Olympiakos agreed terms with Radoslav Nesterovic?

It could be a great addition for Ivkovic's team.


According to redplanet.gr, Olympiakos agreed terms with Slovenian veteran Radoslav Nesterovic(2.13-C) that was released from the Toronto Raptors. The article says that Olympiakos reached an agreement with Nesterovic without leaking any information to the press and he will be their player next season.

Nesterovic is no stranger to Greece as he played there beofre. He also holds a Greek passport under the surname Makris. It was issued by another Greek team, Paok, when he was playing for them back in 1995. He has also played for Olimpija, Virtus Bologna, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers. His last team were the Toronto Raptors where he averaged 4.1 points and 2.2 rebounds in 40 games last season.


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Capiccioni contacted Ivkovic about Bjelica

Dusan Ivkovic wants the player badly..


According to basketnet.gr, Nemanja Bjelica's agent,  Lucciano Capiccioni called Dusan Ivkovic in order to try and renegotiate the transfer of Bjelica. Olympiakos recently retracted their offer for Bjelica and Capiccioni contacted Ivkovic to let him that the player has not signed with Baskonia yet.

Bjelica is one of Ivkovic's favourite prodigies and he wants him to play for Olympiakos so he can coach him further. It is uncertain whether this was just a public relations move or whether Olympiakos is back in the game to sign Bjelica.

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Panathinaikos signed Aleks Maric for 2 seasons

One of the most dominant big men in European basketball last season switched Euroleague teams on Friday when Panathinaikos announced the arrival of All-Euroleague center Aleks Maric, who inked a two-year deal with the Greek powerhouse.
 Maric
(211, 25) arrives from Partizan, which he led to its biggest season in recent history, averaging 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds in 18 Euroleague games as the team reached Final Four for the first time since 1998. They also won the Adriatic League, Serbian League and Serbian Cup titles together. Maric was voted to the All-Euroleague first team and was chosen December MVP in just his first season in the competition. He also earned weekly MVP awards for regular season weeks 7 and 8. Unknown to most fans before the season, Maric made a splash by recording a 49 index rating - tying the best single-game performance in the entire 2009-10 season - with his brilliant 34-point, 16-rebound performance against Efes Pilsen in regular season Week 7.


source : euroleague.net


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Aris signed prospect Aleksandar Vezenkov

Aris BC signed another prospect but this time he is not Greek.


Aris BC secured the signing of Bulgarian-Cypriot prospect Aleksandar Vezenkov(2.03-PG/SG) and it was announced via their official site. Vezenkov is the son of veteran player and coach Sasha Vezenkov, who is a close friend of the president of Aris. Vezenkov was a part of the Pinewood College team of Thessaloniki and now he belongs to Aris BC.

He is a member of the Bulgarian U-16 NT that will take part in the U-16 Eurobasket tournament in a few days. Vezenkov has a dual nationality, Cypriot and Bulgarian because although his parents are Bulgarian he was born in Cyprus.

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Kolossos to sign Jamine Peterson

Kolossos Rhodes could have picked a gem here.


Jamine Peterson(2.00-PF) is very close to signing a contract with Kolossos Rhodes according to sportnet.gr. The American power-forward has only played for 2 seasons for the Providence Friars with impressive numbers but he could be leaving college for the overseas experience.

Peterson could finally agree with Kolossos this weekend and he is a personal choice of coach Sferopoulos. In his last season with Providence he averaged 19.6 points 10.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 31 games.

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Ikaros Kalitheas signed Kalampokis for 2 seasons

The Greek League newbies started their transfers with a bang.


Greek League newbies Ikaros Kalitheas signed Greek scorer Giannis Kalampokis (1.95-SG) to a 2 season deal. Kalampokis was approached by several Greek teams this summer but he didn't receive an official offer. Ikaros seized the opportunity and "stole" the player, taking advantage the lack of cashflow in the Greek tranfer market.

Kalampokis has been playing for Panionios for the last 3 seasons but his previous team's serious financial issues forced him out the door. He is still owed money from last season. Kalampokis averaged 11.9 points 2.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 20 games in the Greek league last season playing for Panionios.

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Back in 2 weeks!

The Hoop will welcome the new member of his family and he will be back in 2 weeks.

Thank you everyone for your support and I hope to see you back then! Take care and enjoy the rest of the summer!

Kaimakoglou agreed terms with Panathinaikos

Kostas Kaimakoglou will be the next addition of Panathinaikos.


Kostas Kaimakoglou(2.05-PF) has agreed to continue his career in Panathinaikos for the next 2 seasons. The Greek power forward is free from Maroussi and he did say that he would want to play for a Euroleague team. Kaimakoglou said those words in his parting statements after the end of the play-offs finals against Panellinios. There were already rumors that dated a few months back about a pre-existing deal between Kaimakoglou and Panathinaikos and it seems that they weren't false.

Kostas Kaimakoglou has played for Maroussi for the last 5 seasons after moving from Near East back in 2004. He is a late bloomer and has grown as a player the last few years. This will be his break at the age of 27 to play for a club of the caliber of Panathinaikos. Last season he averaged 10.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19 games in the Euroleague and also 13.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in 32 games in the Greek A1 league. It's possible that his transfer will be announced tomorrow along with the rest of them.


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Unics Kazan announced McCarty, Pashutin and Rizvic

UNICS Kazan announced signing of Kelly McCarty  (201-F-75, college: S.Mississippi), Zakhar Pashutin  (196-G-74) and Hasan Rizvic  (212-C-84) for the next season.


Kelly McCarty is coming to UNICS from Khimky Moscow Region. He appeared 16 times in Euroleague last season averaging 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. In Russian championship he added 12.3 ppg and 5.8 rpg for 32 games. He joined in Khimky in 2006 from Dynamo St. Petersburg. McCarty was named Eurobasket.com All-Euroleague Honorable Mention this year. He is an active member of the Russian National Team.

Zakhar Pashutin, younger brother of the new UNICS Head Coach Evgeny Pashutin, played last two years for Spartak St. Petersburg. Last season he had 10.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 3.3 apg for 24 games in Russian league. In EuroCup, Pashutin added 7.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg. In the past he was a member of CSKA, Ural Great Perm, ASVEL, Avtodor Saratov and Karsiyaka.

Hasan Rizvic is coming to UNICS from the Ukrainian Azovmash. He helped the team to win the title last season with 13 ppg and 6.9 rpg for 39 games. In VTB United League, Rizvic exploded with 20 ppg and 7.5 rpg for 6 games. He joined Azovmash in 2008 and before that played for Slask Wroclaw, Union Olimpija and Pivovarna Lasko. UNICS Kazan already landed Slavko Vranes  (230-C-83) few days ago.


source : eurobasket.com

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BC Azovmash renewed Fred House

BC Azovmash and Fred House signed a one-year contract extension over the weekend.



House (193, 32) is a savvy veteran known for his excellent defense and team-first play, all of which contributed to leading Azovmash to last season's Ukrainian League title. House was tied for the Eurocup lead in the regular season last year with 2.8 steals per game to go along with 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.8 blocks.

He arrived to Azovmash from Lokomotiv Rostov of the Russian League and has also played for Partizan in Serbia, Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania and Valencia and Caja Laboral in Spain. Among his career highlights are winning the Serbia & Montenegro championship twice and the Lithuanian League once as well as the 2006 Baltic League. House also took part in the 2007 Euroleague Final Four with Laboral. He was a member of the L. Rytas team that won the 2005 ULEB Cup, but did not take part in any games after the end of the regular season that year due to injury.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

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Childress broke his contract with Olympiakos

The biggest contract in Europe is no more..


Josh Childress decided to accept the offer from the Phoenix Suns so he let the administration of Olympiakos know that he will break out of his contract with them and head back to the NBA. Childress had one more season in his contract that would pay him 7 million dollars but instead he decided to return to the NBA. This development is precisely what they wanted in Olympiakos.

With the new tax laws in Greece and the new contract of Vassilis Spanoulis the salaries of the players of Olympiakos would skyrocket. Now with Kleiza and Childress leaving the players budget of Olympiakos will decrease significantly and make room for other players. Olympiakos are now looking for a replacement for Josh Childress for the small forward position. The leading candidate seems to be Romain Sato.

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Panathinaikos to announce Nicholas, Batiste and Vouyoukas

Triple whammy!


In Panathinaikos they need to save face. After losing the battle on Spanoulis they will make a comeback with 2 renewals and one new player. Drew Nicholas(1.91-SG) has already agreed to play for Panathinaikos and he even announced it via his Facebook page. Mike Batiste(2.04-PF/C) is sure to follow and Ian Vouyoukas(2.11-C) will become a player of Panathinaikos after all.

It's possible that the announcements for all 3 players will be made at the same time and it's rumored that it will happen sometime until Wednesday, so it could even happen tomorrow. After signing Vouyoukas, Panathinaikos will try to get Aleks Maric from Partizan.

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Michael Bramos to play for Gran Canaria

As predicted Michael Bramos will be moving to Spain.


Michael Bramos (1.96-SG/SF) signed a one season contract last summer with Peristeri and with a salary of less than 80,000 euros. His advantage as a player in Greece is his Greek heritage and effectively his Greek passport. With that Bramos, occupied the position of a local player in Greece and he did a pretty decent job, doing everything on the court for his team. He scored behind the arc with 45.7%(37/81), he passed the ball, he played with defense using his impressive wingspan and now he's about to cash in with a contract in Spain.

According to sportnet.gr, he will be signing a contract with the team of Gran Canaria. Bramos had also offers from Greek teams but Gran Canaria asked him to answer to them straight away so he said yes. The current economic situation in Greece will be forcing a lot of teams to wait as long as possible in order to get players to lower their salary expectations. This left Bramos with no choice but to take up the offer of Gran Canaria. The deal should be announced by their official website soon.

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Valencia signed Omar Cook for 2 seasons

Power Electronics signed playmaker Omar Cook to a two-year deal on Monday.


Cook (186, 28) arrives from Unicaja, where he averaged 9.7 points and a Euroleague-best 5.9 assists in 16 games last season. He is the Euroleague's all-time leader in assists per game (5.53) and ranks second in assists per minute (0.21) behind only Gianmarco Pozzecco. Cook helped Unicaja make it to the 2009 Spanish King's Cup final and reach back-to-back Spanish League semifinals the past two years. He was also the 2007-08 ULEB Cup assists king, dishing 6.1 per game with Crvena Zvezda.

The New York City native had also played for Dexia Mons in Belgium, CSKA Samara in Russia and Strasbourg in France before joining Zvezda. Cook was viewed as a top prospect early in his career. He was a high school star and named a McDonald's All-American before attending St. John's University. Cook later played a total of 22 games in the NBA for Portland and Toronto between 2003 and 2005 before crossing to European basketball.

source : euroleague.net

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Olympiakos in negotiations with Romain Sato

Shorter than Childress but can jump just as high!


According to redplanet.gr, Olympiakos are in negotiations with Central African Republic swingman, Romain Sato(1.95-SG/SF). Romain Guessagba-Sato-Lebel, or just simply, Romain Sato is known mostly for his time in Siena, where he has played for the last 4 seasons. Sato is an all-around player that can score and play defense with equal ease. He is mostly known for his athletic skills but his long range shot is just as impressive.

Sato graduated from Xavier in 2004 and then he was selected at number 52 at the 2004 Draft by the San Antonio Spurs. He never got a chance to play in the NBA, instead he moved to Italy and Jesi in LegaDue where he rocked the rims averaging the impressive 25.5 points per game. After a short pass via Barcelona he signed with Siena back in 2006 and has been there since. Last season he averaged 13.6 points 5.3 rebounds 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 16 games in the Euroleague. He also averaged 14.7 points 4.3 rebounds 1.2 assists and 1.8 steals in the LegaA1 leading Siena to yet another Italian League title.

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Maccabi renewed David Bluthenthal

David Bluthenthal, one of last season’s outstanding players, has signed for another season with Maccabi, and will begin his fifth season with the club. He will join the Israeli National Team practices sometime in the next few days.


Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv has inked American/Israeli forward David Bluthenthal on a new contract for one year with an option for another year. He is expected to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to take part in the Israeli National Team’s practices.

Maccabi head coach David Blatt, who is currently in Las Vegas where the NBA Summer League is taking place, said this morning (Tuesday): “I’m happy David is continuing with us. He has become a part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv tradition of excellence, and he is a player who can contribute a lot to Maccabi. I’m also very happy that he has made the wise and mature decision to give up on his rest and take part in the Israeli National Team’s key campaign this summer.”

Bluthenthal, (2.01 meters) who turns 30 next week, will be starting his fifth season with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv (non-continuous). He arrived in Israeli in 1997as the youngest player on Team U.S.A. in the Maccabiah Games. After four years at the University of Southern California, he joined Maccabi Tel Aviv for the 2002 – 2003 season and remained for two seasons. He was one of the heroes of the unforgettable victory in the Euroleague 2004 Final Four. Bluthenthal returned to Maccabi for the 2007 – 2008 season, then returned to Maccabi once again last season for his third term with the club. Between times, he played in Europe for St. Petersburg, Benetton Treviso, Virtus Bologna, Fortitudo Bologna, and Le Mans.

Last season, Bluthenthal was one of the best, most stable players with Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, finishing the season with averages of 9.3 points and 3 rebounds in the Euroleague, and 11.1 points and 4 rebounds in the Winner League. On the list of top Maccabi scorers in Europe of all time, he is ranked in the top thirty with 567 points; reaching 30th place when he overtook Lior Eliyahu. He is only 23 points away from the next person on the list, the legendary Tanhum Cohen-Mints.

So far, Bluthenthal has won two championships, three Israel Cups and one Europe Cup with Maccabi Tel Aviv.


source : maccabi.co.il

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The Suns to acquire Turkoglu and Childress

LAS VEGAS - The Suns are on the verge of acquiring forwards Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress, swiftly rebounding from the loss of Amar'e Stoudemire with two impact players.


The Suns would send seven-year veteran guard Leandro Barbosa and late-season addition Dwayne Jones to Toronto for Turkoglu, a 6-foot-10 forward from Turkey with versatile skills to shoot from long range and be a playmaker. Toronto would then move Jones and its trade exception from the Chris Bosh sign-and-trade deal to Charlotte for former Suns forward Boris Diaw.


Phoenix will send a 2012 second-round pick to Atlanta in a sign-and-trade deal for Childress, who will leave Greece for a five-year, $33 million contract to play for the Suns.

source : azcentral.com


Redplanet.gr seems to confirm the interest from the Suns for Childress. The Greek portal spoke to Chris Emens, the agent of Josh Childress and he confirmed that the offer from the Suns is the only offer that he considers seriously. He turned down offers from Cleveland, Washington. Toronto, Chicago.


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Olimpia Milano signed Nicolo Melli for 4 seasons

Armani Jeans Milano locked up one of the top young players in European basketball over the weekend by signing power forward Nicolo Melli for the next four seasons.


Melli (205, 19) arrives from Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia, where he averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1 block in 27 Italian second division games last season. Melli helped Reggio Emilia advance to the Italian second division semifinals in 2008 and 2010. He has been viewed as a potential star for several years now, representing the Italian national team at the under-16 and U-18 levels. Melli was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 13.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game at the 2007 U-16 European Championships in Greece.

source : euroleague.net

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Olympiakos announced Vassilis Spanoulis.. finally

Thank goodness..(it's over)


Olympiakos got half the job done by signing Dusan Ivkovic and announcing Vassilis Spanoulis. The deal is for 3 seasons and it was announced via their official website.

As I said that was half the job done now they have to finish the job otherwise they will end up as one of the least successful teams in Europe given the money they spend on players and coaches. By signing Dusan Ivkovic they have acquired a coach of the ex-Yugoslavian basketball school and one much more "compatible" to Obradovic. Also by acquiring Spanoulis, they deny Panathinaikos of one of their most powerful weapons and they add it to their arsenal. Let's not forget how Spanoulis led the comeback of Panathinaikos in the 3rd final of the Greek play-offs just by sheer desire and drive.

Spanoulis is probably the most talked about transfer of a player from Panathinaikos to Olympiakos. The two teams rarely cross paths in their transfer targets but this has the potential to become the most memorable one.

ps. I'd like to make it clear here that I'm not a fan of Olympiakos, in case it got misunderstood in my opening statement.. thanks!

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Cleveland interested in Josh Childress

The sign-and-trade option is perhaps the most intriguing because two of the Cavs' top targets in free agency, sources said, are currently restricted free agents.


One is Atlanta Hawks small forward Josh Childress, who hasn't played in the NBA for the last two years after taking a lucrative offer to play for Olympiakos in Greece. Grant knows Childress well from his days in the Atlanta front office when Childress was drafted.

Childress averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in four seasons before taking what amounted to a three-year, $20 million offer from Olympiakos in 2008. He averaged 15.2 points and shot nearly 60 percent from the field in Greece last season.

The Hawks have maintained their rights to Childress. But after signing several players to large contracts over the last two years, including a $124 million deal recently given to Joe Johnson, it isn't believed they are motivated to match a significant offer.

A decision on Childress could come soon because he has until July 15 to opt out of his contract with Olympiakos. The Cavs are believed to be one of several teams interested in him.


source : cleveland.com

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Olympiakos to announce Spanoulis and Nielsen?

It was about time..


According redplanet.gr, that is affiliated to Olympiakos, the announcements of Vassilis Spanoulis and Matt Nielsen shouldn't be very far. The situation still remains in favor of Olympiakos, given the fact that they have submitted the highest offer to Spanoulis. It's rumored to be in the region of 2.5 million euros but high bonuses included.

As for Matt Nielsen, he should be so lucky that he can sign a contract with Olympiakos near the end of his career. The 32-year old veteran is a smart player that can cover 2 positions and his skill and experienced are valued by Dusan Ivkovic. Chances are he will be announced soon as he is more than happy to join the Greek team.

However.. even Lebron James decided what team to join before Vassilis Spanoulis, so don't be surprised if this takes longer.

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Timofey Mozgov to sign with the NY Knicks

Another European center to sign with an NBA team.


Russian center Timofey Mozgov(2.16-C) will sign 3-season deal with the New York Knicks according to a Twitter post of John Schumann, a writer of nba.com.

Russian center Timofey Mozgov will sign a 3 year, $9.7M contract with the New York Knicks.

Mozgov is a player of Khimki in Russia and also a member of the Russian National Team. He went undrafted in 2008 and for the last 4 seasons he has been playing for Khimki in Russia. Mozgov played in 3 different leagues this season. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 32 games in the Russian Superleague, 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 8 games in the VTB league and 6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 6 games in the Euroleague.

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Dimos Dikoudis has offer from Turkey

Dimos Dikoudis could be moving over to Turkey for next season.


Dimos Dikoudis(2.07-PF/C) has one more season in his contract with Aris but it seems impossible for the Greek team to cover his contract that will be higher than 275,000 euros next season. Aris want to get rid of his contract and Dikoudis wants more money than the 50% salary reduction they would offer him.

Superbasket.gr, says that Dikoudis has an offer from a Turkish team and he might accept it. The same team had targeted Dimitris Mavroeidis initially but he chose the ACB and Bilbao. The contract they're offer is much more than Aris could offer, almost double. It is very likely that Dikoudis will accept that offer and he will part ways with Aris. Dikoudis didn't manage to adjust to 3 different coaches last season and ultimately he averaged 5.9 points and 3.2 rebounds in 24 games in the Greek league.

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Aris interested in Dimitris Verginis

Verginis might be fed up polishing the bench of Panathinaikos..


According to athlitikanea.gr, Dimitris Verginis(1.91-PG/SG) is a potential target for Aris BC. The Greek combo guard has been a player of Panathinaikos for the last 2 seasons but one might say only in theory. Verginis belongs to the roster of Panathinaikos but his participation in the games of Panathinaikos is virtually non-existent.

He only managed to play 11 games this season with averages that are not worth mentioning and it seems that his purpose there is only to help in the Panathinaikos practice sessions. If the player is released from Panathinaikos, Aris are sure to go after him.

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Rumors about Randle and Partizan

One of the best undrafted free agents could be heading to Europe.next season.


While Jerome Randle(1.78-PG) is battling it out at the NBA Summer Leagues the rumors have started spreading in Europe about a possible interest from Partizan Belgrade. The Serbian powerhouse are looking for a replacement for Lester "Bo" McCalebb(1.83-PG) who could be heading to one of the major Euroleague clubs.

Randle graduated from the University of California this season and he was named Pac-10 Player of the Year as a senior. He finished his career at the University of California as the school's all-time leading scorer (1,835 career points). Randle also set school marks for three pointers (252 3FG made) and free throw accuracy (88.1% for his career. He averaged 18.6 points 2.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 35 games this past season.

He is currently playing for the team of the Orlando Magic at the Orlando Summer Camp. In his first game he accumulated 8 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists. He will continue playing with the team of Orlando Magic at the Las Vegas Summer League.



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Tofas Bursa added Ruzic and Nichols

Tofas Bursa announced signing of Tomislav Ruzic  (208-F/C-79) and Austin Nichols (198-G/F-82, college: Humboldt St.) for the upcoming season.


Tomislav Ruzic is not a new face in Turkey as he already played there for Besiktas and Kepez. Ruzic spent last two years with the Croatian outfit Zadar. He appeared 26 times in 2009/10 averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in the Adriatic league. In the EuroCup, Ruzic played 6 games with 7.7 ppg and 5 rpg. In Croatian league he added 11.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg for 22 games leading his team to Playoff Finals. Tomislav Ruzic was a member of Besiktas on season 2003/04. Four years later he played for Kepez. 

Austin Nichols is coming to Tofas from French Orleans. He played 14 Euroleague games with them last season averaging 11.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. In the ProA, Nichols added 10.4 ppg and 2.2 rpg. He joined ASVEL last summer from Hyeres-Toulon as the best scorer of the French championship. That season Nichols had 21.4 ppg and 4.5 ppg for 30 games in ProA. He spent almost five years with Hyeres-Toulon.
Few days ago Tofas inked Jason Rowe  (178-G-78, college: Loyola (MD)).


source : eurobasket.com

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Omer Asik to play for the Chicago Bulls

Omer Asik will be moving to Chicago for the next season.


The Chicago Bulls announced the deal with Omer Asik via their official website. The text can be founds below:

The Bulls also reached agreement on a deal with big man Omer Asik of Turkey. Asik will play for Turkey in the World Championships and will not be with the team until then. The Bulls are quietly optimistic about Asik and believe he can be a high level reserve behind Joakim Noah, which reduces their concern about adding another big man.

source : nba.com/bulls


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Nielsen and Cook candidates for Olympiakos?

2 former players of the ACB are being considered.


According to gazzetta.gr, Matt Nielsen(2.08-PF/C) is a candidate for Olympiakos. The Greek portal says that according to their exclusive information the Australian forward/center could be the first transfer for Olympiakos. The article says that negotiations are under way and it is possible that the deal could be finalised soon. Nielsen helped Valencia to conquer the Eurocup last season and he was also crowned MVP of the Final Four. 

Nielsen has also played for Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania and Paok in Greece. Last season he averaged 8.8 points 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 36 games in the ACB and also 9.6 points 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 17 games in the Eurocup.

According to another source, Omar Cook(1.86-PG) is the first alternative for Olympiakos in case the deal with Spanoulis goes sour. Cook shares the same agent with Spanoulis and an initial discussion has been made although no offer has been made. Cook recently parted ways with Malaga. He averaged 9.8 points 1.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 16 games playing for Malaga in the Euroleague. Cook holds a Montenegrin passport that allows him to play as an EU player.


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Splitter agreed to play for the San Antonio Spurs

Splitter waved the fans of Baskonia goodbye at the end of the ACB finals for a reason..


According to Jim Bob Breazeale and Mike Taylor, hosts of Sports Talk San Antonio on the Ticket 760, the Spurs have reached an agreement with Brazilian center Tiago Splitter.

Ticket 760 has learned that the San Antonio Spurs have reached a contract agreement with Tiago Splitter. He is expected to sign the deal on Monday. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

If the reports are true, everyone around San Antonio can take a deep breath knowing Splitter is finally signed and we will finally see one of the Spurs foreign draft picks actually wearing a Spurs uniform.

Earlier this week, word from Splitter's camp is that they wanted the Spurs to make an offer quickly, but it appears they were just waiting for the Lebron James decision to be over, since it seems they have now signed both Bonner and Splitter.

My best guess is that he will sign for the full Mid Level Exception. This also rules out the Spurs chances of signing Shaquille O'Neal, who was likely a backup plan.

Update: Chris Duel and Jason Minnix from the Chris and Jason Show on ESPN 1250 just tweeted that their sources are indicating that Splitter has signed.


source : projectspurs.com

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Rumors about Andersen and Olympiakos

Could Andersen return to Europe?


According to Greek portal sport.gr, Olympiakos are interested in signing Australian forward/center David Andersen(2.12-PF/C), currently of the Houston Rockets. The article quotes publications of the Serbian press although nothing in particular and it says that the Houston Rockets might not be interested in keeping Andersen after a mediocre season, especially now that they're running out of space in their salary cap.He has one more season in his contract with Houston.

Andersen has played under Ivkovic in the past, during his days in CSKA Moscow. He has also played for Virtus Bologna in Italy and Barcelona in Spain. Andersen holds a Danish passport that makes him a very valuable commodity for any European team. The departures of Vujcic and Schortsanitis leave some gaps in the front-line of Olympiakos so Andersen could be a good choice for them, provided he is free from Houston. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 63 games last season in the NBA.

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Varese announced Kristjan Kangur

Varese announced their first player.


This was the first announcement from Varese and it's Estonian forward Kristjan Kangur(2.01-SF/PF) that will be their first signing. The deal was announced via Varese's official site today. Kangur played briefly for Virtus Bologna in the play-offs and he can cover both forward positions.

He started his career in Kalev Talin in Estonia and then moved on to Germany and Bayern Leverkusen before returning to Kalev. Last season he played for Villeurbanne in France before moving to Virtus Bologna for the play-offs where he averaged 7.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5 games for Virtus Bologna. He is also a long standing member of the Estonian National Team.


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Paul Davis close to signing with Maccabi TA

Paul Davis could be the new signing of Maccabi Tel Aviv.


According to the latest rumors, Paul Davis(2.11-C) might be the new signing of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Paul Davis played for Obradoiro in Spain last season. He was signed in a vain attempt by Obradoiro to avoid relegation but it didn't pay off. He didn't do all bad though.

He was selected by the LA Clippers in the 2006 Draft as the 34th overall pick but he never got any playing time in the NBA. He started this season with the Washington Wizards but after 2 games he was sent to the NBDL playing for the Maine Red Claws. After that he moved to Obradoiro for his first pro experience in Europe averaging 13.2 points 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 6 games. The deal is rumored to be for 2 seasons. If this deal goes through it could mean that Maccabi are no longer interested in Ian Vouyoukas(2.11-C) or he could be signing with Panathinaikos. The 2 players are very similar in style.


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Cajasol added shooter Txemi Urtasun

Cajasol has started to prepare for its Eurocup debut by inking shooting guard Txemi Urtasun to a two-year deal, the club announced Thursday. 



Urtasun (193, 26) arrives from Meridiano Alicante, where he averaged 10.6 points and 1.9 assists in 34 Spanish League games last season. He has also played for Estudiantes, Guipuzcoa BC, Breogan, CAI Zaragoza, U.B. La Palma, Bilbao Basket and Siglo XXI Pais Vasco in his native Spain. Urtasun, whose twin brother Alex also played professional basketball, has been a member of the Spanish under-18 and U-20 national teams. He helped Alicante reach the Spanish first division in 2009, lifting the Principe de Asturias Cup - played by Spanish second division teams - trophy that season.

"Txemi has character and is a great shooter. We hope he can adjust to the new three-point distance to keep being an important threat from the perimeter. He improved a lot in recent years," Cajasol sports director Juan Llaneza said. "We have great references from him as a person, too. He shows his compromise with his teams, is ambitious and has an outstanding work ethic. His sports and human values are precisely what we are looking for."


source : eurocupbasketball.com


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Anwil signed Robert Skibniewski

Anwil Wloclawek brought in some experience for its Eurocup return by signing point guard Robert Skibniewski for the coming season.


A guard on the Polish national team, Skibniewski (183, 26), who has spent the past two season playing outside, has experience at the Eurocup and Euroleague levels. He grew up with Slask Wroclaw, where he played for six consecutive seasons at the start of his career.

He averaged 7.1 points and 2.3 assists in 12 games with Slask in the 2004-05 ULEB Cup, helping the team to reach the elimination rounds. Since then he played for Polpak Swiecie and Turow Zgorzeleg in Poland and for BK Prostejov in the Czech League. Last season he averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 assists in 19 minutes per game, helping Prostejov reach the Czech League finals. Skibniewski represented Poland at EuroBasket 2009 in Poland.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

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Raduljica moves to Efes Pilsen for the next 5 seasons

Efes Pilsen made a major move that signals to the future by signing Miroslav Raduljica, one of the top young centers in the game, to a five-year deal.


Raduljica arrives from Serbian side FMP, where he had a breakout season last year as his minutes rose. He finished the season with 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in the EuroChallenge, helping FMP reach the quarterfinals, and 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Adriatic League. Radulica was already seen as a star on the rise last summer when he played a reserve role for the Serbian national team that won the silver medal at EuroBasket 2009. he had limited Eurocup experience with FMP early in his career, making his competition debut days after his 17th birthday.

He has played his whole career to date with FMP, spare one season on loan at Borac Cacak. Radulica also helped Serbia win gold medals at the 2005 European Under-18 Championships, the 2007 World U-19 Championships and the 2008 European U-20 Championships, where he was named MVP after scoring 18.6 points and leading the tourney in rebounding with 10.9 per game.

source : euroleague.net

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Kleiza signed with the Raptors for 4 seasons.

Kleiza wanted the easy way out and that was the NBA.


It seems that Linas Kleiza will be returning to the NBA after all and that will loosen up the salary pool of Olympiakos a bit more. The Lithuanian scorer agreed to play for the Raptors for 4 seasons. Now Denver must match the offer or Kleiza's contract with Toronto becomes valid. It was announced by the Twitter page of Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports:

Kleiza terminated contract with Greece Olympiacos Wednesday. The Nuggets, Kleiza's former team before going to Greece, has 7 days to match.


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Vouyoukas waiting on Panathinaikos

He won't be waiting forever though.


Ian Vouyoukas(2.11-C) is waiting for an offer from Panathinaikos according to information from our good friends at Greek Hoopz. Panathinaikos are currently in the middle of negotiations with Drew Nicholas(1.93-SG)(that have been concluded) and Mike Batiste(2.04-PF/C) so the matter of Ian Vouyoukas has come to a halt for a while.


Vouyoukas is one of most underrated Greek players and another good season for him earned him an offer from Maccabi TA. Olympiakos didn't even bother to offer a renewal of the contract so Vouyoukas is quite happy to leave a team that never really paid any attention to him. Obviously Vouyoukas would like to stay in Greece if possible so he will wait for an official offer to come from Panathinaikos before he gives his final decision to Maccabi. He won't wait forever though.We're not aware of an offer from Malaga but you never know..

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Drew Nicholas agreed to renew with Panathinaikos

They'd be stupid not to keep him.

According to inside information, Drew Nicholas(1.93-SG) agreed to continue his career in Panathinaikos for the next 2 seasons. In Panathinaikos they're expecting the imminent loss of Vassilis Spanoulis and instead of waiting they've decided to tackle other issues. The deal should be announced soon, possibly even tomorrow.

Nicholas has been a part of Panathinaikos for the past 2 seasons. The urban legend is that Nicholas became a member of Panathinaikos when vice-president Thanasis Giannakopoulos, saw him in a game against Efes Pilsen on 13/02/2008. Nicholas scored 29 points defeating Panathinaikos single-handedly. Thanasis had to have him. And now Nicholas will remain in Panathinaikos for 2 more seasons. Nicholas himself has said that Panathinaikos is the ideal team for him to be. It took him about a season to adjust to Obradovic's plays and now Nicholas has become an almost irreplaceable part of the team. Nicholas averaged 10.5 points 1.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 16 games in the Euroleague for Panathinaikos.

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BC Gottingen signed Jermain Raffington

BC Gottingen continued its hard work to prepare for its first Eurocup campaign by signing power forward Jermain Raffington on Tuesday.


Raffington (205, 25) arrives from fellow German side BBC Bayreuth, which he helped achieve promotion to Germany's top division last season. He averaged 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds last season, his second at Bayreuth. Raffington began his professional career with BV Chemnitz 99 in the 2007-08 season. He was anointed as one of German basketball's best young players early in his career and named the outstanding player at the Dirk Nowitzki Basketball Academy in September 2002. He also played for the German junior national teams at the under-16 and U-20 levels.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

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Barcelona renewed Terrence Morris for 2 more seasons

Euroleague champion Regal FC Barcelona has reached a new agreement with former All-Euroleague power forward Terence Morris to extend his contract until the end of the 2011-12 season, the club announced Wednesday.


Morris (207, 31) averaged 7.1 points on a league-best 82.5% two-pointers and 3.8 rebounds in 21 Euroleague games last season. He helped Barcelona to win the Spanish SuperCup, the Spanish King's Cup and above all, the club's second Euroleague title.

Morris is the first player in Euroleague history to reach three consecutive finals with as many different teams. He made it to the Euroleague final with Maccabi in 2008 and then again with CSKA in 2009 before joining Barcelona. Morris is the only player who among the Euroleague's top 10 this decade in career two-point (62.6 %) and three-point (46.8 %) shooting percentages. He also ranks 10th in blocks at 1.3 per game. Under the new deal, Barcelona retains an option to end the contract in summer 2011.

source : euroleague.net

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Triboldi(Cremona) signed Je'Kel Foster

A great addition for Triboldi.

Je'Kel Foster(1.91-PG/SG) was announced by the official website of Triboldi and he will be their player for season 2010-2011. Je'Kel Foster was one of the best three-point shooters in the history of the NCAA and he graduated from Ohio State in 2006. His first pro contract was in Germany playing for Ludwigsburg and then moved on to France and Paris Levallois. Foster can cover both guard positions although his natural position is that of the shooting guard.

His last team was Oldenburg in Germany where he played the last 2 seasons. He competed in the Euroleague and the German Bundesliga with Oldenburg. He averaged 12.2 points 3 rebound 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 10 games in the Euroleague. In Germany he averaged 13.9 points 4.2 rebounds 3 assists and 1.4 steals in 37 games.



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Big Sofo to play with the Clippers in Las Vegas

After seven years of speculation and anticipation, Sofoklis Schortsanitis will indeed make his Clippers’ debut in Las Vegas. From Clippers.com:


First round draft selections Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe as well as 2010 second round selection Willie Warren will join third year player DeAndre Jordan to form the nucleus of the Los Angeles Clippers’ entry in the 2010 NBA Summer League, who open summer league play against the Washington Wizards entry on July 12th in Las Vegas.

Also joining the Clippers’ entry in Las Vegas is Greek forward Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the Clippers second round selection (34th overall) in the 2003 NBA Draft. Schortsanitis averaged 9.0 points and 3.4 rebounds in 31 Greek League games in 2009-10 for Olympiacos. Blake Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, is expected to practice and be with the team on the bench during summer league games, however he will not play in any games.

In addition to Big Sofo and the rookies, the Clippers have invited a few other names you may remember as well. Here’s the complete roster:

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Birthdate	From	NBA Exp.
3	Al-Farouq Aminu	F	6′9″	215	9/21/1990	Wake Forest	0
30	Ryan Ayers	F	6′7″	210	7/16/1986	Notre Dame	0
23	Rod Benson	F/C	6′10″	235	10/10/1984	California	0
17	Marqus Blakely	F	6′5″	225	10/22/1988	Vermont	0
12	Eric Bledsoe	G	6′1″	190	12/09/1989	Kentucky	0
21	Nik Caner-Medley	F	6′9″	240	10/20/1983	Maryland	0
24	Trey Johnson	G	6′5″	218	8/30/1984	Jackson State	1
9	DeAndre Jordan	C	6′11″	250	7/21/1988	Texas A&M	2
11	Jeremy Richardson	F/G	6′6″	185	2/11/1984	Delta State	2
15	Sofoklis Schortsanitis	F	6′9″	315	6/22/1985	Olympiacos (Greece)	0
13	Willie Warren	G	6′4″	203	10/22/1989	Oklahoma	0
7	Dashuan Wood	G	5′11″	180	9/29/1985	Wright State	0

source : clipperblog.com


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Steve Leven to play in Greece

This one was tipped off by greekbball.blogspot.com.



Australian-born Steve Leven showed just why he is such a valuable asset to Scottish basketball with a vintage display in a 88-68 defeat to favourites Denmark in their opening clash of the Euro C Championship in Malta.
Leven, whose father hailed from Edinburgh, intends signing a new pro contract with a Greek club next season but not before the man who represented Australian Universities has performed mightily for his new country.

He scored 23 points off three from four shots from three-point range, six from 13 from two point range and eight from nine from the line and nearly brought the house down with a spectacular dunk which toppled the portable basket. Ross Campbell added 12.

Laurie Costello (Edinburgh Kings) said: "We have to play better as a team."

source : sport.scotsman.com


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Toronto interested in Childress and Kleiza?

Doug Smith of the Toronto Star gives his verdict on whether the Toronto Raptors are interested in the 2 forwards of Olympiakos.


Of course you know there’d be a couple of guys who’d slip my mind when I was talking about the mid-level exception and the guy I was told the Raptors are thinking about making an offer to.

Now, I again caution nothing is done until it’s done and these are talks that are progressing. But a couple of guys sidled up to me Monday, and, even though I like sidlers about as much as Elaine Benes, I had to listen.

And they dropped three more on me:

Travis Outlaw, Linas Kleiza and Josh Childress. Nothing more than names to put on the list because no one connected with the Raptors is about to divulge anything specific at the moment.

Kleiza’s the interesting one to me because there was interest in him a year ago before the Raptors made all their moves and he headed off to Europe.

He’s a restricted free agent but he could very well be the guy you should be debating.


source : thestar.com


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Siena added Rakovic and Michelori and extended Ress

Italian League champion Montepaschi Siena completed its frontcourt for the upcoming season by inking big men Milovan Rakovic and Andrea Michelori to respective multi-year deals, the club announced Tuesday.


Montepaschi also extended Tomas Ress until the end of the 2011-12 season. Rakovic (208, 25) inked a three-year deal and arrived from Spartak St. Petersburg, where he averaged 14.3 points and 6 rebounds in 6 Eurocup games last season. He has also played for several teams in his native Serbia such as Mega Ishrana, Atlas Banka Novi Beograd and Polet Keramika Novi Becej.

Michelori (202, 32) inked a two-year deal and arrived from Pepsi Caserta, where he averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 38 Italian League games last season, helping the team to make it to the semifinals. He has also played for Virtus Bologna, Cantu, Biella and Milano throughout his career. Ress (211, 29) averaged 3.5 points in 11 Euroleague games last season. In his three years with Montepaschi Siena, Ress has won as many Italian League titles, as well as reaching the Euroleague Final Four in 2008. Rakovic, Michelori and Ress join Ksistof Lavrinovic and Shaun Stonerook - who were already under contract - in Montepaschi's frontcourt.

source : euroleague.net

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Pedoulakis returns to Peristeri for 3 seasons

It took a while but he is finally here.


Argiris Pedoulakis returned to the team that he loved as a played and also the best moments of his career as a coach. The administration of Peristeri handed over the keys of the club to Pedoulakis who signed a 3-season agreement with them. It was announced earlier today via the official website of Peristeri.

Pedoulakis was going to return last season but then the administration had already booked Athanasios Skourtopoulos to take over the head coach of the club and he didn't do bad. Peristeri easily avoided relegation and they almost made it into the play-offs. Pedoulakis comes as a messiah to Peristeri to unite the team amidst intense internal strife and keep them in the A1 league for many seasons to come.

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Louis Dale signed with BG Göttingen

Louis Dale will be moving to Germany next season.


Louis Dale(1.80-PG) announced via his Twitter page that he signed a new contract with Eurochallenge winners, BG Göttingen. Dale comes from Cornell University where he was the starting point guard for the last 4 seasons. BG Göttingen will be his first pro contract in Europe.

He averaged 12.8 points 4.7 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game in 31 games for Cornell Big Red in the NCAA.

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Hapoel Migdal added Jason Rich and Lior Hakmon

Hapoel Migdal is very active this week. After signing of Amit Simhon  (197-G-89), the team from Jerusalem secured two-year deal with Jason Rich  (191-G-86) and Lior Hakmon  (202-F-85).


Jason Rich is coming to Hapoel Migdal from Maccabi Haiffa, where he spent last season. Rich appeared 26 times in Premier League averaging 14.4 points, 4 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Before Maccabi Haifa, he spent one season with Italian Cantu. For 30 games in SerieA Rich registered 9.8 ppg and 3.1 rpg. It was his first season as a pro, after he graduated at the Florida State University in 2008. In his senior season Rich had 14.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 2 apg in 34 games.

Lior Hakmon joined Hapoel Migdal from Maccabi Netanya, where he had 5.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg for 27 games last season. Season 2008/09 Hakmon spent with Maccabi Ramat Gan. There he had 4.9 ppg and 3.5 rpg for 22 games. He started as a kid with Netanya and played there until 2008. In the past Hakmon was a member of U20 Israel.

Hapoel Migdal will compete in EuroCup next season.  


source : eurobasket.com

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CSKA added Marjanovic for 3 seasons

Center Boban Marjanovic (21 years, 221 cm) added to our team’s roster. The player from Serbia signed 3-year deal with CSKA.


The player arrived to Moscow on July 5 and will be examined in one of the medical centers. The agreement will become official after the examinations.

The team’s newcomer is grown by Hemopharm Vrsac system. He took part in 6 Eurocup games (9.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg in 18.8 mpg) and 27 Adriatic League games (7.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.8 bpg in 15.1 mpg) last season. He made his debut for the National Team in 2008 helping Serbia to qualify for Eurobasket 2009.

Dusko Vujosevic, CSKA head coach:
“I like Marjanovic very much both as a player and a person. He is a very tall player, still he possesses good feeling for the game. Definitely, he should improve, his potential is obvious. Boban expressed big desire to progress to the next level; he is ready to work hard. I am confident that combination of Sasha Kaun and Boban Marjanovic will provide us with possibility to vary different styles of offense and defense. I’d like to mention that we are not done with selection process, we continue to study the chances to strengthen our roster.”

Boban Marjanovic:
“I am very excited about my new contract and moving on to the next level of my career. It’s really a pleasure to become a member of one of the best European basketball clubs with such an impressing tradition and to have a chance to make progress in such a great environment. I am happy to have Mr. Vujosevic as my coach and excellent players as my teammates.”

source : cskabasket.com

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