impact on the world stage.

This “impact” factor is listed in FIBA’s wild card criteria, but for FIBA officials to emphasize that, fuels further speculation that the “quality and sporting results of the national teams of the country” is more heavily weighed than any other aspect.

After Nigeria finished fifth in the 2009 Afrobasket tournament, it would be difficult to justify their selection.

FIBA World Championships Wild Cards
With twenty teams having already clinched a spot to Turkey, there are still four slots remaining. These four spots are the wild cards and will be determined by FIBA.

(Chat more about the FIBA wild cards)

In order to qualify for a wild card, a team must have participated in their respective qualifying competition. From there, FIBA will take into consideration the sporting, economic, and governance aspects of that country.

Nigeria is on the short list of roughly ten teams vying for one of the four final spots.

Some of the top contenders for the spot include Cameroon, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Korea, Lebanon, Lithuania, Nigeria, and Russia.

There are going to be six very disappointed teams come December when FIBA announces which four countries will receive the wild cards at the FIBA Central Board meeting in Geneva.

It was rookie vs. veteran player when rookie Jonas Jerebko of Sweden took on Jamaal Magloire of Canada on Monday night.

It all started with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Miami Heat – Detroit Piston’s preseason game.

The 6-11 Magloire and the 6-10 Jerebko both got caught up fighting for a rebound and as they went to the floor, Magloire took a wild swing and struck Jerebko in the face.

Jerebko retaliated; hitting Magloire in the face when they were on the ground.

“He got me, I got him back,” Jerebko told AOL FanHouse after the game. “That’s what happened.”

The 31-year old Magloire was suspended for two games, while the 22-year old Jerebko was suspended one game for retaliating.

Jerebko said that Magloire was playing dirty the entire game: “(Magloire’s) a dirty player and that’s what he makes a living off of…”

The NBA said that both players would serve their suspensions beginning with the first regular-season games they are physically able to play – looks like Jerebko will have to wait to become the first Swede in the NBA.

Jerebko’s Pistons won the game 87-83 over Miami.

San Juan, PR – Brazil barely squeaked by Puerto Rico 61-60 to capture te gold medal in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championships.

(Discuss the game)

Brazil steadily built up a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter before the hosts tightened up their defense to gradually pick away at Brazil’s margin.

Puerto Rico’s AD Vasallo led the charge in the final quarter, the 6-6 shooting guard scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter but missed the second of two free-throws with 33 seconds remaining that could have tied the game at 61.

Leandro Barbosa led Brazil with 24 points, but did most of his damage was in the first three as he was held to just three points in the crucial fourth quarter. Tiago Splitter added 13 points with 9 rebounds for the Brazilian squad.

Carlos Arroyo top-scored for Puerto Rico with 14 points, but missed a three at the end of the game that would have won it for the hosts.

Both teams shot under 40% for the game. Brazil’s was 9-1 in the tournament, their only loss coming at Puerto Rico’s hands in the final day of the quarterfinals – they also won the 2005 tournament.  Puerto Rico finished the tournament with a 8-2 record.

Argentina takes Bronze; Scola wins MVP
Argentina finished the Americas tournament with a bronze medal, defeating Canada 88-73 in the third place game. Argentina used a dominant first quarter to break the Canadians, outscoring them 31-8 in the initial period.  Paolo Quinteros scored all of his 13 points in that first quarter.

Houston Rocket’s forward Luis Scola again led his team with 27 points.  Euroleague playmaker Pablo Prigioni scored 17 and added 8 assists.

For Canada, Jermaine Anderson scored 19 points and had 11 assists; Levon Kendall and Aaron Doornekamp added 12 points and 11 points respectively.

Scola was named MVP of the tournament after the Houston Rockets forward averaged a tournament high 23.3 points per game and was the unquestioned leader of the Argentinians. Carlos Arroyo and Tiago Splitter also were considered in the voting.

The top-two seeded teams will battle for FIBA Americas gold tomorrow.

Brazil and Puerto Rico each won their semi-finals game today and will meet up for the second time in three days.

Puerto Rico handed Brazil their first loss on Friday night 74-70, and though both teams had a 7-1 record, Brazil ended up with the number one seed due to their goal average against Argentina and Canada.

(Click here to discuss the FIBA Americas final between Brazil and Puerto Rico in our forum)

In today’s semi-finals, Puerto Rico halted Argentina’s run of six straight wins with an 85-80 victory while Brazil used a great third quarter to handle Canada 73-65.

Carlos Arroyo continued his resurgent play for Puerto Rico with 19 points. Luis Scola scored 31 points for the Argentina side.

Brazil got 22 points from Leandro Barbosa, and Joel Anthony pulled in 17 points and 8 rebounds for the Canadians.

Both Brazil and Puerto Rico have eight wins and one loss going into tomorrow’s final game.  Canada and Argentina will play for the bronze medal. More importantly, all four teams have qualified for the World Championships next year.

Canada has earned the fourth and final berth to the World Championships by downing the Dominican Republic 80-76 in the FIBA Americas quarterfinals.

(Discuss the Dominican Republic vs. Canada match)

The Canadians used ball movement and three-point shooting to slay the Dominican team, who was without their second leading scorer Francisco García.

Canada hit 10 of their 14 three-pointers in the second half, including two huge threes from Aaron Doornekamp in the final quarter, during a game when they couldn’t shoot well from inside the arc (37%).

Canada converted more than half of their three-point attempts (27), led by Jermaine Anderson’s 5-8 shooting from downtown.

Anderson exploded for an unexpected 21 points. Carl English added 13 points, Jesse Young 11 points, and Levon Kendall contributed a double-double, 10 points and 11 rebounds, for the Mapleleafs

The Dominicans on the other hand, clearly missed Garcia’s ability to stretch the offense. Though veteran guard Luis Flores shot 3-7 from three, they needed another threat from downtown, as the rest of the squad hit just 2-14.

Flores and Charlie Villanueva led the Dominicans with 17 points apiece.

Francisco García was a late scratch as his NBA team, the Sacramento Kings, released a statement saying that Garcia would no longer participate because of an injury to his right ring-finger.

The Dominican Republic’s only chance to go to the World Championships is to receive a Wild Card from FIBA.

With the win, Canada joins Argentina, Brazil, and Puerto Rico in the semi-finals and is guaranteed at least fourth place in the tournament.  They will will have to defeat Puerto Rico in order to reach the finals.

Three of the four Americas teams have punched their tickets to the 2010 World Championships to be held next year in Turkey.

At an undefeated 7-0, Brazil has already earned a spot in the World Championships by dominating their competition, and are now looking for gold with a stacked

Argentina and Puerto Rico are the two other teams that have also qualified.

After starting the tournament with two losses,  Argentina (5-2) has now won five straight games, handing the Puerto Ricans (6-1) their first loss, 80-78, of the tournament yesterday.

Must Win Situations
The fourth and final spot will be determined today in the last day of the quarterfinals between three teams: Dominican Republic, Canada, and Uruguay.

If the Dominican Republic (4-3) can record their fifth win of the tournament by defeating Canada today, the race is over and the Dominicans will move on based on overall record.

But if Canada (3-4) can pull out a win against the Dominicans, and Uruguay loses, the North American country will qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.  This all-important game between DR and Canada is set for 6:30 local time (Puerto Rico).

The third scenario involves Uruguay (3-4) forcing a three way tie between the teams.

If Uruguay can win their last game over red hot Argentina, who may rest their key players against their neighbors to the east. Uruguay can clinch a spot with a win coupled with a Canadian win over the Dominicans.

Canada just laid down a beat down on Mexico in the 2009 FIBA Americas Tournament.

Canada won their first match of the tournament, laying an emphatic 95-40 win over Mexico, a victory margin of 55 points.

Coming into the game, Canada was favored to win, but no one expected the slaughter we saw today. Five Canadian players scored in double-figures led by Andy Rautins’ 18 points and Carl English‘s 17 points.  Together they hit 11-16 three point tries.

NBA player Joel Anthony and Jermaine Bucknor added 11 points, and Olu Famutimi ahd 10 for the winners, who led by 28 points at halftime.

The Canadians shot an amazing 59% from behind the arc, hitting 19 three-pointers out of 33 attempts.

Mexico shot just 21.7% from the field, missing 47 of their 60 shots and were outrebounded by 51-36.  Mexico’s leading scorer was Noe Alonso Chavez with just 10 points.  The normally-reliable Romel Beck was held to just three points on 1-9 shooting.

Discuss the game in our Canada-Mexico thread.

Event: 2009 Americas Championships
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Discuss: Americas Championships Thread
Info: The tournament will determine which four teams qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championships of Basketball.

The tournament will feature ten teams from Northern and Latin Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The favorites coming into the tournament is a solid Brazil team and the experienced Argentinians.

Brazil dominated the Tuto Marchand Cup with great efficiency with even contributions from Leandro Barbosa and Marcelo Machado in the backcourt, and Anderson Varejão and Tiago Splitter in the frontcourt.

Despite 2007 Americas MVP Luis Scola down low, Argentina didn’t fare as well in the Marchand Cup (0-3), but were without the services of Pablo Prigioni, who will join the team and run the point.

With Prigioni, Scola, as well as Federico Kammerichs and Leonardo Gutiérrez, team Argentina is still a power even without Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Carlos Delfino, and Fabricio Oberto.

The unproven Dominican Republic team have looked great in preparation games and is the dark horse of the tournament.  The team maybe the best team RD has ever assembled and features three current NBA players in Francisco García, Al Horford, and Charlie Villanueva.

The three top contenders for gold, Argentina, Brazil and the Dominican Republic, will all compete in a very difficult Group B.  The other two teams are Panama, who is no slouch either and Venezuela.

In Group A, look for Puerto Rico to give out a good fight, especially playing at home, with veteran mainstays Larry Ayuso, Carlos Arroyo, and Daniel Santiago.

Canada will compete with swingmen Carl English, Andy Rautins with NBA player Joel Anthony in the middle.  The other three teams are Uruguay, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Mexico without Eduardo Najera.

The United States will not send a team to the tournament after receiving an automatic bid to the World Championships by winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The United States won the 2007 Americas Championship held in Las Vegas by going undefeated in their ten games.  The USA was led by Carmelo Anthony’s 21.3 points and LeBron James‘ all-around game and blistering 76% from the field (73-96 FG). Argentina captured the silver medal, and Puerto Rico defeated Brazil for the bronze medal.

This year’s Championships will feature several other high profile players including Romel Beck (Mexico), Esteban Batista (Uruguay), Luis Flores (Dominican Republic), Levon Kendall (Canada), Héctor Romero (Venezuela), and Óscar Torres (Venezuela).

Carl English shoots a jumper at the Puerto Rico Marchand Cup (AP)” src=”http://www.interbasket.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/carl-english-jumper.jpg” alt=”Canada’s Carl English shoots a jumper at the Puerto Rico Marchand Cup (AP)” width=”200″ height=”279″ />

The Tuto Marchand Cup commenced yesterday at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot.

The tournament features four-nations, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Puerto Rico, in three straight days of games in prepartion for the FIBA Tournament of Americas.

(Discuss Tuto Marchand Cup in our forum)

Argentina lost to Brazil 91-76 led by Leandro Barbosa‘s 18 points and 7 rebounds.  The Brazilians built upon their lead after each period as Team Argentina couldn’t shoot straight.

Outside of Luis Scola‘s 10-19 from the field, his Argentinian teammates were a combined 15-56, shooting just 26% for the game.

Tiago Splitter added 14 points 9 rebounds, 3 assists and Marcelo Machado had 11 points 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Brazil. Scola led Argentina with 28 points and six rebounds.

Puerto Rico defeated Canada 59-55 behind Larry Ayuso‘s 13 points. The Canadian loss could be attributed on a dismal second quarter in which they scored just four points. After a free throw by Andy Rautins and a three pointer by Tyler Kepkay, Canada wouldn’t score another point in the final 8:20 of the quarter.

However, the Canadians “exploded” for 27 points in the third to bring them within five points, 49-44, but another low-scoring quarter in the fourth would keep Puerto Rico on top.

Daniel Santiago had 7 points and 10 rebounds, and Filiberto Rivera added 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists for Puerto Rico.  Carl English was the top scorer for Canada with 14 points.  Carlos Arroyo suffered an injury as was limited to just 14 scoreless minutes.

The schedule and rosters for the three-day friendly tournament looks like this:

Aug 18: Argentina vs. Brazil
Aug 18: Puerto Rico vs. Canada
Aug 19: Canada vs. Argentina
Aug 19; Puerto Rico vs. Brazil
Aug 20: Brazil vs. Canada
Aug 20; Puerto Rico vs. Argentina

Argentina: Juan Pablo Cantero and Pablo Prigioni (PG); Paolo Quinteros and Diego Garcнa (SG); Sebastiбn Matнas Sandes and Federico Kammerichs (SF); Luis Scola, Leonardo Gutiйrrez, Leonardo Mainoldi and Andrйs Pelussi (PF); Romбn Gonzбlez and Juan Pedro Gutiйrrez (C).

Brasil: Duda Machado and Marcelo Huertas (PG); Alex Garcia, Diego Pinheiro, Jonathan Tavernari and Leandrinho Barbosa (SG); Guilherme Giovannoni and Marcelinho Machado (SF); Alexandre “Olivinha” and Anderson Varejão (PF); Joгo Paulo Batista and Tiago Splitter (C).

Canada: Jermaine Anderson, Tyler Kepkay and Ryan Bell (PG); Carl English and Andy Rautins (SG); Jermaine Bucknor, Olu Famutimi and Jevohn Shepherd (SF); Aaron Doornekamp, Kyle Landry and Joel Anthony (PF); Jesse Young; Levon Kendall and Phil Martin (C).

Puerto Rico: Carlos Arroyo, Filiberto Rivera, Christian Dalmau and Guillermo Dнaz (PG); Larry Ayuso, Joel Jones and Jesse Pellot-Rosa (SG); A.D. Vassallo and Carmelo Lee (SF); Бngelo Reyes, Ricky Sбnchez and Alex Falcуn (PF); Daniel Santiago (C).

The Marchand Cup is the final preparations before the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship that start August 26, 2009.

The senior national teams from Italy and Canada participated in a “friendly” game Saturday night that ended in a brawl between the two teams (discuss)

Physical play between Italy’s Stefano Mancinelli and Canada’s Aaron Doornekamp at the end of the game prompted the fight between the two teams. After being pushed, Mancinelli delivers an elbow to the back of the Doornekamp’s head.

Belinelli and Andrea Bargnani will suit up for the Toronto Raptors, Canada’s only NBA franchise, next season and are seen in the video trying to diffuse the situation between the two teams.

Italian team captain Matteo Soragna apologized on the Italy’s behalf after the game, “I am sorry that it happened. The team has responded as one and that is a positive, although we did not want the incident to happen.”

This was the second match between the two teams. Italy had defeated Canada 91-69 last week in the Trentino Cup and played each other again in preparation for upcoming tournament games..

On August 5th, Italy will face France on their quest to qualify for the Eurobasket tournament. While Canada is preparing for the Tournament of the Americas that begins on August 26, 2009.

This is the second fight in as many weeks that has occured in a “friendly” game. A brawl between Iran and Jordan erupted during the William Jones Cup last month that eventually cost Jordan the Cup championship.

In preparation for the FIBA Oceania Championships, the Tall Blacks of New Zealand set out on a eight-game European tour.

Unfortunately, they ended the stint with more questions than answers as the Tall Blacks dropped six of the eight games.

Their six losses came at the hands of Estonia (2), Canada, Italy, Belgium, and Finland respectively.

The Tall Blacks were able to pull out two wins; one over Portugal in the inital game of the Tretino Cup held in Tretino, Italy.  Their second win came in their second game against DJ Mbenga and Belgium on a buzzer beating layup by center Alex Pledger to give the Tall Blacks an 83-81 win.

1. Estonia – 58-49  (L)
2. Estonia – 57-54  (L)
3. Portugal – 98-91 (W)
4. Canada – 90-68 (L)
5. Italy – 88-70 (L)
6. Belgium – 98-76 (L)
7. Belgium – 83-81 (W)
8. Finland – 102-91 (L)

The Kiwis’ eight games in twelve days were unsuccessful for a variety of reasons.  Outside of their two matches against Estonia, they allowed their opponents to score 80 or more points in each game.  The Tall Blacks also lacked consistent offense.  Besides Kirk Penney. a former University of Wisconsin shooting guard and last year’s NBL MVP, no other player could be counted on for offensive productivity.

Turnovers were also an issue as the Tall Blacks turnovered the ball more than twice their opponents number in several of the games, and reached 20+ turnovers in at least half their games.

There were bright spots to highlight.  New Zealand does have a very promising future with young frontline players Alex Pledger (22 year old) and Westlake high school phenom Rob Loe (17), as well as 22-year old guard Tom Abercrombie.

As expected, the 28-year old Penney averaged 25 points per game in the eight game tour, and regularly looked spectacular.  The 6-5 guard is at his basketball peak, accumulating two games in which he scored over 30 points and four games in which he scored over 20 points.

New Zealand will partake in the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championships beginning on August 23, 2009.

With Hedo Türkoğlu ready to sign on the dotted line with the Toronto Raptors tomorrow, there aren’t too many international NBA free agents left to be had.

Interbasket scanned the list of remaining foreign-born free agents and came up with our top ten international free agents, both restricted and unrestricted, still swimming about in free agent waters.

1. Linas Kleiza, Lithuania (r) – With Denver trying to re-sign the Birdman, Chris Andersen, the Nuggets may not have enough money in the tank to keep the restricted Kleiza from walking away without going into the luxury tax.  Kleiza’s ability to run the floor, attack the basket, and finish with momentum and strength reminds you of a Baltic Karl Malone.  On top of that, Kleiza is a reliable three-point shooter and can take other power forwards off the dribble in the half-court.  In the right situation (see: more minutes), Kleiza can have (another) breakout year.

2. Anderson Varejão, Brazil (un) – Varejao opted out of his contract last week and is testing free agent waters.  Varejao is obviously looking for more than the $6 million that the Cavs were going to pay him this coming season. Cleveland signed the 35-year old Shaquille O’Neal and still has Zydrunas Ilguaskas in tow, so will they go after Varejao?  Do the Cavs want to deal with another Varejao holdout as they did in 2007 when the Brazilian backup missed an entire month of games.

3. Marcin Gortat, Poland (r) – Gortat is a restricted free agent, despite being courted by the Houston Rockets, and reportedly offered a huge offer sheet by the Dallas Mavericks, the Magic can have the option to match the offer and keep the 7-0, 240lb Polish center.   With Turkoğlu likely out of the picture and if the Magic aren’t aiming for another free agent this year (or the next), Orlando has the money to match and keep Gortat.  Whether Gortat is worth the reportedly $5.6 million/year that Dallas is willing to give him is the real question.

4. Wálter Herrmann, Argentina (un) – Anyone need a three-point specialist with a long, silky, blond ponytail only seen on covers of romance novels?   The Detroit Pistons are reportedly letting the Argentine shooter walk without an offer. If Herrmann doesn’t get a NBA contract, he’ll be welcomed back, with open arms, in Europe where the 6-9 forward started his career.

5. Zaza Pachulia, Georgia (un) – The Hawks are close to signing David Andersen, a big man from down under and Euroleague star, as insurance in case Pachulia goes elsewhere. It will be a huge shock if the Hawks look anything like the team of this past season. With Mike Bibby, Flip Murray, Marvin Williams also free agents this summer and with Andersen possibly coming onboard, Zaza may not get the attention from the Atlanta Hawks he expects.

6. Pops Mensah-Bonsu, England (un) – The Toronto Raptors were happy with their late-season pickup, and extended Mensah-Bonsu a qualifying offer in late June. The high-energy journeyman averaged 5.1 points and 5.4 rebounds and 13.8 minutes in 19 games with the Raps.   As a restricted free agent, Pops can sign an offer sheet with another team, but Toronto now owns the right to match the offer.

7. Rasho Nesterović, Slovenia (un) – The once baby-faced center has moved into the category of “great veteran and locker room guy.” At 33 years old, Rasho’s basketball peak are several years behind him, but the 7-0 center has at least a couple years left in him as a solid backup for a team looking for a veteran with playoff experience, and uh…  a locker room guy.  Nesterović’s career averages are around 7 points on 50% FG shooting, 5 rebounds and one blocked shot a game.

8. Jamaal Magloire, Canada (un) – The long-armed Magloire played spot minutes as backup center for the Miami Heat last season and did a serviceable job. The 7-0 former all-star center from Canada has said that he would like to return to the Miami Heat, so much so that he would re-sign at a discounted price.  Whether or not that will happen for the 31-year old Magloire will play out over the summer. The Heat selected 6-9 Robert Dozier, who is may play a little center, but is definitely under-sized.

9. Sean Marks, New Zealand (un) – With Tyson Chandler injured, the 6-10 Kiwi played in more games in 2008-09 than in any other season of his 9-year career. Marks’ one-year contract with the Hornets, worth 1.1 million last season has expired and no word on whether the Hornets are looking to bring back the 33-year old (34 when the season starts). The 2009 NBA Draft yielded backcourt players, Darren Collison and Marcus Thorton, so unless the Hornets make a move to obtain another big man, Marks may be in New Orleans at least another year.

10. Johan Petro, France (un) – The 7-0 French center has played for two teams in three NBA season since being drafted by the Seattle Sonics in the first round of 2005.  It looks like the 23-year old will be looking to move onto his third team as the Nuggets aren’t expected to make a qualifying offer.  Without an offer, Petro becomes an unrestricted free agent.  My guess? Petro will be headed to Europe.

There are also international free agents that have left the NBA, but are free-agents in the eyes of the NBA nonetheless.  That list includes Carlos Delfino, Juan Carlos Navarro, and Ersan Ilyasova.

Many teams have already agreed in principle with some free agents (Turkoglu with Toronto, Gortat with Dallas), but cannot be announced or become official until tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8th, 2009.

* (r) = restricted (un) = unrestricted