AEK Athens interested in Sanikidze

Viktor Sanikidze (203-F-86) is the first target of AEK for the PF position. The Georgian forward got drafted (2rd, N.42) in 2004 from Atlanta Hawks but his rights got traded to the San Antonio Spurs. He started his career from Academy Tbilisi and next year moved in the stronger France Pro-A league to play for Dijon Bourgogne. After playing two years in Dijon he got the big transfer to play in the Spanish ACB league for Estudiantes Madrid.

The things did not go well for the Georgian player in Spain, he was not playing a lot but the second year was worst, he had a serious injury which caused him to sit out the entire season. He started practising months later in Dinamo Tbilisi but he realized in Germany, when he went for a tryout, that his career was on great danger. Viktor said to Eurobasket.com one year ago: I went in Germany for try out and on one practice I didn't feel good on my knee. So, I checked my knee with German doctors and they told me to stop playing, otherwise I would risk my career.

This season Tartu from Estonia gave him the opportunity to be back in courts and had great games. He played 20 games in the Baltic league having 9.3ppg and 6.3rpg. Already teams from France are showing interest for him.

source : eurobasket.com

Siena announced Ksistof Lavrinovic

Montepaschi Siena has announced a new deal with center Ksistof Lavrinovic, who extended his contract until the end of the 2011-12 season. Lavrinovic was an All-Euroleague second team selection in the 2007-08 season, in which he helped Montepaschi to make it to the Final Four. In his two seasons with Montepaschi, Lavrinovic has helped his team to win back-to-back Italian League titles and also lifted the Italian Cup trophy this year. Lavrinovic has also played for Unics Kazan, Dynamo Moscow and Ural Great in Perm, as well as for Alita Alytus in his native Lithuania.

Lavrinovic won the 2004 Russian Cup title with Ural Great and reached the Russian League finals with Dynamo in 2005 and with Unics in 2007. His twin brother Darjus Lavrinovic joined Real Madrid two weeks ago.

source : euroleague.net

Demos Dikoudis is a target of Aris

According to basketblog.gr, Demos Dikoudis(2.07-PF) is a target of Aris Thessaloniki. The greek power forward played last season for Panionios that were defeated by Aris in the play offs. Dikoudis is a very experienced player with a rich career and would be a great addition for Aris but he might be a tad expensive for the greek team.

Head coach Andrea Mazzon is interested in signing Dikoudis for the position of the starting power forward, according to the article. Dikoudis played for Valencia, Panathinaikos, CSKA and AEK Athens in the past. This past season he averaged 10.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17 games for Panionios.

Maccabi announced Chuck Eidson

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv is proud to announce the signing of American star Chuck Eidson (28, 2.01 meters) to a two year contract. Eidson, a guard-forward who can play at any position from 1 through 4, is known as an intelligent team player who brings out the best in those who play next to him. Eidson has a great personality both on and off the court and that, together with his professional ability, make him the dream of every basketball club.

In the 2008/09 season of the Eurocup, Eidson’s numbers were 15.9 points per game (fifth place), 5.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists (first in the league), and 2.0 steals (third in the league). He finished first in the index of outstanding players with an average index of 21.9. He was the only player in the Eurocup to finish the season among the top ten for points, rebounds and assists.

His top game of last season came in the finals of the Baltic championship, when Lietuvos Rytas destroyed their biggest rival, Zalgiris Kaunas 97 – 74. Eidson scored a career-high 41 points (16 for 20 from the field!), pulled down 8 rebounds and dished out 8 assists.

source : maccabi.co.il

Levance Fields signed with Spartak St. Petersburg

BC Spartak St. Petersburg started to get ready for its upcoming Eurocup debut in the 2009-10 season by inking playmaker Levance Fields to a two-year deal. Spartak keeps a team option to extend the contract until the end of the 2011-12 season. Fields (178, 22) just finished his college career at the University of Pittsburg (NCAA).

He averaged 10.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 36 NCAA games last season, in which Fields made it to the All-Big East 3rd Team. Fields helped the Panthers to win the Big East Tournament in 2008 and make it to the NCAA Tournament eighthfinals in 2007. He finished his college career with 645 assists, ranking third in the Panthers' all-time list behind Brandin Knight (785) and Sean Miller (744). Fields is now ready to start his professional career in St. Petersburg.

source : eurocupbasketball.com

Nesterovic returns to Toronto?

After a franchise-altering move left him with money to spend and backup roles to fill, Raptors boss Bryan Colangelo will be looking for a few good men. There's an old friend in Slovenia who'd love to be considered.

Rasho Nesterovic, a veteran centre very much on the mind of the Raptors now, would like nothing more than to rejoin the team he reluctantly left a year ago. "I never wanted to leave, it was just a matter of numbers and business, I understand that," Nesterovic said in a telephone interview from his native Slovenia yesterday. "To come back would be great, I'd love to. Toronto is always and will always be my favourite city."

Colangelo has spoken glowingly about Nesterovic's presence – on the court in a backup role and as a leader in the locker room – and there is interest in bringing him back as long as the financial terms can be worked out.

Nesterovic, 33, spent last season with the Indiana Pacers (averaging 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game) after being dealt from Toronto in the Jermaine O'Neal-T.J. Ford deal. He knows a role here would be as a backup and he's fine with that; he also knows there will be no rush to get things done. "I know the first week (of free agency) is to get the stars done and the big names," he said. "I can wait."

source : thestar.com

John Hammond talks about Bucks' targets

I caught up with John Hammond this afternoon and he was fairly tight-lipped on the progress of negotiations with restricted free agents Ersan Ilyasova and Ramon Sessions. Contrary to reports we've been regularly seeing in Spain, an Ilyasova signing hasn't been finalized--but that's not to say it won't get done at some point in the near future. Meanwhile, the Bucks had a conference call with Sessions on Thursday.

"Ersan might be in a little different position than Ramon. We're probably a little further along in our discussions with Ersan. But the discussions with Ramon have been positive and on-going."

The Bucks are also still interested in Josh Childress, though his situation is complicated by both his lucrative deal with Olympiacos and the Hawks' ability to match any NBA offer sheet he receives.

"We had a good visit and we enjoyed having him spend time with us. We've talked about some kind of range that he could be comfortable with, but he has a lot of variables that he has to work through, not just with us but potentially with Atlanta. That is more of a wait and see situation."

source : brewhoop.com

Barcelona announced Terrence Morris

Barcelona announced the signing of american power forward Terrence Morris(2.07-PF) via their official website. Morris left CSKA Moscow although he had 2 more seasons in his contract and it was rumored that Efes Pilsen was interested in the player among other teams. The deal between Terrence Morris and Barcelona is for 2 seasons and he will be replacing Ersan Ilyasova who is most likely to try his luck again in the NBA with Minnesotta.

Terrence Morris impressed the crowds as a player of Maccabi Tel Aviv and he managed to play in 2 Euroleague Final Four's in a row with Maccabi and CSKA. The russian team decided to release him as his contract was too costly although he had initially signed a 3-season contract. He averaged 6.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 steals, 1.0 blocked shots in 21 Euroleague games with CSKA.

Rumors about Travis Hansen and Olympiakos

Another potential target has been implicated with Olympiakos and this time its american guard/forward Travis Hansen(1.98-SG/SF) who also owns a russian passport from his days in Dynamo Moscow. Hansen started the season in Dynamo Moscow but left the team back in May as they couldn't pay his salary any more. The article from redplanet.gr says that Hansen is in the list of candidates to play in Olympiakos.

He was drafted by the Hawks in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft, 37th overall, and played 41 games for them, starting four, averaging 3.0 points per game. He then played for Tau for 2 seasons and for the last 3 seasons he has been playing for Dynamo being the top scorer team. Hansen averaged 14.7 points 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 21 games of the russian Superleague.

David Holston signed with Karsiyaka

CHICAGO – Former Chicago State men’s basketball player David Holston (Pontiac, Mich.) has recently signed a professional contract to compete for Pinar Karsiyaka, a member of the Turkish Basketball League located in the town of Izmir, Turkey, for the 2009-10 season. The 5-8, 160-pound point guard joins a Pinar Karsiyaka squad that also features fellow American standouts Gerald Brown and Leon Williams. Pinar Karsiyaka posted a 13-17 record during the 2008-09 season.

Holston finished his collegiate campaign averaging 25.9 points, 6.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and three steals per game per game in leading CSU to record its first winning season in the school’s Division I-era with a 19-13 record last season. Holston also led the nation for the second straight season with an average of 4.6 made three-point shots per game in addition to ranking fourth nationally in scoring and steals. He twice captured HSRN D-I and Great West Conference Player of the Week accolades during the season.

In addition to his weekly accolades, Holston earned the NCAA D-I Independent Player of the Year award and captured First Team All-Independent accolades two weeks ago. He also gained Independent Player of the Year accolades from CollegeInsider.com and earned National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 13 Second Team honors.

source : gocsucougars.com

Nikos Hatzivrettas is a target of Aris?

Nikos Hatzivrettas(1.95-SG) might not be continuing his career in Panathinaikos after all. The greek veteran was rumored to sign another contract for one more season with Panathinaikos but that might not go through. The many arrivals in the backcourt of Panathinaikos and the recent change in the foreign players regulation in Greece might force Hatzivrettas who knows that his playing time will be even more reduced.

Greek portal athlitikanea.gr says that Aris Thessaloniki are interested in signing Hatzivrettas as they are trying to get the best possible roster in order to qualify for next season's Euroleague, initially against Maroussi and after that against the winner between Alba Berlin and Le Mans. Head coach Andrea Mazzon is currently in Las Vegas for the Summer League monitoring possible transfer targets for Aris and Hatzivrettas is also one of them. Hatzivrettas averaged 5.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 29 games in the greek A1 league playing for Panathinaikos.

Nenad Markovic returns to Panionios

Nenad Markovic returns to Panionios after season 2007-2008. The bosnian veteran sat at the bench of Panionios leading the team to the Euroleague and now he seems to be returning to the greek team according to sportdog.gr.

The deal is rumored to be for 2 seasons and it is rumored to be announced very soon. This might be a necessary development for Panionios now that the president of the team, Ilias Lianos stepped down from presidency but offered to help the team financially to the best of his ability. The budget of Panionios this season is going to be reduced more than 50% dropping it to 1 million euros for all the players' salaries.