The Milwaukee Bucks have been busy in the first 24 hours of free agency, and it doesn’t appear that they’re quite done yet. The latest Bucks rumor comes from Stavros Barbarousis of eurohoops.net, who reports that the Bucks are currently checking in on Greek big man Georgios Papagiannis. Papagiannis is a former lottery pick that played two seasons in the NBA before returning to Greece.
Reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks checking in on Greek big man Georgios Papagiannis
Why have one Giannis when you can have two? I know my play on Papagiannis’ last name probably didn’t make you laugh, but the team’s interest in the big man is worth discussing.
Papagiannis has NBA experience as a former lottery pick. He was selected by the Phoenix Suns 13th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft before having his draft rights traded to the Sacramento Kings. Papagiannis saw limited playing time during his brief stint in the NBA, only appearing in 39 games before returning to Greece following the 2018 season.
Papagiannis’ best NBA season came during his rookie season, where he averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds while playing a little over 16 minutes per game. For his career, he holds averages of 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
I’m aware that those aren’t numbers that jump out on your screen and wow you, but it’s important to remember that he has had four years since then to better develop his game for the NBA in Greece. When Papagiannis returned to Greece, he had the opportunity to play for Rick Pitino. Prior to becoming the head coach for Panathinaikos, Pitino had plenty of experience being one of college basketball’s premier coaches. If there’s anybody that knows how to develop NBA-level talent, it’s somebody who has spent their entire coaching career doing just that at the college level.
During and after Pitino’s run as coach of Panathinaikos, Papagiannis developed into one of EuroLeague’s top big men. Papagiannis is currently coming off of a highly-productive season for Panathinaikos, in which he led the league in rebounding by averaging 8.2 rebounds per game.
Even though Papagiannis didn’t have the most amazing start to his NBA career a few years ago, it should be noted that he was only 19 and 20-years old when he was playing those seasons. Now, at age 24, he’s had a lot of time to grow and make his game more suitable for the NBA overseas.
The real concern as it pertains to Milwaukee’s interest in him would be his lack of an outside shot. Papagiannis has only attempted 18 threes overseas and made 3 of them (16.7 percent). Unless the Bucks plan on only using him in their rotation with lineups that don’t include Giannis Antetokounmpo, he’s going to have to make that number climb a little bit.
Overall though, signing Papagiannis would be a low-risk move for the Bucks. He would likely be joining the team on a minimum level contract, and you can never argue with a move that has potential. After all, he was a lottery pick in 2016. Not just anybody gets selected unless they have some kind of potential in their game.
Stay tuned to see if the Bucks will ultimately end up signing Georgios Papagiannis