By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
The new era of Panathinaikos will signal a lot of changes in the roster as well as the future of the team financially. Earlier on Tuesday, Dimitris Giannakopoulos stated via a press conference that he decided to step down from the team while he is actively looking for a new owner, with an asking price of 25M euros.
At the same time, more and more players of the Greens are moving on with their next steps. Nick Calathes has reached a three-year guaranteed deal with Barcelona as Eurohoops earlier informed, while its foreign players like Jimmer Fredette also on the exit door.
Fredette, who left Greece earlier this year upon the coronavirus outbreak and the shutdown of international borders, still has a year left on his contract with the Greens. However, with Panathinaikos not being able to cover such a contract anymore, Fredette has to move to a different team, possibly in the Chinese League, or even in EuroLeague if an offer occurs. At this point, staying doesn’t seem like an option for the 31-year-old shooting guard.
DeShaun Thomas’ case is similar to Fredette’s, as he is still under contract with the club though he has also been requested to take a pay cut to his wages for next season. Still, given that he was one of Panathinaikos’ pillars prior to the season cancelation, both sides could opt towards staying together for one more year.
Andy Rautins, Wesley Johnson, Jacob Wiley, and Tyrese Rice are also highly unlikely to stay with the club for next season due to the budget drop, with the latter also hinting his retirement with a tweet he made recently.
Finally, there is Ben Bentil’s case, whose contract remains viable for the club and the essence is that both sides would like to continue their co-operation next season.
The changes in the roster and the budget are expected to affect native players of the Greens too, possibly with similar salary cuts next season.