Dimitris Giannakopoulos’s… desire to bring Nikola Jokić to Panathinaikos did not remain confined to Greece and Europe. The statement by the “clover’s” power broker was even discussed in the U.S., with Nuggets Nation reporting on the effort he revealed he made this year to acquire the Serbian superstar.
In a post, Nuggets Nation, one of the well-known sites covering the Denver Nuggets, quoted Giannakopoulos, placing particular emphasis on the revelation that Panathinaikos submitted “a very serious offer” to both the team and Jokić himself in order to buy out the final year of his contract.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The owner of Panathinaikos made no secret, moreover, that Jokić is his big dream, describing him as “the best player in the world” and making it clear that he will try again to sign him next summer.
The first attempt, however, came to nothing. As he himself revealed, Panathinaikos’s offer was rejected within seconds by the Nuggets, who didn’t even bother to discuss the possibility.
The fact that this particular statement made its way into the pages that closely follow the Nuggets’ day-to-day activities is significant in its own right, as the prospect of one of the NBA’s top players leaving the U.S. for Europe seems, at least at this moment, extremely unlikely—if not impossible.
Yannakopoulos, however, made it clear that he’s not joking. “Let’s wait until next year,” was his message, leaving the door open for another attempt. And now, the… Jokić saga has begun to be discussed on the other side of the Atlantic as well.
*photo source: AP
