Papadopoulos in talks with Malaga to leave Paok

Papadopoulos looking for a way out or for a way to get paid?


Lazaros Papadopoulos(2.13-C) spoke to Spanish newspaper La Opinion De Malaga and he said that his agent Minas Toukmenidis is currently in talks with Malaga. During the summer the agent of Papadopoulos asked for a million euros from Malaga but back then the deal didn't go through so Malaga renewed their contract Scottish center Robert Archibald.

Now Malaga are back in talks with Papadopoulos who said that he is a player of Paok for the time being but he didn't deny the possibility of a deal with Malaga. Paok would have to be compensated to let Papadopoulos leave but that might be a big problem for them as he is their best player and they're all out of spots for any foreign players. Bosman centers are quite expensive and hard to find so this might be quite a serious blow for Paok. According to malagahoy.es, the buy-out clause in the contract with Paok is 150,000 euros and that's not a prohibiting amount for a team like Malaga.

Papadopoulos has been the cornerstone of Paok, both in the Eurocup and the Greek League averaging so far 10.7 points 7.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 10 games in the Greek League and also 16 points 12.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists

It's no secret that Papadopoulos is not having too much fun in Greece. The recent debacle of the Greek players strike that he led as the President of the Players' Union has turned the tides as to how he is treated by the Greek referees. In Greece Papadopoulos doesn't win as many fouls as he does in Europe and that diminishes his capacity in the game as they allow his opponents to play "tougher defense".

He is still owed money by Paok(most of his monthly salaries) so this could just be an elaborate way of  forcing the Paok administration into paying him. Finally one might think that the administration of Malaga have better things to do at the moment as Aito Reneses is rumored to be on his way out with Bozidar Maljkovic as a possible replacement. Sergio Scariolo's solution was dismissed as he is currently the head coach of the Spanish National Team and according to ACB rules its impossible for him to coach for another team in Spain.

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