Kostas Papanikolaou

And-Ones: Sterling, Cavs, Brown, Rockets

Donald Sterling’s sit down with Anderson Cooper airs on CNN tomorrow night, but Charles Barkley won’t be among those watching. “We got to work tomorrow night so we don’t have to watch that junk,” the Hall of Famer told his Inside The NBA cohorts as they came back from commercial, as noted by Nina Mandell of USA Today.  Here’s tonight’s look around the league..

  • LeBron James and other NBA players are concerned about Shelly Sterling taking control of the Clippers, but a statement released this evening by NBA spokesman Mike Bass could put those worries to bed.  “Under the NBA Constitution, if a controlling owner’s interest is terminated by a 3/4 vote, all other team owners’ interests are automatically terminated as well. It doesn’t matter whether the owners are related as is the case here.  These are the rules to which all NBA owners agreed to as a condition of owning their team,” the statement read (Howard Beck of Bleacher Report on Twitter).
  • Shelly Sterling’s attorney released a statement of his own to reporters, including Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
  • Sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert will support whatever decision the team’s next GM makes regarding Mike Brown. So, it appears the coach’s fate is in the hands of David Griffin, who’s expected to have the interim tag removed from his GM title soon. People around the league are split on whether Griffin would retain Brown, according to Amico.
  • Kostas Papanikolaou, whose NBA rights are owned by the Rockets, says he’s in no rush to make the leap over.  “Nothing changed in my thoughts about the NBA. If I get a good chance, I will go. However, I am new in this team [FC Barcelona Regal], they have treated me with respect and I only think about Barcelona. A team that helps me evolve my game and be better. So, I don’t know what will happen, if I will end up in the NBA this summer or the next one,” the Euroleague standout told Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Love, Papanikolaou, Jazz

There are rumors circulating that the Lakers will attempt to use this year’s high lottery pick to assemble the sort of trade package that finally convinces the Timberwolves to part with Kevin Love and end the uncertainty that hangs over this franchise even before the 25-year-old enters the final year of his contract, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Many in NBA circles believe that Love will eventually end up in Los Angeles, either via trade or free agency. He grew up in California, attended UCLA and his father, Stan, played for the Lakers, notes Stein.

More from out west:

  • Rockets GM Daryl Morey is in Barcelona scouting Kostas Papanikolaou, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post. The rights to the former second round pick of the Knicks were acquired from the Trail Blazers as part of the Thomas Robinson deal. Berman believes Papanikolaou will be in the NBA next season.
  • Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders examines what the Jazz need to do in order to rebuild the franchise into a winner.
  • Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes that Samuel Dalembert was the “steal” of last year’s free agent class, writes Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dalembert is averaging 6.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.17 BPG in 20.2 minutes per game.
  • Holger Geschwindner, who has mentored Dirk Nowitzki since he was a teenager in Wurzburg, Germany, believes the 35-year-old Mavs star can play at a high level for “three or four more years easily,” barring serious injury, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Nowitzki has stated on several occasions that he intends to re-sign with Dallas at a significantly reduced salary after he becomes a free agent this summer. The 16-year veteran, who is projected to finish the season among the top 10 scorers in NBA history, has repeatedly said that his next contract will be for two or three years, writes MacMahon.

Odds & Ends: Hawks, Raptors, Buyouts

The Hawks are close to adding five investors to their ownership group, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The NBA’s approval process for the addition is underway, and should complete in mid-March. Here’s more from around the league:

International Notes: Papanikolaou, Brown, Odom

The international scope of the NBA continues to grow, as teams become more and more invested in finding talent from all over the globe. Jusuf Nurkic is ranked as just the 33rd best prospect for the 2014 draft by Chad Ford of ESPN, but that’s enough potential to get eight NBA scouts in the stands at a Serbian basketball game, according to a tweet from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. Here are some more things we have our eye on from overseas today:

  • Kostas Papanikolaou is very likely to sign with the Rockets this summer, reports Givony (Twitter link). Houston owns the rights to the power forward, who is playing for FC Barcelona on the first year of a four-year deal he signed this offseason. It is likely the Rockets would have to work out a buyout with the Spanish team to bring him stateside, although the details of his contract are unclear.
  • Bobby Brown could be an addition at point guard for an NBA team once his season in China ends two weeks from now, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles. The Clippers were the last team rumored as a potential destination for Brown, although that came at a time when Chris Paul was still out with a shoulder injury.
  • The contract Lamar Odom recently signed with a Spanish team can be terminated in the first week by the team, and it also includes an option for a second year, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter links). It’s unclear if that’s a team or player option. The early termination window is there in case Odom isn’t in shape, but that does not appear to be an issue.

Southwest Rumors: Barbosa, Oden, James

The news today has had a distinctly Southwestern feel, and we've already rounded up a few items from Texas teams. There's still more news from the Lone Star State amid our broader look at the Southwest Division:
  • Artur Barbosa, who doubles as the brother and agent of Leandro Barbosa, tells Terra Brasil that the Mavs have offered the veteran guard a contract, and that the Dallas option is preferable to the Bulls, who've also shown interest (translation via HoopsHype). The agent says he's also engaged in talks with the Rockets. The Mavs wouldn't comment last night about a Brazilian report linking them to Barbosa, so perhaps this is the report in question.
  • Greg Oden is the top big man on the Mavs' radar following the team's signing of Samuel Dalembert and the release of Bernard James, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who names the Heat, Spurs and Pelicans as the other teams still in the mix for Oden (Twitter link).
  • There's a legitimate chance that a team claims James off waivers from the Mavs, Stein writes in the same piece. A source close to James tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that he's heard teams are eyeing the big man. The Wolves haven't expressed interest yet, but Minnesota is prepared to waive center Chris Johnson if necessary to make way for a better option, Wolfson reports (Twitter links).
  • Spanish club FC Barcelona announced the signing of Kostas Papanikolaou to a four-year deal (translation via Sportando's Emiliano Carchia). The Rockets hold the power forward's NBA rights, but it's unclear what the buyout clauses in his new contract are like. A report last weekend indicated that Papanikolaou "definitely" wants to play in the NBA this season, but signing a long-term European deal seems to run counter to that.
  • Tyreke Evans is ready to embrace a sixth-man role with the Pelicans, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details. 

Odds & Ends: Nets, Celtics, Mavs, Barea

The Nets and Celtics had agreed last month to the framework of a trade that involved Paul Pierce, but not Kevin Garnett, writes Howard Beck of The New York Times. Then, Brooklyn GM Billy King asked Boston counterpart Danny Ainge whether Garnett would be available, too, and the deal began to morph into the nine-player swap that was finalized today. Here's more on an ever-changing NBA landscape:

  • The Mavs lost a pair of guards to injury, but they aren't interested in a trade that would bring back J.J. Bareatweets Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.
  • According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), it's
    worth keeping an eye on Jordanian forward Zaid Abbas, who may be NBA-bound next
    month. Amick adds in a second tweet that Abbas is holding off on signing with a
    Chinese team due to optimism about potential NBA workouts in August.
  • The Rockets hold the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou after acquiring him as part of the Thomas Robinson trade, but the Bucks are among other NBA teams with interest in the 6'9" Greek small forward who "definitely" wants to play in the NBA this season, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link).
  • With Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Omri Casspi all joining other teams, the Cavaliers renounced their rights to the trio today, according to the RealGM transactions log. The Cavs did the same with Luke Walton, who remains a free agent.

Blazers Acquire Thomas Robinson

JULY 10TH: The Blazers have formally finalized their acquisition of Robinson from the Rockets, according to team owner Paul Allen (via Twitter). The picks being sent to Houston will be a 2015 second-rounder from the Wolves or Nuggets (whichever pick is higher) and a 2017 second-rounder from the Blazers, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

JUNE 30TH: The Trail Blazers have agreed to acquire forward Thomas Robinson from the Rockets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  The deal allows Houston to clear enough cap space in order to offer a maximum contract to Dwight Howard.

Portland will send the Rockets the draft rights to Kostas Papanikolau and Marko Todorovic and two future second-round picks, league sources said.  With the forward's salary now off of the books, the Rockets can offer Howard a four-year deal worth roughly $88MM in their meeting later tonight.

Robinson earns $3.5MM next season — not an unreasonable amount for a player with his potential, but too much for the Rockets as they need to squeeze in a max contract for this summer's top available big man.  Houston also cut Aaron Brooks and Carlos Delfino loose last week in order to carve out space for D12.

The fifth overall pick in the 2012 draft averaged 4.8 PPG and 4.5 RPG in limited playing time last season.  This is his second trade with the first coming at the deadline earlier this year, sending him from Sacramento to Houston.

Knicks, Blazers Discussing Kostas Papanikolaou

Last July, the Knicks sent the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou to Portland as part of the sign-and-trade deal that netted them Raymond Felton. Almost a year later, New York is trying to find a way to get Papanikolaou back. Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that the Knicks have offered second-round picks and cash to the Trail Blazers in an attempt to reacquire Papanikolaou's rights.

Considering how many future second-rounders the Knicks have traded away, there aren't many left to offer in a deal with the Blazers. New York's own 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 second-round picks are ticketed for Washington, Houston, Houston again, and Portland, respectively. The Knicks do have 2014 second-rounders from the Kings and Thunder, but Sacramento's pick is heavily protected and is unlikely to change hands. So New York could probably only offer Oklahoma City's 2014 second-rounder (likely to be near the very end of the draft) or picks in 2017 and beyond.

In any case, Portland doesn't appear willing to give up Papanikolaou's rights for the second-rounders the Knicks are offering. According to Berman, the Blazers countered by asking for the Knicks' 24th overall pick this week, with New York receiving Portland's No. 39 pick along with Papanikolaou in the proposed swap. However, Knicks GM Glen Grunwald is reluctant to give up New York's first-round pick.

Papanikolaou's Greek representative, George Sfairopoulos, indicated last month that he expected the Blazers to trade his client, since there didn't seem to be room at small forward on the team's roster to bring him stateside anytime soon. According to Berman, the Blazers are shopping Papanikolaou at the request of his U.S. agent, Marc Cornstein, and the team may have received offers from other clubs picking in the late-20s. GM Neil Olshey and the Blazers figure to wait until draft night to determine exactly who is available toward the end of the first round, says Berman.

Kostas Papanikolaou’s Agent Expects Trade

After bringing over a pair of international players, Joel Freeland and Victor Claver, last summer, the Trail Blazers aren't expected to do the same for Kostas Papanikolaou this offseason. George Sfairopoulos, the agent for Papanikolaou, tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he expects the Blazers to trade the rights to his client.

"As of now, we don't have any sign that leads us to believe that Kostas will go to Portland," Sfairopoulos said. "Therefore, we believe that he will not be in the plans of the organization next season and probably will be traded."

Papanikolaou, 22, was drafted 48th overall in 2012 by the Knicks, before being sent to the Blazers as part of the sign-and-trade deal that saw Raymond Felton head to New York. Earlier this month, EuroHoops.net reported that the young forward was receiving some interest from the Spurs, Mavericks, and Knicks, among other teams.

As I noted when rumors about Papanikolaou's trade candidacy first surfaced, the Blazers have four picks in this year's draft and should have a nice chunk of cap space available in July. So Papanikolaou's rights will be just one of many assets at Portland's disposal if the team elects to explore the trade market.

Kostas Papanikolaou Drawing Trade Interest?

Greece's Olympiacos has won its second straight Euroleague title, and at least one of the club's players seems to be drawing trade interest from NBA teams. Rigas Dardalis of EuroHoops.net writes that Kostas Papanikolaou, who received the Euroleague's Rising Star award, has received interest from the Spurs, Mavericks, and Knicks, among other teams.

Papanikolaou was selected by the Knicks 48th overall in the second round of the 2012 draft, but was sent to the Trail Blazers in the deal that brought Raymond Felton to New York. Although Portland currently holds Papanikolaou's rights, the small forward doesn't seem to be in the team's immediate plans, given the presence of Nicolas Batum and Victor Claver on the roster, according to Dardalis.

The Blazers are expected to be involved in free agency this summer as the team looks to upgrade its bench, but with plenty of cap space and four draft picks, Portland should also have plenty of worthwhile assets at its disposal in addition to Papanikolaou's rights, if the club decides to explore the trade market.