By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
In the next few hours and days Nick Calathes will make a decision for his future and the next stop in his career. From the beginning, the 26-yeal-old point guard has made it clear that his primary objective is to continue in the NBA. As long as the contract he finds is satisfying regarding the financial aspect, in combination with his role.
Since a few days ago the Memphis Grizzlies have made their qualifying offer to the player with the minimum ($1,147,276) being a proposition that the player in no way wants to accept and stay there. According to Eurohoops information, after 10 days of activity in the NBA’s Free Agency, Nick Calathes doesn’t have an offer in his hands that he thinks is serious and sufficient to keep him in the USA. A good official proposition has not materialized which he can sign and which will mean his staying in the NBA, either to the Grizzlies if they match the offer (he’s a Restricted Free Agent) or the team that submits it.
At the same time, Panathinaikos who have rightly set him as a key target for the present and the future (a top class Greek, in the best age, ideal for the post-Diamantidis era with PAO’s leader having already agreed to a new one-year contract) have presented him with an offer of a three-year collaboration that exceeds 6 million dollars in total remuneration.
The same USA sources report that there will be an NBA Out clause in his contract from the summer of 2017, which means that Panathinaikos will have him at their disposal for at least two seasons. So where are we now? If until Monday, when he has to reply to the Greek team, no satisfying prospects arise for him in the NBA in the form of a written proposition, and at the same time, if Greece remains in the Euro, then Nick Calathes will sign with Panathinaikos.
When we are talking about acquisitions in which the NBA market is involved, the facts can change dramatically within an hour, let alone a day. Based on what is currently at place, though, the “greens” are closer than ever to realizing the goal of Nick Calathes’s return.