Machine gun, Greek beater and waiting for Vesenko. Completed contracts, unfit and tall will be released. Harris Stavrou writes about the next day for Olympiakos who want to come back very strongly.
The 2023/24 season ended in wild fashion for Olympiakos on Friday night (14/6), with a truly spectacular battle. Preus put in a sensational effort at OAKA, they were beaten on points by Panathinaikos and after a 292-day battle, they saw their year end third in the EuroLeague and with two trophies (including the Super Cup and the Cup) to go along with many trophies. Results in view of next period.
The course of the Red and White will be characterized by the people of the organization once the dust settles from the Stoiximan Basketball League Finals series. Some consider the year a success and some a failure. At the end of the road, everyone feels that Olympiakos committed too many transgressions, and perhaps this combination answers the question of success or failure, which is anyway… relevant.
Giorgos Bartzokas is sure to have a very valuable/quality center, but he needs to find two better devices that provide more and easier scoring with more consistency than Isaiah Cannon, who is leaving for Red Star. If Sasha Veshenkov leaves the Sacramento Kings and returns to Europe, excitement at the start of the 2024/25 season will be historically high.
Contracts by position of Olympiakos
- B.G: Thomas Walkup (2027), Nigel Williams-Gass (2025), Naas Mitreu-Long (2026)
- SG: Shaquille McKissick (2025), Giannoulis Laurentzakis (2026)
- SF: Kostas Papanikolaou (2026), Ignaz Brasteikis (2026)
- PF: Alec Peters (2026), Philip Petrusev (2026), Luke Sigma (2025)
- C: Mustafa Fall (2027), Nikola Milodinov (2025), Moses Wright (2025), Giorgos Danulis (2027)
Completed contracts
Michalis Lountzis (26, 1m.95) is a free agent and although the team wants him to stay, he will be looking for an environment where he can play an important role. Isaiah Kanan will play out his contract with the Red Star of Yanis Sfiiropoulos, and at the age of 33 he will move to Belgrade for the next two years.
The contract must be broken
Luke Sigma (35, 2min.03) is also on the way out as Olympiakos reserve the right to offload him. And will release him. Both parties signed a 1+1 year contract, the experienced American could not follow the demands of an elite EuroLeague team, but acted very professionally throughout the season, in the dressing room and in training and out like a friend.
Ineligible player
Olympiakos will try to get out of another relationship. He invested a huge sum (500,000 euros) to get him from Zalgiris Kaunas, from the one with Ignas Brazdeikis. The 25-year-old 2m.01 guard-forward has the potential to develop into a valuable player in the EuroLeague, however, he does not fit in at Preus as he takes the position of an outsider. And the opportunities he took to prove that he “had” the position were not few.
A one-way street in a “burning” place
The most important case for Olympiakos to manage is getting a super scorer, a player with an easy basket.
The departures of Kosta Sluka and Sasha Vesenkov and the failure to sign the Mike James-Gedric Nunn pairing created an extra workload for Barzoga’s men, who had to play 40 minutes in red to win.
When they got stuck, they didn’t have a “machine gun” to clean the laundry.
Keenan Evans will solve a lot of problems, work at both guard positions, match up with existing shortstops, and be reliable on both ends of the floor, but his second serious injury has slowed him down. Olympiakos are being asked to invest in another player, they have the money to spare, but the market is now very “short” with James staying in Monaco, Bonder going to Barcelona and others at this level not in the pool of free agents.
However, there are guards who could be released in the coming days (eg Laprovitola from Barcelona), and the NBA market is always the best thing that could happen to Evan Fournier Prause.
The Frenchman (32, 1.98 m) has collected 145,384,369 dollars in 12 years in the league (13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal in 27.7 minutes in 704 games), although he has a 19 million contract with the Pistons. Detroit is expected to release Kate Cunningham by June 29 to continue building around its young players.
Fournier is at a good age and is seeing the door to the NBA close, and if he decides to return to Europe, not many people would say they would deal with him, but if Olympiakos want to shake things up, they need to take a chance. Claim him. After all, he too has in recent times expressed his sympathy for the Reds and Whites and their world. And if the people of Piraeus would give him the money, the motivation, the environment to lead, they would have a chance to have him.
With a player of this class, everyday life will be easier for Tomas Walkup, who struggled without Sluka), 6 points in Game 4 with Panathinaikos (2/6 shots) and 2 points from shots in 33 minutes in Game 5 with the Greens.
Not a walk-up scorer, he needs a “Sluka” or a “James,” and he’s made it clear that he’s looking forward to the move next season to devote himself to a job he can do better on the floor.
The Dorsey case
Regardless of the machine gun player, Olympiakos also likes Tyler Dorsey, so he should have two valuable point guards and two valuable shooting guards, but he should add the Greeks to the roster.
The 28-year-old foreigner is not a free agent, he has to be released from Fenerbahce, which is expected to happen in the near future. His options are not many, but a return to Olympiakos certainly seems ideal, as he will be stepping into familiar surroundings, playing for a coach who speaks highly of him, wearing the jersey of the team that had his best season. Career (12.8 points in 38 games in 2021/22, 52% on 2-pointers, 37% on 3-pointers, 78% on shots, 2.3 rebounds, 2 assists, 10.3 PIR over 24:10).
Necessary and patience
Beyond that, Olympiakos is also monitoring the case of Sasha Vesenko, who told the Kings he doesn’t want to return to Sacramento for a second season. At this time, no one knows when and in what way the case will be clarified, because the organization will try to get the most favorable option, and the athlete considers himself wronged and expects one way (transfer) or the other (release) to say goodbye to California. Best in summer.
As for Veshenko, we have analyzed the texts, broadcasts and Bald Brothers all the facts. The door for Olympiacos was sure to be open, indeed it was never closed, with the management treating Sasha as a unique case and Bartzokas knowing that if the Bulgarian forward returned, Olympiacos would significantly boost its status. As part of efficiency and productivity, of course repeat.
Wright and Young
At Olympiakos they are preparing to say goodbye to two of them (Kanan and Sigma) and they want to find a solution with Brastekis and exercise the option in Moses Wright’s contract. The front row will be really heavy with Faul, Miludinov, Wright, and if Vesenkov comes back and steps in where Peters and Petrusev are, the load will be even greater, but for now the plan is to keep the youth. The American, who has proven he is a Euroleague level player, is the best place for improvement and excellence.
Beyond that, if Luntzis leaves, Olympiakos could be looking for an additional guard, and this guard will almost certainly come from the Greek market. The young Ambosi – Spartalis will be supported and if all goes well, Praias will be able to fill every need with 15 athletes in the 2024/25 season.
This is what the dream list looks like
With Panathinaikos on the rise, Olympiacos know they need to invest to get to the top of Greece and Europe. This is what the organization wants, this is what the world wants and at the start of the season both Greek teams will be at the top of the whole of Europe.
Walkup (Greece), Williams-Goss, Mitreu-Long (Greece) at ace, “Fournier”, Dorsey (Greece) and Megsic at two, Papanikolaou (Greece), Lourentsakis (Greece) at three, with Vezenkov (Greece), Peters, Petrusev At four and fall, Milutinov, for Wright, Olympiakos really have a dream list. And with six players they will cover the Greeks’ six players qualitatively.
However, if Piraeus chooses the best player available, it wouldn’t be surprising if he competes for three rather than two.
Dorsey is considered a starting SG and can play 25 minutes, so if Port wants a first-class small forward to protect the emerging Kostas Papanikolau, it makes sense to cover two and load three by Dorsey, McKissick, Larentzakis. Until the Vezenkov case was immediately cleared and other kinds of discussions started.