According to greek press, the CSKA president said that Papaloukas will almost certainly leave the club to join Miami Heat. This would explain CSKA's signing of other greek NT playmaker Nikos Zisis.. According to unverified sources the Miami Heat have offered Theo Papaloukas a 10 mill/2 year contract
Well... he is by almost unanimously considered to be the best basketball player not to be palying in the NBA right now and the best european player + thats the kind of money expected if he is to be lured away from CSKA.... Dunno...its been rumoured a lot lately and I think it will more than likely happen
I hope you are forgetting Durant and Oden.... How is he a free agent? Did he go undrafted at one point? I like Riley pursuing him instead of proven veterans. He is choosing the perfect time to start replenishing his aging roster.
I meant people that could be playing in the NBA by now Like post-draft agewise etc. He is not a free agent. He just has a specific very low buyout clause for the case where he moves to an NBA team...A lot of euro players have clauses like that
It's very likely that he will be playing for the Heat next year. IMO it's up to him, several nba teams are reported to have expressed interest in signing him.
Yeah, teams are starting to take notice. I dont think he will have trouble adjusting to the NBA and however lands him in the end will be one very happy team..BTW in my opinion, he def deserves that amount of money. It's just a case of which team will choose to do it. The heat seem like the most likely candidate...Specially with Payton probably out
How is it that some foreign players can circumvent the draft system and just outright sign with their team of choice in the NBA? Theoretically speaking, would it be possible for Yi to withdraw from the draft and instead decide to sign a multi-year contract with the Rockets? There is either a disconnect here or something I am not getting...
Saras was overhyped in the US because he crew up and went to highschool and college there, European analysts would def not put him in the same level... The all-europeans team for 2006 (team of best europeans in NBA and abroad) was Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki, Boris Diaw and Pau Gasol... Guess who the 5th one was... And in january 2007 he was voted FIBA European player of the year ahead of all of them... I really don't think he'll be a bust in the NBA And regarding something someone else asked about how he can bypass the draft process I think it has something to do with his age but im not sure...
Probably what happened was that he entered the NBA draft at some point a long time ago, didn't get drafted, and now is considered an NBA free agent.
I can't seem to confirm it but according to a post in a messageboard somewhere he went undrafted in 1999... Any site where you can view the Draft Participant list?
Everyone turning 22 by a certain date is eligible for that year's draft. If he's 30 now, he would've been 22 in 1999.
A 6'7'' PG, he simply dismantled the Team USA with pick & rolls in last year's World's, playing like the closest thing to Magic Johnson. However, Team USA's defence was pure garbage in that tournament. He doesn't have much speed or athleticism. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the NBA.
Hopefully this dude doesn't flame out like Marko Jaric, the last 6-7 Euro point guard to grace the court.
He was interviewed by a Russian newspaper yesterday and said he was giving serious thought to moving to the NBA , said it's a big risk but "if you don't risk, you don't drink champagne"...
Just want to add taht after FIBA player of the year 2006 and Euroleague MVP 2007 , Papaloukas picked up the Russian League MVP 2007 award as well today
30 is right at the limit IMO to be able to adapt to the speed of the NBA. At 30 he probably still has the athleticism to do it but I think its going to be tough. I remember when the Mavs signed Antoine Rigidou who at the time was the top rated European player. He was a complete bust because he was just to old to adapt to the speed of the NBA.
