<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Now it's official RT <a href="https://twitter.com/george_sfera">@george_sfera</a> Big day for K-Pap <a href="https://twitter.com/_Papanikolaou_">@_Papanikolaou_</a> . Signing his <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA">@NBA</a> contact with <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets">@HoustonRockets</a> <a href="http://t.co/NpHRzIwNk8">pic.twitter.com/NpHRzIwNk8</a></p>— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Eurohoopsnet/statuses/498745530198278144">August 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I think we give him a shot this year. Why trade him when we need our skills on the team itself? We need him to take the Delfino role, the 3&D who can also play a little 4. He is a winner, he can be a role player, he can step up and score. He can be a good help defender. He already knows Bev, Dorsey, Powell (if the latter stays). I predict he'll become an integral part of the bench.
You sign a young player with promise for that purpose. What good is to sign Sessions, if Boston would have no interest in taking on his $4.8M contract for this year. Papa+cannan+D-Mo+NOLA pick+another 1st+Lull+NGs for Rondo at least looks intriguing to Boston.
What a loser. Signing his contract in a quiet classy room instead of a loud, obnoxious club while potentially drunk.
Surprised that Kostas signed his contract indoors instead of on a hillside riding his donkey while herding goats.
What's it really matter, he will be relegated to the bench and then traded for a 2nd in about 10 mo's.
in the interim what matters is how well he plays, whether he earns a spot and nullifies the need for a trade, or better yet, plays well and improves his value enough to help return a marquee player. so um... that's matters really
FWIW: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p>If ur a rockets fan remember this name kosta papanikolaou he's goin be solid kid not only has talent but works hard</p>— von wafer (@vonwafer13) <a href="https://twitter.com/vonwafer13/statuses/498856289779187712">August 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> (They played together in 2009-10.)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Belated note on Rockets' newest addition, Kostas Papanikolaou. 1st yr on his deal ($4.8 mil) believed to be highest ever for any 2nd rounder</p>— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) <a href="https://twitter.com/sam_amick/statuses/498905526571241472">August 11, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Correct. Papanikolaou is not the same caliber of player/prospect that guys like Luis Scola and Nikola Pekovic were when they came into the league. Each of those guys got more total money due to the number of guaranteed years on their deals. Structuring Kostas's contract to pay him so much in the first year (with no guaranteed salary after that) makes his contract much easier to trade than it would have been had he made less per year over more years. It also provides the Rockets with much-needed salary filler, which the Rockets were lacking after trading away the contracts of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin. That's not to say that Papanikolaou WILL be traded. It's just that his (high) salary would facilitate many trade options the Rockets otherwise might not have available.
