The news appeared in the early hours of the morning of the 11th of May and according to basketnet.gr, David Blatt will be returning to Greece on May 22nd in order to sign a new contract with Aris. A new contract that will last 2 more seasons. His current contract is valid unless David Blatt pays the buy-out clause to Aris by the 10th of July.
What this means is with the existing contract Blatt can very easily sign with another team if he chooses to do so. Unless of course he signs a new contract on the 22nd of May(when he returns from Israel) that has a different buy-out clause.
According to the article of basketnet.gr, what Blatt really wanted from Aris was a guaranteed budget, so that players would be paid in time and that would ensure him the player's peace of mind outside the basketball court. There is a shareholder board meeting schedule for the 20th of May that will elect the new administration. It was meant to happen last Monday but was cancelled. Several people did attend though and the new shareholders did express their desire to commit to the cause and help the team of Aris financially. The players' budget is estimated to be around 1.5 million euros although it is possible to go higher if there is enough financial backing.
One might wonder why would David Blatt want to work with such a low budget. I guess this questions will be answered in the next few days. Another rumor that surfaced today on both radio and internet was that Greek legend Nick Galis would take up arms and be a candidate for the presidency of Aris BC. It seems a bit farfetched, as Nick Galis has never been involved with the world of pro basketball in Greece in any shape or form since his retirement. He only attended ceremonies where people would honor him. So it seems a bit strange now that all of a sudden he would take up one of the "hottest" seats in Greek and European basketball. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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