By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
After losing the championship title in Greece, Panathinaikos is starting the new season from scratch and Eurohoops presents the new conditions that are shaping the future of the Greens.
Three years after the decision of Zeljko Obradovic to leave the team in 2012 and after two Greek doubles in 2013 and 2014, Panathinaikos couldn’t find in the face of Dusko Ivanovic the man who would build a new Greek core of players and lead it into the future. That still is the main goal of the team, to prepare for the next day and that’s what the new coach should be able to do.
After talks with Igor Kokoskov, Jure Zdovc and Sasha Obradovic, the team contacted Euroleague legend Sarunas Jasikevicius. Still at this point the leading candidate for the job is PAOK’s coach Soulis Markopoulos. Last October he was near a deal with Panathinaikos, but PAOK decided to keep him, but now it will be much easier for him to leave during the summer, even if he has a contract until 2019.
The new coach will have almost a clean slate to work with. Only James Gist is expected to stay in the roster from the non Greek players, provided that he will accept a financial penalty on his contract, because he is banned until early December. Loukas Mavrokefalidis, the best player of the team in the finals, and Dimitris Diamantidis are both free agents. In both cases Panathinaikos will make an offer with smaller salaries than those of the season that just ended, because money have to be saved for the big move.
Calathes the main target
The priority of the team is to get free agent Nick Calathes back to Europe from the NBA. If he decides to cross the pond again, then Panathinaikos has the advantage. The Greens are the only European team with a big void in the back court and they are willing to spend a total of 6 m. $ for a three years contract. Panathinaikos will wait until July, as Calathes’ priority still is the NBA and he is the key for everything else.
For example Panathinaikos would like to get also back Stephan Lasme from Anadolu Efes, but can’t make any official offer to him, before the positive or negative end of the negotiations with Calathes. When the guard of Memphis make up his mind, then everything else will follow.