Panathinaikos and Olympiacos skyrocketed their budgets and sent their audiences into a frenzy
The “star war” between the green planet and the red planet started with bullets. Nigel Williams-Goss’ missed shot just before the end of the Basketball League 5 final handed the domestic title to already European champions Panathinaikos, left Olympiakos with the only consolation of the Greek Cup and signaled a changing of the guard in the throne room, for the first time after the return of the “red and white” from self-exile. The “greens” were losing 2-0 in the finals of A1, but found a way to spoil the party in Faliro and won the championship with a complete comeback. And led by the former conductor of the archenemy, Kostas Sloukas.
The Euroleague trophy is undoubtedly heavier and more valuable than the disreputable Greek one, but it was its loss within the walls of the scepter that hurt the game’s erstwhile rulers the most. “We are launching a lasting counterattack” was the slogan of June 15, 2024 at the Port. The first days of self-criticism pointed Olympiacos in the direction of changing the game philosophy, since the lack of a forward type Kendrick Nunn or Kostas Sloukas in the Greek finals and the European final four was obvious.
Giorgos Bartzokas saw the new leader in the person of last year’s MVP Mike James, but the former Panathinaikos player preferred to renew his contract with Monaco, where he will have Nick Calathes as his partner. A quick look at the NBA market left Olympiacos frustrated, with free agents asking for plenty of time to scout the landscape. Panathinaikos may have drawn the first lottery number when they signed Nan (who Bartzokas himself wanted), but that happened at the end of last October, after the first few weeks of the season.
Because the… James are rare in Europe, especially after EuroBasket 2022 MVP Lorenzo Brown joined Panathinaikos (25/6), Olympiacos decided to return to the beaten track and look for players compatible with the “coach’s basketball”. Bartzoka’s chessboard will be his best ally again this year.
Calm before the transfer storm
Celebrations for the signing of prodigy Keenan Evans were cut short when the American guard dislocated his knee for the second time in one of his last matches against Zalgiris. However, Olympiacos decided to honor the preliminary agreement and bring Evans to Piraeus, where another four to five months of recovery await him.
The repatriation of Tyler Dorsey (30/6) in place of Isaiah Kanaan was a very easy decision, while the vote of confidence in Luka Vildosa (2/7), who had just been released with compensation from the two-year contract he had signed with Panathinaikos, it must have taken the Argentinian guard himself by surprise.
The summer was relatively calm, until strange signals arrived in Greece from distant Toronto. “Sasha Vezenkov has informed the Raptors that he wishes to return to Europe immediately and that he does not intend to stay another year in the NBA,” the managers informed. The 2022-23 Euroleague MVP played a barren season in Sacramento, felt doomed to play an usher role and decided to don the mayoral armband again.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos remembered the “gross trick” of last summer with the conversion of Slukas and decided to break the piggy bank again, which after all knows pennies after the agreement with the government for the multi-year use of OAKA. However, the case of Sasha Vezenkov turned out to be more twisted. The proposal submitted by Panathinaikos had the dimensions of a prehistoric mammoth, but the Bulgarian forward decided to celebrate his 29th birthday dressed in the uniform of the team of his heart.
His… return was announced on July 25, at the same time that several of his teammates (Woucap, Papanikolaou, Larentzakis) were preparing for a parade in Paris. The unplanned acquisition of Vezenkov overloaded Olympiakos’ “strike line”, as five other first-class talls had strong contracts: Peters, Milutinov, Fall, Wright, Petrusev.
The latter felt that he was redundant and began to flirt with Red Star, who asked to loan him for at least a year. However, injuries to the overworked Mustafa Fal and Nikola Milutinov kept the young Serb in Faliro and left Yannis Sfairopoulos empty-handed. Olympiacos will start the season with Moses Wright, who didn’t even make the top 12 in last year’s finals.
Icing on red and green cakes
The Olympics began and ended with a moratorium and apnea in the domestic market. “Transfers over” they said in Piraeus. “Perhaps we only get one replacement tall” read the non paper from OAKA. Ergin Ataman considered several cases to get a better backup center in Balcerovski’s place, until he found (30/8) someone who speaks the same language.
26-year-old Omer Yurtseven is a capable scorer and rebounder and brings with him a lot of “mileage” from his three-year career in the NBA. His debut, with an account of 22 points, 8 rebounds and 9/10 shooting in the friendly against Bayern, made Matias Lessor sleep more peacefully. The Frenchman returned from his homeland with an Olympic medal and with the confidence that his back is protected.
The fires were rekindled and the crowds of fans at the airport intensified once September arrived. The decision of fellow Olympic silver medalist Evan Fournier to leave the NBA after twelve years of fruitful tenure (724 games, 13.5 points) caused general alarm in Piraeus, fueled by an earlier “tweet” of the Frenchman on the sidelines of the 2022 Final Four in Belgrade: “If I return to Europe, I would like to play for Olympiakos.”
The Angelopoulos’ wallet opened wide, the generous proposal was submitted immediately and the much-lauded transfer was completed before the first “bouncer” was well and truly heard on the Champs-Élysées (2/9). Fournier arrived in Greece hungry and needed some time to get used to the sights and basketball of Europe, but his regular presence in the French national team, where he often took on a leadership role, promises a quick adjustment. In the maiden friendly that the newcomer played, he was absent, but distributed 8 assists.
The addition of Fournier, who is a two-three, may send some “red and white” (eg Shaquille McKissick) to the edge of the bench. However, Bartzokas emphasizes at every opportunity that the demanding calendar requires the presence of 15-16 ready-to-fight players. “When you have the opportunity to get such a player, first you say “yes” and then you look at the rest” they said in Piraeus.
Olympiakos’ “rumbus” with Fournier brought Giannakopoulos to the counterattack for reasons not only competitive but also communicative. “I went for a walk with my dog in Sounio and I take this opportunity to announce the acquisition of Cedi Osman” wrote the owner of Panathinaikos on his favorite Instagram on September 7. Three years younger than the 32-year-old Fournier, Osman is coming off a seven-year NBA career, mostly with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played more than 400 games with a career-high . 9.5 points.
Versatile and a key player in his hometown’s national team under Ataman’s instructions, Cedi Osman became the third pole of the Turkish invasion of Panathinaikos. However, the two basketball players are products of the same “pedomazoma” that earlier offered citizenship to Turkoglu, Turkchan and other talents of the Turkish diaspora. Osman was born in North Macedonia and Yurtseven in Uzbekistan.
Completing the rosters with little to no losses found our teams sharing the top two spots in the bookmakers’ predictions to win the European crown. The Rhodes Super Cup was hailed as a first opportunity to compare the two suitors, but last year’s match ended with a walk-off by Olympiakos (75-51), with a sample that is convincing compared to what followed.
In the top five budgets
What is certain is that the deafening transfers have shot the budgets to unimaginable heights, although the season tickets of the “eternals” became unattainable from the start. Panathinaikos’ contracts with players and coach for the coming season exceed 27 million euros if they are merged with the transfer clauses (Brown) and release clauses (Vildosa), while it is estimated that the management is spending around 15 million for the total renovation OAKA and the surrounding areas and hopes for a quick payback of the investment.
Olympiacos does not have the right to proceed with corresponding ground-breaking innovations in the state-owned SEF (e.g. installation of a “glass floor”), but recently discussed the issue with the prime minister himself and hopes for a similar arrangement in the near future. Fournier’s contract pushes next year’s expenses for player and coaching salaries over the $20 million mark.
Saras Jasikevicius’ Fenerbahce tops the relevant list with a budget of 31 million euros for contracts, while Real (25 million) is in third place, a “wedge” between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos. It is recalled that the four aforementioned teams claimed the European trophy at the end of last May in Berlin. Efes, Armani, Monaco, Barcelona, Partizan, Red Star and relegated Maccabi are next on the list of generosity.
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