Kostas

Papanikolaou

Papanikolaou will be stashed overseas by the Knicks and does not hav ea buyout in his current contract until 2013. Grunwald stressed the importance of free agency to the Knicks as one reason the team went for an international prospect.

The fans who stuck around for the pick were less than thrilled to hear the name of an obscure 6'9" SF who played in Greece last season. He’s an aggressive, hard-working player with a sweet shot, but he lacks athleticism and quickness, which makes him a questionable defender. If he makes the team he’ll be little more than a spot-shooter off the bench.

Papanikolaou is seen as someone either team could stash overseas and wouldn’t be forced to commit to this season.

Papanikolaou will spend at least a few years overseas and isn’t a near-term fantasy consideration.

No other European team is in consideration for Papanikolaou, who won the Rising Star trophy in Europe this season. His rights were acquired by Portland in the Raymond Felton sign-and-trade deal.

“As of now, we don’t have any sign that leads us to believe that Kostas will go to Portland,” Sfairopoulos told CSNNW.com. “Therefore, we believe that he will not be in the plans of the organization next season and probably will be traded.” He won the Rising Stars Trophy for 2012/13 while playing for Olympiacos, but it’s not clear when or if he’ll come to the NBA.

Like with all trade rumors, don’t take it as fact. The Knicks drafted the small forward last June in the second round and traded him to Portland, but now apparently they’re interested in bringing him back. The report cites sources as saying Papanikolaou is being shopped, but his agent already said that his client expected a trade.

The Rockets will send over a 2016 protected first-round pick to Denver in addition to Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey and Nick Johnson in exchange for Lawson and a 2017 protected second-round selection. Emmanuel Mudiay will now be the starting point guard in Denver, so his value gets a major boost with this news. Patrick Beverley, on the other hand, will likely come off the bench in Houston, so his value takes a pretty big hit with the arrival of Lawson. The Rockets are getting Lawson at a ridiculous discount, and it’ll be interesting to see how James Harden and Lawson can co-exist. He won’t have the ball in his hands quite as much playing alongside Dwight Howard and Harden, so his fantasy value will take a bit of a hit in Houston.

Papanikolaou wasn’t a major factor for the Rockets this season as he averaged just 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds on 35.0 percent shooting through 18.5 minutes of action. It’ll be interesting if they decide to retain him, but his fantasy value is right around zero in Houston. His contract won’t become guaranteed until October 4, so perhaps they use his non-guaranteed deal as a trade chip in future negotiations.

His contract is non-guaranteed until Oct. 4, so this transaction really isn’t big news. Papanikolaou did get some playing time while the Rockets were shorthanded, but he’s not likely going to get minutes out of the gate next season. He might not even make the team.