Final month, we took a visit down Draft Historical past Lane, revisiting the picks the Spurs created from 2001-2024.
One factor caught my consideration — some draft rights transfer across the league with out ever materializing into the plater who was really drafted.
Georgios Printers is a type of gamers.
Most basketball followers have by no means heard of Georgios Printezis. He’s not a recognizable identify.
However in Greece, he’s recognized for his many accolades obtained over his nineteen seasons with Olympiacos.
Though Printezis by no means fitted to an NBA staff, his rights made the rounds.
He was initially drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 58th decide within the 2007 draft, the identical yr a staff known as the Seattle Supersonics drafted an eighteen-year-old Kevin Durant.
His rights had been traded to the Toronto Raptors for his or her second-round draft decide within the 2008 NBA Draft, which the Spurs flipped for a 2009 decide.
In January of 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded Printezis’ draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional 2013 second-round draft decide, and money.
On December 10, 2011, his draft rights, together with Tyson Chandler, and the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins, went to the New York Knicks in a three-way commerce. The next summer time, Printezis turned down a one-year contract supply from the Knicks.
Shortly thereafter, his draft rights and people of Kostas Papanikolaou had been despatched to the Portland Path Blazers in change Raymond Felton.
In February of 2013, the draft rights to Printezis had been traded to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, sending Eric Maynor to the Portland Path Blazers.
On July 15, 2014, Printezis’ draft rights had been hooked up to Thabo Sefolosha and despatched to the Atlanta Hawks for the draft rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis, money issues, and a commerce exception.
One yr later, his draft rights, together with a 2017 second-round draft decide, had been traded to the Spurs, in change for Tiago Splitter.
His rights began and ended with the Spurs. In between he was tied to the Raptors, Mavericks, Knicks, Path Blazers, Thunder, and Hawks, but he by no means performed an NBA sport. Eight strikes between seven totally different groups.
His one league-minimum contract supply wasn’t sufficient to have him sever ties together with his native staff and provides his abilities a strive throughout the the pond.
Why? Right here’s a pattern of his European accolades:
2× EuroLeague champion
FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion
4× Greek League champion
3× Greek Cup winner
2× Greek League Finals MVP
5× All-Greek League Crew
Greek League Greatest Younger Participant- 2007
Greek League Most Improved Participant- 2012
Greek Cup Finals Prime Scorer- 2012
6× Greek All-Star
Greek All-Star Recreation Slam Dunk champion- 2007
In 2022, Georgios Printezis was inducted into the Greek League Corridor of Fame. In 2024, simply two years after his retirement, his jersey was retired by the membership.
Likelihood is, he by no means wanted the NBA. It appears he had no extra need to go well with up than the groups that volleyed his draft rights round for a decade.
However such is the lifetime of draft rights.
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