By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
A lot have been said, written and done after Eurohoops publishing its exclusive information about the “trade” between Panathinaikos and Unicaja Malaga concerning James Gist and Andy Panko. The truth is that there was only one obstacle in order for the deal to be done, the second year of Panko’s contract with Panathinaikos.
However, as it turned out, his contract has a buy out option of 50.000 $ which can be used in the summer of 2013 and the Greens’ owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos is ready to pay it immediately in order for the deal to be completed. Also Unicaja offered to Panko a second year option in his new contract which could be only exercised by the team. So, the only thing missing at this point is the signatures in the new contracts.
The official announcement seems to be just a matter of hours and Panathinaikos will not stop there. The Greens feel that they have to add one more center in their roster, at least with a two months contract due to the uncertainty of Shotsanitis’ situation with his injured foot, and the team will stay on the market in order to find him as soon as possible.