Eurostep Sunday: What does Nick Calathes bring to Panathinaikos B.C.?

(Note: I wrote this article for  the Greek newspaper Prasini published by Xristos Barounis. Follow Xristos on twitter @CBarounis. For an original link to the article in Greek, click here). 

      Nick Calathes, who spent the last two seasons in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies, has signed a three-year, $7M deal with Panathinaikos. This is not the first time the Greek-American has played for Panathinaikos. Before joining the Memphis Grizzlies, he played for Panathinaikos from 2009-2012 and helped lead them to a Euroleague title in 2011. 

     The purpose of this article is for me to explain what Nick Calathes will bring to Panathinaikos after his two years with the Grizzlies. I have been asked to write this article because I cover the Memphis Grizzlies for BealeStreetBears.com and have followed Calathes’ game closely during his time in Memphis. I have a good sense of what he can bring to the table and why he is a great addition to Panathinaikos.

     Probably the number one thing that Calathes will bring Panathinaikos is great play on both ends of the floor. Per 36 minutes, Calathes averaged 10.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 2.7 steals per game with the Grizzlies last season. His shooting percentages weren’t very good, but he was able to contribute in other areas besides scoring the basketball. He did a good job at creating plays for others while also playing good defense.

     The second thing he brings to Panathinaikos is an upgrade at the point guard position. Outside of Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos didn’t really have a point guard who could consistently create offense for others last season. Diamantidis averaged a solid 8.0 points and 5.9 assists per game last season in Euroleague play, but nobody else on the team was able to average more than 3 assists per game. With Nick Calathes now on the roster, Panathinaikos will have two really good playmakers on the floor, which should make the offense flow much more smoothly than it did last season.

     The third thing that Nick Calathes brings to Panathinaikos is playoff experience. During his time with the Memphis Grizzlies, Nick Calathes played in some really important NBA playoff games. He got to play point guard behind Mike Conley, who is one of the best point guards in the NBA and one of the best performers in the playoffs. Panathinaikos certainly could have used Calathes’ playoff toughness in their Euroleague playoff series against CSKA Moscow last season, a series that CSKA Moscow would win in four games.

     In conclusion, Nick Calathes is a great addition to Panathinaikos because he plays well on both ends of the floor, provides an upgrade at the point guard position, and he also brings playoff experience from the NBA. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see him lead Panathinaikos to a Euroleague title in 2016.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA and Euroleague news

Eurostep Sunday: How big of a loss is Boban Marjanovic for KK Crvena zvezda?

     One of the more intriguing signings of the summer has been 7'3" center Boban Marjanovic signing with the San Antonio Spurs. Marjanovic had a breakout season with KK Crvena zvezda last season, averaging 16.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game in Euroleague play. Due to his freakish size and breakout season, it is no surprise that an NBA team picked him up. As a matter of fact, as I was following the Euroleague last season and checking the box scores,  I kept asking myself about Marjanovic "How is this guy not in the NBA?" My instincts were right and Marjanovic did indeed find a home in the NBA.

     But while he is a great pickup for the Spurs and sure to add much needed depth in the front court, he is also a huge loss for KK Crvena zvezda. KK Crvena zvezda had one of their most competitive seasons in recent memory last year, winning both the Adriatic League (ABA League) and KLS (Basketball League of Serbia) titles while also qualifying for the Euroleague Top 16. After a solid 6-4 record in the Euroleague regular season to get the Top 16, KK Crvena zvezda struggled in the Top 16 with a 4-10 record, failing to reach the Euroleague playoffs, which features the final eight teams in the league.

     A big reason why KK Crvena zvezda had the success that they did was because of Boban Marjanovic's presence on the floor. During Euroleague play, KK Crvena zvezda heavily relied on Boban Marjanovic to deliver the goods, while in the ABA League and KLS, which are less competitive leagues, they had more of a "win by committee" approach. But even in those leagues, they still relied on Boban Marjanovic to lead them to the championship. He took home the Finals MVP award in the ABA League and the MVP award of the Super League in the KLS.

     The bottom line is that as the competition got tougher, KK Crvena zvezda relied more and more on Boban Marjanovic to step up. With him now gone and playing in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, it's hard to see the team coming close to replicating the same success they did last season. What also hurts is that they have lost guard Charles Jenkins to Olimpia Milano and also appear likely to lose guard Marcus Williams as well, who currently is a free agent facing a suspension for a positive marijuana test.

     At the moment, KK Crvena zvezda is looking at Branko Lazic and Jaka Blazic to lead the way in the backcourt with Luka Mitrovic, Maik Zirbes, and Nikola Kalinic to lead the way in the front court. Out of all of those players, Mitrovic is the player who needs to step up the most and has the most potential to do so. He is only 22 years old and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 60th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and was later traded to the Sacramento Kings. If he wants to prove he was worthy of getting drafted into the NBA, he will certainly get his chance. The other three players I mentioned are the best remaining players on the roster from last season, but I highly doubt any one of them takes a huge jump in the 2015-16 season.

     This team really should become the Luka Mitrovic show, but the question is can he have a breakout season and make up for Boban Marjanovic's absence. In Euroleague play Mitrovic averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season, while in the ABA League, he averaged 10.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Those are solid numbers and with Marjanovic gone, his numbers are certain to improve.

     But even if Luka Mitrovic is able to take a huge jump next season and average around 13 points and 9 rebounds per game in Euroleague play, I don't see there being enough support around him for KK Crvena zvezda to have as good of a season as they did last year. The bottom line is that KK Crvena zvezda probably doesn't defend their titles in either the ABA League or the KLS. In addition, I highly doubt they qualify for the Top 16 in the Euroleague. The presence of Luka Mitrovic should give them some hope, but not enough for them to expect a season with the same level of success.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA news and Euroleague news 

   

Eurostep Sunday: Jimmer Fredette should sign with Olimpia Milano

 
  Jimmer Fredette has really had his ups and downs when it comes to his basketball career. After having a phenomenal career at Brigham Young University, his NBA career has been been a disappointment. The Kings didn't want him, the Bulls didn't want him, and now it appears as though the Pelicans don't want him, either. He has shown flashes of his college self in the NBA, but he hasn't been able to sustain it.

     While things in the NBA don't look too promising at the moment, there is some good news for Jimmer. EA7 Emporio Armani Milano a.k.a. "Olimpia Milano" of the Serie A League and Euroleague, has offered him a contract with the goal of making him a featured part of their team. Via Sportando.com:

Olimpia Milano made an important offer to Jimmer Fredette, according to sources.
The former BYU guard is considering the proposal of the Italian team even if his first goal is to remain in the NBA.
Selected with the 10th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, Fredette averaged 6.1 points per game in 229 contests in the NBA in 13 minutes on the court.
Fredette would have a key role in the next Olimpia Milano who already parted ways with Daniel Hackett and coach Luca Banchi, extended Alessandro Gentile through 2018 and hired Jasmin Repesa as head coach

     While it's true that the NBA is the best basketball league in the world, it's not always the case that staying in the NBA is better than going overseas. Especially if your end goal is to have the best basketball career possible. If Jimmer Fredette wants to continue riding the pine in the NBA and sign for veteran minimum contracts, he can go right ahead and cash those $1.4M checks for the next four or five years. The money isn't bad and he can have the comforts of home. If on the other hand he wants to actually have a more memorable basketball career, make more money, and up his chances of improving his NBA stock, he should sign with Olimpia Milano.

     One of the things I want to make VERY clear is that Olimpia Milano isn't just some random European team. They are a team with a tremendous amount of pride, history, and tradition. They were founded in 1936, making them one of the oldest basketball teams in the world. In addition, they have had tremendous success over the years, winning 26 championships in the Serie A League (Italian League), three titles in the Euroleague, and various other titles as well. This team is the Boston Celtics of Italy and one of the greatest basketball franchises in all of Europe with more representatives in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame than any other team outside the NBA.

     To play basketball for this team is truly a tremendous honor given their rich history and tradition. Especially when they want to make you their featured player. Jimmer Fredette would get more recognition and have a more fulfilling basketball career as a star with Olimpia Milano than he would playing for some bottom feeder of the NBA like the 76ers or the Knicks. He could help Olimpia Milano win their first Euroleague title since 1988 and help them continue their dominance of the Serie A League. He could become a hero in the city of Milan and possibly get his number 32 retired.

     In addition to having more fame, recognition, and success on the basketball court, Jimmer Fredette also probably makes more money playing for Olimpia Milano. Most top-flight European teams are able to offer a couple of players more money than they would get in the NBA. For example, Nick Calathes of the Grizzlies is strongly considering signing a three year, $6M contract with Panathinaikos B.C. in Greece, a team that also plays in the Euroleague. I don't know exactly what kind of money Olimpia Milano is offering Jimmer Fredette, but I'd imagine it's significantly more money than the NBA's veteran minimum amount. It's safe to say that they are willing to pay him at least $2.5M per season and possibly more.

     When you consider the fact that he has an opportunity to make more money and have a better legacy as a professional basketball player, signing with Olimpia Milano really does seem like the right decision for Jimmer Fredette. In addition, he would up his chances of having a better career in the NBA by taking a couple of years off to showcase his skills in the Euroleague, which is the second best basketball league in the world behind the NBA. He would be able to polish his game and come back to the NBA as a more confident player.

     In conclusion, if Jimmer Fredette is looking to make the best decision for his long-term basketball career, signing with Olimpia Milano is the best move to make at this point in time. They'll pay him better and give him a role that he would be much more comfortable with. Part of Fredette's issue has been that no team has really opened up to him. Every NBA team has been too afraid to give him a significant role on their team.  Olimpia Milano is the first pro team to open up to him and say "We believe in you." Jimmer should reward them for showing this kind of faith in him and use this as a chance to show NBA teams that they made a mistake by giving up on him so soon.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord for NBA and Euroleague basketball news 

Saturday Slam: Could there one day be a "World Series" for basketball?

                                                     (credit: basketnet.wordpress.com) 

Basketball is increasingly becoming much more of a world wide sport with leagues in China and Europe gaining more popularity and financial benefits for players. For the very first time in the history of basketball, the NBA is losing some of its players to overseas leagues because the pay is better. E.g. Andray Blatche going to the Xianjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association and Gustavo Ayon going to Real Madrid which plays in both the Spanish ACB league and the Euroleague.

Now while these players are a very small percentage of the NBA population, the very fact that there are  players leaving the NBA to play overseas because the NBA is offering them less money is amazing. To be clear, I'm not at all suggesting that the NBA is in trouble. What I'm actually suggesting is that the state of basketball across the globe is improving and that in time we may see leagues that rival the NBA for getting the best players.

There is only one existing league that has a real chance to rival the NBA and that is the Euroleague. The Chinese Basketball Association doesn't stand a chance to rival the NBA so long as China remains communist, but the Euroleague has a real shot for a few reasons in addition to not being associated with communism.

First of all, the Euroleague can offer good money. Gustavo Ayon is getting over $2M a year to play for Real Madrid for the next three seasons. That's a total of over $6M in 3 seasons, which is definitely not a small chunk of change.

Secondly, the Euroleague can provide all the comforts of home to European players in addition to paying them well. Why do you think it is taking more effort to bring players over from Europe to the NBA? The answer lies in the fact that in Europe they make good money playing basketball while also staying close to home. We saw how much playing close to home mattered to LeBron James this summer, so why couldn't we see European players want to play closer to home, too?

Thirdly, it's possible that European basketball players could ink massive deals with companies like Adidas and Nike and see any discrepancy in pay between the NBA and the Euroleague as trivial and not enough of a motivation to leave Europe.

If enough European players stay overseas and never decide to come to the NBA, the Euroleague could eventually turn into a basketball powerhouse that produces teams of NBA quality. Once/if that happens, the NBA will suddenly no longer have the ability to say that all of the world's best basketball players play in their league.

 I do think that the gap between the NBA and the Euroleague could close enough that the NBA would consider adopting the Euroleague into its fold in some capacity. We've already seen Euroleague teams get added to the video game NBA2K14 and we've also seen the NBA flirt with ideas about having a "European division".

It is not at all crazy to think that sometime within the next 25 years, the NBA and Euroleague will join forces together and have their own "World Series" for basketball. The kind of idea I have in mind for this is rather simple. The NBA champion and Euroleague champion face each other in a seven game series at the end of June/early July. To accommodate for this new event, the NBA draft would be pushed back to mid July and free agency would start August 1. Training camp and preseason wouldn't at all be affected.

Such an event would truly be a great thing for the NBA, the Euroleague, and the game of basketball as a whole. Even though we all know that these other leagues exist, the NBA still reigns supreme as the best league in all of the world. But if the NBA champions actually faced the champions of another league in some sort of "World Series", the NBA would no longer be viewed as the only legitimate league.

If the Euroleague were able to get to a point where their champions could compete with NBA champions, the popularity of basketball around the world would explode. Fans in Europe would take more interest in the NBA and likewise I think fans in the United States would take more interest in the Euroleague. Most importantly, basketball would establish itself as the most internationally competitive sport in the world.

I know that this "World Series" of basketball idea sounds far-fetched and fanciful, but I really do believe this is where the game of basketball is ultimately heading. The trajectory can be seen from where we are now to a point in which such a "World Series" would be played. The money available for Euroleague teams to spend is growing, the amount of international players is growing, and the world wide popularity is growing. As far as I'm concerned, a "World Series" of basketball will happen. I just don't know when.

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord