Today, guard Nick Calathes officially signed a contract to continue his professional basketball career in Greece. The team, Panathinaikos, will pay him approximately $7 million over the course of three years.
One of our writers at Beale Street Bears, Ben Parker, has been closely watchingCalathes’ decision-making over the past few days. As he wrote recently, losing Nick Calathes will not affect the Memphis Grizzlies very much if at all. NC was not a major cog on offense for the Grizz, but he did post solid statistics on the defensive end. It should be of greater benefit for M-Town to play their young guys in the minutes that NC once commanded.
What should be a note of importance for Grizz Nation is that the Memphis Grizzlies have not renounced the rights of Nick Calathes. They recently extended a qualifying offer to him in the approximate amount of $1.4 million.
It is obvious that Nick was looking for a greater offer than that and he ultimately chose to make a return to Greece because they offered him better money. His three-year deal with Panathinaikos has an NBA-out clause in case he wants to quickly test the waters of the association once again. Unless the Grizzlies renounce their qualifying offer, Calathes could very well return as a member of the Grizz in a couple years.
If this scenario were to happen, the Grizzlies could very well deal Calathes’ rights in a cheap trade or if worse comes to worst, if all else fails for Memphis’ backcourt plans in the next few years, Nick could be a solid backup yet again.
For now, it is farewell to Nick Calathes from the standpoint of the Memphis Grizzlies. Will he return to wearing a Grizzly uniform in the future? There remains a very slight chance.
Beale Street Bears wishes the best of luck to Nick Calathes overseas!
Continue to check Beale Street Bears for the latest news, rumors, and other info of the offseason regarding your Memphis Grizzlies!
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