Greeks in the NBA: 2019/2020 Season Preview

With the 2019/2020 season set to tip-off, AGONAsport’s Peter Katsiris previews the year ahead for Greece’s flag bearers in the NBA.

Watch LIVE GREEK TV including full GREEK SPORTS coverage with Go Greek TV! 

The Greek contingent in the NBA is a little lighter heading into the 2019/2020 season. Following Georgios Papagiannis’ mid-season move to Panathinaikos last season, Kostas Koufos and Tyler Dorsey have made offseason moves to Europe to trim Greece’s flagbearers in the world’s top league to just four players.

Headlined by the reigning NBA MVP, it will be hard for Giannis Antetokounmpo and company to better the fortunes of Greeks in the NBA this season but perhaps it’s the most exciting lineup of Greek players the NBA has ever seen.

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: What’s Next for the MVP?

Since being drafted at the 2013 NBA Draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo has continued to improve year-after-year. Heading into his seventh season in the NBA, the Greek Freak can go by another nickname after taking home MVP honours during the offseason awards ceremony.

The 24-year-old made it clear in during his speech at the NBA Awards that his focus is to win an NBA title in Milwaukee, so is an NBA title possible for the Bucks? Well, offseason moves have created a handful of super teams across the NBA though the Eastern Conference appears to be there for the taking. The defending champion Toronto Raptors, a bogey team for the Bucks in recent years, did lose Kawhi Leonard to free agency while the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers went under major reconstruction during the offseason.

Although one of the biggest summer moves was Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving signing with the Brooklyn Nets, the former’s injury during last season’s NBA Finals means that the Nets won’t be the force they’re tipped to be until perhaps 2020/2021. Though the 76ers are still tipped to give the Bucks the toughest challenge in the East, there is no doubting that the Bucks are among the favourites to make a run for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

It will of course be interesting to see how Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer continues to game-plan around Antetokounmpo, something that the Greek national team was unable to do at this summer’s 2019 FIBA World Cup. The loss of Malcolm Brogdon means that the Bucks will have slightly less familiarity off the bench, though the Bucks have signed many new faces like the experienced Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez to help fill the void.

THANASIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: A Second Chance

Another of the new arrivals in Milwaukee is Giannis’ older brother Thanasis. A former draft pick of the New York Knicks in the 2014 NBA Draft, Thanasis has returned to the NBA after spending the last three seasons in Europe including the last two with Panathinaikos.

Teaming up with his brother in Milwaukee, Thanasis will have family around him as he takes a second crack at the NBA though it remains unlikely that he’ll have anything close to the impact his brother has had on that side of the Atlantic.

Still, Thanasis is an experienced player and while it remains to be seen what sort of role he will have off the bench for the Bucks, the 27-year-old will certainly hope to make an impact on the defensive end.

For fans of Greek basketball, it will be interesting to see just how much time Thanasis and Giannis spend together on the court as it seems pretty obvious the signing of Thanasis is just one way the Bucks are trying to convince Giannis to re-sing a long-term deal in Milwaukee.

KOSTAS ANTETOKOUNMPO: From Dallas to Hollywood

Much like Thanasis’ arrival in Milwaukee, Kostas Antetokounmpo’s summer move to the Los Angeles Lakers seems to be a ploy to gain an advantage in potentially luring Giannis to the west coast in 2021.

Kostas might have been picked up by an NBA title favourite in the Lakers, but the 21-year-old’s rocky start to the NBA likely means he won’t have that much of a role even off the bench for the Lakers.

Fortunately for Kostas, he is still on a two-way contract which allow him to be assigned to the Lakers’ NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. While Kostas will be keen to stay in Los Angeles, a move to the G League will certainly serve the youngest Antetokounmpo brother in the NBA the best in the long term.

by Peter Katsiris

Thank you for visiting AGONAsport.com, the only English based website for Greek sports fans across the world! Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter for all the latest news in Greek Sports!