By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos signing Kostas Sloukas travels way beyond securing the services of a player directly from archrival Olympiacos and also providing a huge boost to the roster with new head coach Ergin Ataman determined to guide the storied club to past glories.
Sloukas, 33, penned a three-year contract worth ten million euros, as reported by Eurohoops. The Greens later confirmed the huge addition without sharing the financial details of the contract.
Darius Thompson recently joining Anadolu Efes was connected to an annual salary of 2.3 million euros net, as recently reported by Eurohoops. Turkish Airlines EuroLeague teams attempting to cut down on player salaries failed to expand to the 28-year-old American guard, nor Sloukas. Similar to multiple similar impressive and often shocking deals of recent years, teams tend to allocate additional budget resources for high-caliber players.
The Top 10 EuroLeague salaries of the 2022-23 season
Thompson, 28, was heading to a spot among the top three highest-paid EuroLeague players but surpassing Sloukas instead seems a lock. Reviewing the 2022-23 list of the highest-paid players in Europe’s premier club continental competition largely confirms aforementioned trends and Efes’ Shane Larkin holding on to the privilege of being the guard with the best contract behind the extension penned last summer.
Record-breaking contract
Rewinding to 2007, Theo Papaloukas inked a three-year contract extension with CSKA with a total value of up to a staggering 10.5 million euros. He eventually opted out to return to Olympiacos with a three-year, nine million euros contract, one year later.
Sloukas’ contract with Panathinaikos falls slightly shy of the prematurely ending contract of the Euroleague Basketball Legend in Papaloukas but will actually end up being the largest contract ever for a Greek player, over Papaloukas and the remaining legends of Greece’s basketball, including Vassilis Spanoulis penning a three-year, 7.2 million contract to move from Panathinaikos to Olympiacos in 2010.