On Monday (August 10), the second part of the in-depth interview given by Dimitris Giannakopoulos on the EuroInsiders podcast was released, in which the president of Panathinaikos BC spoke, among other things, about his burning desire to sign Nikola Jokić.
The powerful figure behind the “clover” stated, among other things, that he had been in contact with both the player’s agent, Misko Raznatović, as well as with the Denver Nuggets, regarding the buyout of “Joker’s” final year of his contract, with the parties involved rejecting his proposal!
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However, he made it clear that he would return to the matter in the future to acquire the Serbian NBA superstar.
Here’s what he said about Nikola Jokić:
“Unfortunately, the player I would have liked to have signed by now has retired from basketball and become a general manager. That’s Milos Teodosic. I think that after Saras (Jasikevicius), he was the smartest person on the court and the most versatile player on the court after Dimitris Diamantidis. These three are in a league of their own.
And the player I’ve been dreaming of—whom I haven’t signed yet—I’ll sign him next year. The problem is that I already have three players with three-year contracts at that position. Where will he play? That’s what I was thinking about last night. We’ve got Yabusele, Lesor, and Fall—fantastic. Where will he fit in? It’s Jokić. The best player in the world. Don’t laugh at all. If I don’t bring in Jokić, I’m not going anywhere. This year I tried to make an offer. Call Misko Raznatović and ask him. People will say I’m joking, but I made a very serious offer this year, both to his team and to him personally. It was rejected.
I know he has a contract for one more year. You know his numbers. I tried to buy out the final year of his contract; they didn’t even consider it. It took them a few seconds to say, ‘Who? Greece? What? Goodbye,’ from his team. Let’s wait until next year. I’m a person who has had my ups and downs.”
*photo source: KYPE
