Nov 24, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward
Kostas Papanikolaou(16) drives to the basket during the first quarter as New York Knicks forward Amar
Kostas Papanikolaou’s strong play this season should make Knicks fans jealous.
Who? That was the reaction from most Knicks fans two years ago on draft night. Kostas Papanikolaou was selected by the Knicks with the 48th overall pick in 2012, the team’s only pick of the draft. At the time of the selection, Papanikolaou was on the cusp of his 22nd birthday, a two-time Greek League Best Young Player Award winner, and playing professionally in Greece for Olympiacos B.C., a perennial powerhouse in the Euroleague. This draft had some importance to the Knicks because Iman Shumpert, who was selected the year before, would soon become the only Knicks draft pick on the roster. Landry Fields, a second round pick in 2010, left the Knicks in restricted free agency just 16 days after the draft upon signing an offer sheet with the Raptors. The Knicks roster was completely devoid of any young, homegrown talent after the farm was sold to bring Carmelo Anthony to New York. Many Knicks fans were not impressed with the selection of a foreign player like Papanikolaou, who was not a lock to play for the team in the upcoming seasons as customary for foreign players under contract overseas (think Ricky Rubio).
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Knicks management probably had no intentions of ever utilizing Papanikolaou because only 16 days later his rights were packaged as part of a sign and trade with the Houston Rockets that brought Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas back to the Knicks. The disaster that was Raymond Felton‘s second tenure in New York is probably best left unsaid, but the point is that Papanikolaou was no more than a throw in for the deal.
The Knicks acquired two veterans that the Blazers had no desire for (Felton was coming off an atrocious season and Thomas was 39 years of age) and gave up Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric, a 2016 second recound pick, the rights to Papanikolaou, and an additional foreign player, Georgios Printezis, who never made it to the NBA.
Obviously, it doesn’t take much to say that the Knicks shouldn’t have traded Kostas’ rights, but perhaps they did not know what they had or what would happen next.
Sir Charles In Charge
After his draft selection, Papanikolaou flourished in his next two seasons overseas. He won the Greek Basket League and Euroleague championships with Olympiacos in 2012, while also winning the Euroleague Rising Star award, an accomplishment he shares with Knicks alum Danilo Gallinari and current Knick Andrea Bargnani. Kostas followed up the 2012 season with a repeat Euroleague championship with Olympiacos in 2013.
He then signed a 4 year contract with FC Barcelona Basquet of the Spanish Liga ACB after Barcelona paid a transfer fee to Olympiacos. Kostas wasted no time by winning the Spanish National Championship in 2014. His new contract included NBA opt out clauses, which allowed him to sign with the Houston Rockets (the Blazers also traded his rights) on September 23rd, 2014 after Houston offered him their mid-level exception.
Papanikolaou has already been called into action this season for the Rockets, especially following the injury to Terrence Jones. He has been averaging 26 minutes per game in November and has set career highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds in separate games. Additionally, his game instincts are being applauded as he continues to carve out a valuable position in the Rockets rotation while his game improves, specifically his propensity to foul.
Kostas stuffed the statsheet against the Knicks last Monday, recording 4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal in 25 minutes of action. Is he a a future All-Star? Unlikely, but many analysts already project him to become a starter in short time. As his season progresses and he continues to impress, Knicks and Blazers fans will lament that their teams basically game him away.
Is it it fair to call the Knicks’ decision to prematurely trade away Papanikolaou’s draft rights a blunder? Hardly, just another example of Knicks bad luck. Now fans can just ponder, at what Kostas? (cost)