Valanciunas to meet with 7 NBA teams in Treviso

He is hot stuff this summer.


Although Jonas Valanciunas is not participating in the Adidas EuroCamp this weekend, the Lithuanian prospect still made his way to Treviso, where he will meet with seven NBA teams. The 19-year-old rising star has drawn the attention of many NBA teams and is hoping to get drafted in the first half of the lottery.
Unlike three other Lithuanian players – Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Eimantas Bendzius and Donatas Motiejunas – Valanciunas isn’t actually participating in the camp, but will be presented to the seven interested teams individually.

A couple of days ago Valanciunas underwent medical checks and is planning to attend some individual work outs with one or a couple of NBA teams.


source : lithuaniabasketball.com

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Olympiacos interested in David Andersen

They were interested last season too..


According to the Greek sports newspaper Protathlitis, Dusan Ivkovic wants David Andersen(2.11-PF/C) to play for him once again. The 2 of them worked together in CSKA Moscow and Andersen is almost at the end of his contract in the NBA after he's been traded around and ended up with the New Orlean Hornets.

Andersen's contract makes him 2.5 million dollars, which is money that Olympiacos could easily afford for that kind of player. Andersen has a Danish passport too so that makes him even more appealing for European teams and in Olympiacos they're looking for another worthy player for their front-line. Andersen has averaged 2.8 points and 1.8 rebounds in 28 games in the Hornets and it seems that he won't get another option in his contract with them. This will open up the doors of the free agent market for him and the most lucrative contracts will come from the other side of the Atlantic.

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Spanoulis trying to persuade Zisis?

Is everyone forgetting the contract?


According to basketnet.gr, Vassilis Spanoulis spoke to Nikos Zisis recently in an effort to convince him to join Olympiacos in the next season. The 2 of them are very close friends for a good number of years so it's only reasonable that Spanoulis would have some influence over Zisis but there is one very important detail that seems to put a gigantic block on things.

And that is that Zisis has another season in his contract with Siena. Siena's GM Minucci is reknowned for his strict decisions regarding players bound by contract with Siena. It's very unlikely that he would allow Zisis to leave Siena so that he'll go play for one of their main contenders in the Euroleague. Even if he were to allow Zisis to leave there would be a handsome compensation for Siena and even for Olympiacos these are tought financial times. Although this sounds like a good story, unless there is a minute buy-out clause in Zisis' contract with Siena it seems like a far fetched scenario.

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Spartak deny rumors about Kirilenko

Obviously..


According to gazeta.ru Andrei Kirilenko doesn't actually have an offer from Spartak St. Petersburg. The athletic director of Spartak, Alexei Karvanen said that this is simply not true. The rumors that mentioned a 2-season deal that would cost 12.5 million dollars seem to be untrue as this actually bigger than the budget of the team itself.

Kirilenko will become a free agent this summer and he'll test the waters in the NBA to see what kind of contract he will get. It's true he is a player highly coveted in Europe and it's natural that more rumors will surface in the next few weeks. This becomes even more apparent especially now that the lock-out prospect looms menacingly over the magic world of the NBA.

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Treviso agreed terms with Chrysikopoulos?

He'll need to strut his stuff..


Linos Chrysikopoulos(2.03-SF) has travelled to Treviso for the annual Eurocamp this time sponsored by Adidas. According to basketblog.gr this is not the only reason that Chrysikopoulos has travelled there. The article says that he has agreed to play for the team of Treviso next season and this would be a good opportunity for the Italian team to check on him. Chrysikopoulos played in that camp last year as well but now he has to show how much he has progressed the last 12 months.

He is still bound by contract with Aris BC but its a contract that the team unilaterally activated according to the Greek legislation. This is a bit of a grey area here as this type of contract is officially recognised by FIBA
and if the player chooses to terminate the contract there will be a compensation to his team that is relevant to his playing time and also his participation in any National Teams. As it stands at the moment Chrysikopoulos could even file a lawsuit against the contract in the Greek courts as anti-constitutional contract and get it dismissed. Actually he already did that but after some deliberation with the team's administration his agent decided to drop the lawsuit last March. Chrysikopoulos is considered to be one of the best emering Greek talents of his generation but at the age of 18 he still hasn't shown any of that potential. Admittedly playing for a team like Aris it's difficult to secure some playing time but then again that will be the case in a team like Treviso. At the Eurocamp he'll have his chance to dazzle them with his skills or fail trying.

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Jasmin Repesa the new coach of Real Madrid?

For 3 seasons too..


According to Spanish portal as.com, the new head coach of Real Madrid will be Jasmin Repesa. Repesa comes from Benetton Treviso where he ended his run in the semifinals beaten by Siena. Repesa will be reportedly taking up the helm of Real Madrid for the next 3 seasons and he has already visited Madrid and went to meet the players and check out the team's facilities.

Repesa is mostly known for his time in Virtus Roma and Fortitudo Bologna and as a head coach of the Croatian National Team the last few years. He has won a few national champhionships but no international titles. This move hasn't been met well with the fans but the administration of the team were quite eager to end the head coach issue sooner rather than later. Repesa should be announced by the official site of Real Madrid very soon.

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Papaloukas has offers from Barcelona and Fenerbahce

Like he wouldn't..


According to sport-fm.gr, Theo Papaloukas(2.00-PG) has offers from Barcelona and Fenerbahce now that he is a free agent. His contract with Olympiacos expires at the end of this month and he will be able to sign for a new team. The article says that according the their information Papaloukas has a 2-season offer contract from Barcelona but makes no mention of the duration of the offer from Fenerbahce.

It does say though that the offer from Fenerbahce is substantially bigger but Papaloukas seems to be more inclinded to play for Barcelona in the ACB at the twilight of his career. It seems even more likely now that he will not be playing for Olympiacos next season.

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