The data at “5” for Panathinaikos after the departure of Papagiannis

Past by Panathinaikos is officially the George Papagiannis from midday on Wednesday (14/07), as after five years of presence he decided to leave the “greens” and continue his career in Fenerbahcethus ending his second term with the team.

A development, which, given the facts, was not in the plans of the “clover”, since both the administration and himself Ergin Ataman they wanted the 26-year-old center to stay in the team. In fact, the Turkish coach reportedly had a lot of faith in the Greek international ahead of the club’s new era, feeding high regard to its capabilitiesbut also in his role within the team.

Despite all the efforts made recently, the deal, in the end, did not develop into… a wedding, and now Panathinaikos is called upon to enter the market for the acquisition of a center. After all, the strongman of the CEE, Dimitris Giannakopouloshas clarified and announced that the “greens” will move for one center from the “top shelf”.

In addition to the fact that the “greens” lost one of the best tall in recent years in Europe – and let it come from a mediocre season this year – they also lost a player of “of Greek origin”. Given, therefore, that at the moment there is no Greek center who will be able to adequately fill the void of “Big Papa”, Panathinaikos is forced to…sacrifice an alien position for the acquisition of his new “5”.

Of course, the specific case only easy cannot be considered, since finding a center, even at this level, is quite difficult in this particular period of time. And this is because, at the moment, in Europe, there are a lot of “5-figure” solutions from the top shelf limited, up to a few. Unless, of course, there are some releases in the near future or Panathinaikos approaches a team to buy a center.

Therefore, based on the above, the “clover” is forced to turn his “radar” to the other side of the Atlantic and to the magical world of the NBA. A market which, admittedly, can offer many and excellent solutions for the position that Panathinaikos is looking for, with the disadvantageanyway, so be it it will take time to clarify the landscapesince many players are still “chasing” – through Summer League, but also individual training sessions – a place in the NBA ahead of the new competitive season.

Finally, another issue that needs to be “answered” has to do with the competitive profile of the new center and for what he will choose Ergin Ataman. Given the presence of Matias Lessor and Costa Antetokounmpo on the front line, Panathinaikos will have to decide whether to move for one center… of the Papagianni typei.e. tall with rebound appeal and good in pick&roll or whether he will go to a “lighter” five, more athletic, with a game and outside the “drawing room”.