By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
More power inside the paint for Fenerbahce Beko with incoming George Papagiannis following Sertac Sanli to the Istanbul powerhouse.
Papagiannis, 26, signed a two-year contract, the team announced Saturday. Eurohoops reported on his deal with Fener on Thursday.
Departing from Panathinaikos, the Greek center made additional noise with the reaction of the president of the Greens Dimitris Giannakopoulos, and the fallout with the player’s agency.
Navigating his sixth campaign in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, all with Panathinaikos, he put in 8.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per contest over 33 appearances, including 22 starts. His side securing only nine wins across the 34-game double-legged round-robin schedule of the Regular Season ranked 17th out of 18 teams. Higher on the table, Fener sneaked into the Playoffs as the eighth seed and forced top-seeded Olympiacos to the distance in the Playoffs’ best-of-five series before bowing out.
Packing 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.4 steals per contest painted the picture of his efforts in Greece’s Basket League and season-opening Super Cup. His former team was overpowered by archrival Olympiacos in the Final of both domestic competitions and was eliminated by the Reds in the Semifinals of the Cup’s Final Eight.
Separating the two stints with Panathinaikos from 2014 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2023, the towering Greek center was selected with the 13th overall pick of the 2016 NBA draft and logged 39 games played between the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers.