Barcelona renewed Jaka Lakovic for 2 seasons

Regal FC Barcelona and Jaka Lakovic have agreed to terms to keep the guard at the club for two more years. Lakovic (186, 30) has spent the past three seasons with Barcelona and joined the Euroleague's exclusive 2,000-point club this past season.

He averaged 9.9 points and 2.9 assists in 18 Euroleague games last year, despite missing time midseason due to nasal surgery. Lakovic shined brightest in the Quarterfinal Playoffs, recording 14.8 points and 2.6 assists per game to lead Barcelona to the Final Four. The Lakovic signing comes days after the club added forward Pete Mickeal as Barcelona looks to strengthen the squad that reached the Final Four and won the Spanish League title.

source : euroleague.net

Olimpia Milano to sign Petravicius for 2 seasons

Armani Jeans Milano made important signing yesterday. The Italians inked 2-year deal with Lithuanian big guy Marijonas Petravicius (208-F/C-79, college: S.Carolina), who was one of the most important Lietuvos Rytas' players last season. As a reminder, the Lithuanians finished the season with 4 trophies (EuroCup, Baltic league, Lithuanian league and Lithuanian Cup). Petravicius played 15 EuroCup games averaging 12.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg. In domestic championship he added 14.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg for 22 games.

Marijonas Petravicius arrived to Lietuvos Rytas during the summer 2006. Before that he used to play for Ventspils, Oostende and Mitteldeutscher. He graduated at the South Carolina University in 2003. In April this year he was named 'Eurocup Final Eight MVP'.

source : eurobasket.com

Bluthenthal to join Maccabi for 2 seasons

According to sport5.co.il, David Bluthenthal (2.01-SF/PF) will be returning to Maccabi Tel Aviv for a 3rd time in his career. The article speaks of a 2-season deal where the player will be making 300.000 dollars per season as a player of Maccabi.

Bluthenthal holds both american and israeli passport so that allows him to play as an israeli player which frees a foreign player spot for Maccabi. He has also played for Benetton Treviso, Fortitudo Bologna, Virtus Bologna and Dynamo St. Petersburg. Last season he played for Le Mans averaging 12.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 8 games in the Euroleague.

Parker is the main target of Olympiakos

The 1st of July is very close now and according to superbasket.gr, Olympiakos will make an offer to their main transfer target, Anthony Parker(1.98-SG/SF) that was playing for the Toronto Raptors this season. There is already rumored interest in Parker from 5 NBA teams but it seems that the owners of Olympiakos have the biggest wallet!

Parker was also a target of the team last season and his name appeared in many rumors. Tomorrow (1st of July) the official negotiations can begin with all NBA players. There have been some concerns in the greek media about Parker and his age. Parker is currently 34 years old but as he has shown in the NBA he is still in very good shape. This season he averaged 10.7 points 4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 80 games in the NBA.

Bucks waive Villanueva and make offer to Ilyasova

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks have made qualifying offers to restricted free agents Ramon Sessions and Ersan Ilyasova, but will not make an offer to Charlie Villanueva.

Bucks general manager John Hammond said Monday the offers to Sessions and Ilyasova give them the right to match contract offers from other teams. Villanueva will be free to sign with any team.

NBA teams have until Tuesday to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. Hammond says he did not want to elaborate on the reasons for the decisions.

source : espn.com

Olimpia to extend Hall's contract?

Olimpia Milano are keen to renew the contract of american small forward Mike Hall(2.03-SF), according to krepsinis.net. The administration of Olimpia were quite satisfied with the performace of Mike Hall during this season and they want to renew his contract for one or two more seasons.

Mike Hall graduated from George Washington University and went undrafted during his senior season. He later on joined the Tulsa 66ers in the NBDL and only managed to secure 10-day contracts with the Wizards in the NBA. Last season he signed with Olimpia Milano averaging 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16 games in the Euroleague.

Nuggets will extend qualifying offer to Kleiza

Some of the final pieces of preparation for free agency for the Nuggets will fall into place in the next couple of days, before teams can start negotiating with free agents on July 1. The Nuggets are expected to extend a qualifying contract offer to forward Linas Kleiza, which would mean roughly $2.7 million for him for one season, and the Nuggets retain his restricted free agent status. Kleiza’s stats were down across the board last season after a promising 2007-08 campaign when it appeared he was one of the NBA’s rising stars.

Kleiza picked up his effort in the playoffs, though, playing some big-time minutes to help the Nuggets advance to, and stay competitive in, the Western Conference Finals. His playoffs field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage were all up over his season averages.

Kleiza is seeking a multi-year extension, which he may or may not get as a result of his play last season and the current tough economy. The Nuggets have a chance to match any team that signs him to an offer sheet. Or, Kleiza could decide to play next season with the Nuggets under the one-year qualifying contract and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are not expected to extend a qualifying contract offer to center Johan Petro, which would make him an unrestricted free agent.

source : insidehoops.com

Badalona interested in Sakota

According to El Mundo Deportivo, Badalona are interested in signing greek-serbian forward, Dusan Sakota(2.09-SF/PF). Dusan Sakota is the son of coach Dragan Sakota and he has a dual nationality of both greek and serbian.

For a number of years he has been part of the roster of Panathinaikos while he also played for Panionios for one season on loan. Sakota doesn't seem to get much playing time in Panathinaikos and so President Villacampa wanted to find out what is situation with Sakota, who is known for his shooting ability behind the arc. This season he averaged 5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 25 games in the greek A1 league, shooting at 45% (25/55) behind the arc.

Barcelona announced Pete Mickeal

A signature small forward in European basketball switched Euroleague powerhouses when Regal FC Barcelona signed Pete Mickeal to a two-year deal. Mickeal (198, 31) arrives from Tau Ceramica, where he averaged 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in 19 Euroleague games last season. He helped Tau to win the Spanish King's Cup and reach the Euroleague Quarterfinals and the Spanish League finals, losing against Regal FCB.

Last season Mickeal averaged 13 points and 5 rebounds in 29 Spanish League games. In 2008, Mickeal led Tau to the Spanish League title, earning finals MVP honors, in addition to reaching the Euroleague Final Four. Mickeal has also played for Daegu Orions in South Korea, Breogan in Spain, Makedonikos and Peristeri in Greece, Dynamo Moscow in Russia, Yakima in the CBA and Kansas City and Tampa Bay in the ABA. He helped Makedonikos reach the 2005 ULEB Cup Final.


source : euroleague.net

3 transfers for Dexia Mons

Dexia Mons-Hainaut has signed England NT guard Nate Reinking (188-G-73, college: Kent St.) for another season. Two young Belgian players will also be on the Mons roster next season, Alexandre Libert (186-G-90) and Lorenzo Giancaterino (190-F-90).

Both are members of the Belgian U21 national team which will take part in the EC. This EC takes place in July on the island of Rhodes. Assistant coach on that U21 NT will be Mons-Hainaut assistant coach Johan Roijakkers who has also extended his stay in Mons with 2 seasons. The team has also announced they are close to finalizing deals with Travis Conlan, Ben Ebong and Jim Potter who should all be on the roster for the 2009-2010 season.

source : eurobasket.com

Dijon announced Ramel Bradley

Dijon announced via their official website, american point guard Ramel Bradley(1.88-PG) that played for Cedevita Zagreb last season. Bradley graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2008 where he was the team's top scorer in his senior season. He averaged 15.9 points 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 30 games for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Ramel Bradley was invited by the New Jersey Nets to play in the NBA Summer League, because the New Jersey Nets liked his effort he gave in workouts and other basketball camps in which Bradley participated. In first pro season in Europe he played for Cedevita Zagreb and now he will be a player of Dijon. He averaged 15.1 points 1.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 24 games for Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia.

Zisis ever closer to Olympiakos

According to sport-fm.gr, Nikos Zisis(1.95-PG/SG) is very close to signing his new contract with Olympiakos. The greek team have been patiently waiting for CSKA to officially release the player before making any moves. Zisis' agent Keith Glass is reported in the article, to be in negotiations with Olympiakos but he wants his player to sign a contract only for one season thinking that Zisis would get more playing time than CSKA and hence get a better contract next season.

Zisis will be one more budget-cut for CSKA after so many players. He averaged 5.3 points 1.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21 games in the Euroleague but only with 16 minutes of playing time.