By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Ioannis Papapetrou had said repeatedly that he would like to return to Texas Longhorns but Olympiacos’ pressure to the young forward had result. The Euroleague champions announced the signing of the player who is also a member of the Greek U20 national team team just four days after the deal with his teammate in the junior national team, Dimitris Agravanis, whose signing was officially announced on Tuesday.
Papapetrou is considered a player ready to contribute even in Euroleague level and he is seen as the near future replacement of Kostas Papanikolaou who left for Barcelona. His numbers in the recent U20 European championship were at least impressive. He signed a five year contract with Olympiacos which is rumored to pay him in total close to 1,3 million euros excluding taxes. The first three years of his contract are guaranteed and then there are termination options for both sides, including an NBA out.
Also in Euroleague, French champions Nanterre announced the signing of 23 yeard old Travis Leslie, a former player of the Clippers. In Eurocup, Nolan Smith is leaving the NBA for Croatia and Cedevita Zagreb, French club Gravelines signed Marcus Lewis from Murcia, Israel’s Maccabi Haifa added big Man Uri Kokia and last but certainly not least Besiktas from Turkey inked Chris Lofton.