CSKA Moscow Offers Milos Teodosic Equal of NBA 5 Year $62.5 Million Contract

[PharmD]

From what I've heard (I don't really follow European basketball), this guy is one of the best players in Europe right now, getting paid $12 million a year, and you have average players like Mike Conley here getting $30 million a year. That's crazy to me.

This seems like a fitting time to point out that one of the best players in Europe, Spanoulis, was utter trash in the NBA.

Spanoulis is only good when he is number one guy on the court and he played like 30 games with 6 minutes average in NBA. You can't even say that he was an utter trash when he didn't even get a chance to show what he can do

Guys that don't know him HAVE to watch this video. That behind the back pass against USA when Bogdanovic couldn't hit a 3 Pass at 1:55 is still one of the best I've seen in a professional game

Watch on YouTube

ps I'm so glad that 2 of the best passers on this planet are from Serbia Too bad Teodosic can't play decent defense, he would've been a star in NBA. Right now I can see him as a decent starter (which isn't bad at all really)

Good lord those passes.

[Phreak50]

...to show you can be a bonafide scrub going against the big boys in the NBA and still get serious $$$ somewhere else.

He is probably the best guard outside of the NBA and could make most NBA rosters in a valuable role.

The guy is no scrub.

[Pachinko_]

Has the Euroleague gotten a lot better competitively speaking compared to say, 10 years ago?

I'm not an expert on this, but I don't think so. The euroleague was quite good 10 years ago. In my opinion European basketball has plateued in general. Don't get me wrong, it is still a solid level of play, but I don't think that it is gaining ground on the NBA.

Sent from my Pixel XL using RealGM mobile app

Kind of surprising considering how there's almost limitless room for international talent growth.

I think demographics kinda set a ceiling to European basketball. Those European countries where basketball is super popular don't really have much of a black population, so they will always be behind athletically. And those countries with a more diverse population like Great Britain don't really care about this sport.

I mean, imagine American basketball without the black players. Superstars would be Kevin Love, Gordon Hayward, and... I don't know, JJ Redick?

[UcanUwill]

I mean, imagine American basketball without the black players. Superstars would be Kevin Love, Gordon Hayward, and... I don't know, JJ Redick?

That is a very good point. At least Lithuanians and Serbs are tall, the worst end of the stick got the Philippines.

[3Diamantidis]

From what I've heard (I don't really follow European basketball), this guy is one of the best players in Europe right now, getting paid $12 million a year, and you have average players like Mike Conley here getting $30 million a year. That's crazy to me.

This seems like a fitting time to point out that one of the best players in Europe, Spanoulis, was utter trash in the NBA.

Wanna learn what allen iverson accomplished in turkey?

[3Diamantidis]

...to show you can be a bonafide scrub going against the big boys in the NBA and still get serious $$$ somewhere else.

He is probably the best guard outside of the NBA and could make most NBA rosters in a valuable role.

The guy is no scrub.

He's one of the best euro guards ever. The fact he didn't play enough(or well) in the nba says nothing to me.
Navarro is another example of an amazing player that didn't stay for long in the nba.
De Colo a more recent one.

All these guys are great players but for different reasons they didn't last in the US. That doesn't mean anything.
I can name enough good NBA players that tried to play overseas but it didn't go well for them.
What's that suppose to mean? That they weren't good?
We are talking about a completely different style of game.
Some adjust eventually(petrovic in the nba---dominique wilkins in europe), others don't.

[Hoopz Afrik]

I would love to see him sign with Pelicans, especialy if they resign holiday(he can play off ball guard).

Teodosic
Holiday
Hill
Davis
Cousins

He would be amazing with Davis and Cousins and i think this team is good enough on other side of ball to hide his defensive flaws.

That would be amazing.

Crossing my fingers and living on a prayer because this would be a great situation for all parties involved.

[UcanUwill]

...to show you can be a bonafide scrub going against the big boys in the NBA and still get serious $$$ somewhere else.

He is probably the best guard outside of the NBA and could make most NBA rosters in a valuable role.

The guy is no scrub.

He's one of the best euro guards ever. The fact he didn't play enough(or well) in the nba says nothing to me.
Navarro is another example of an amazing player that didn't stay for long in the nba.
De Colo a more recent one.

All these guys are great players but for different reasons they didn't last in the US. That doesn't mean anything.
I can name enough good NBA players that tried to play overseas but it didn't go well for them.
What's that suppose to mean? That they weren't good?
We are talking about a completely different style of game.
Some adjust eventually(petrovic in the nba---dominique wilkins in europe), others don't.

Teodosic is a great guy who can succeed in any level I have no doubt.

Spanoulis on the other hand is the one that takes advantage of inferior competition the most. Everything he does greatly in Europe I dont see translating against NBA competition. Firstly, he needs to be the number one option to be effective fully. Then there is his finishing ability around the basket. He is great finisher around the hoop but some of his layups has so low release, he would get stuffed regularly in the NBA, diminishing this skill. Then there is his shooting. Great but his form is gross, could struggle against NBA length. His ball handling is great and raises so much havoc while splitting the defenders, but NBA pick and roll defenses are better prepared against guards who can do that. One elite skill he has that no one could take away from is his cluchness. He is one of the most clutch players ever, and he always shows up in big moments. Thats what makes him great Euro player.
He is definitely one of the best Euroleague players ever, but in grand scheme of things, I always struggle to rank him, because I really think he would do much worse against NBA competition. He is kinda like Jimmer or someone like that. Thats why I like Teodosic better than him, I liked Papaloukas better than him, Ginobili, Anthony Parker etc. In Basketball, it all comes down of how good you can be at the greatest level.

[Mirotic12]

Teodosic is a great guy who can succeed in any level I have no doubt.

Spanoulis on the other hand is the one that takes advantage of inferior competition the most. Everything he does greatly in Europe I dont see translating against NBA competition. Firstly, he needs to be the number one option to be effective fully. Then there is his finishing ability around the basket. He is great finisher around the hoop but some of his layups has so low release, he would get stuffed regularly in the NBA, diminishing this skill. Then there is his shooting. Great but his form is gross, could struggle against NBA length. His ball handling is great and raises so much havoc while splitting the defenders, but NBA pick and roll defenses are better prepared against guards who can do that. One elite skill he has that no one could take away from is his cluchness. He is one of the most clutch players ever, and he always shows up in big moments. Thats what makes him great Euro player.
He is definitely one of the best Euroleague players ever, but in grand scheme of things, I always struggle to rank him, because I really think he would do much worse against NBA competition. He is kinda like Jimmer or someone like that. Thats why I like Teodosic better than him, I liked Papaloukas better than him, Ginobili, Anthony Parker etc. In Basketball, it all comes down of how good you can be at the greatest level.

Every single thing you speculate that Spanoulis could not do "against NBA level competition", he did against Team USA, and he did it twice (so no "fluke arguments" hold water). He also did it rather easily.

If anything, he looked like one of the most athletic players on the court against USA, in both 2006 and 2008, and he was able to finish around the rim with ease.

If you don't believe it, then the visual evidence is right here for you:


Vassilis Spanoulis against Team USA in 2006:

Watch on YouTube

Vassilis Spanoulis against Team USA in 2008:

Watch on YouTube

If he could do that against Team USA twice, then he could very easily do that against average level NBA competition, which is far below the level of Team USA. Especially so, when you factor in how much harder it is to score under FIBA rules (like in those games above), than it is to score under NBA rules, where the game is so totally wide-open for fast, quick, small perimeter players like Spanoulis.

And you say "it all comes down to how good you can be at the greatest level"...well, Team USA is the greatest level, not the NBA, and Spanoulis did as well against Team USA as any player in history.

[LakerLegend]

Spanoulis played a season in the NBA and averaged less than 3 points.

[21/20/10/8]

BLAH BLAH BLAH... I HAVE A 197 IQ AND I LOVE THE MAMAS BOY SPANOULIS, I EVEN EDIT HIS WIKI PAGE EVERY DAY... SINCE HE IS SO AWESOME...

Yes... we all know... you have a circle jerk obsession with him that is very unhealthy... there is a reason why you can be spotted on all the different forums on the basketball internet, and it takes some one very special have so many accounts and to get banned on so many boards...

You are sad...

You are still with that stupid youtube vid, Carlos Arroyo killed team USA as well... but thankfully we don't have some guy on his nuts all the time and at least he had a career in the NBA.

He also sucked the big one in the gold metal game. 1/10 shooting... yup... If anything his game vs the team USA is a fluke given what we saw vs NBA players night in and night out. He sucked in the NBA and no amount of excuses can you can make, can change that.

[21/20/10/8]

Spanoulis played a season in the NBA and averaged less than 3 points.

He wasn't given a fair chance according to some people...lol...

I personally think he wasn't good to hack in NBA (unlike other players) and was too attached to his mom's tits...

[Fico92]

I personally think he wasn't good to hack in NBA (unlike other players) and was too attached to his mom's tits...

[Repeat 3-peat]

Read on Twitter

[UcanUwill]

If he could do that against Team USA twice, then he could very easily do that against average level NBA competition, which is far below the level of Team USA. Especially so, when you factor in how much harder it is to score under FIBA rules (like in those games above), than it is to score under NBA rules, where the game is so totally wide-open for fast, quick, small perimeter players like Spanoulis.

And you say "it all comes down to how good you can be at the greatest level"...well, Team USA is the greatest level, not the NBA, and Spanoulis did as well against Team USA as any player in history.

Jasikevicius used to kill USA as well. I give Spanoulis props, he was very clutch and living for the big moments, he was born to play in final 4s and against dream teams of USA. He is probably better than my original comment made it sound, but it still doesnt convince me. Would his finishing, shooting and foul drawing rates would translate, a big question mark. And I mean real marksmanship and foul drawing, not bank 3 or LeBron flukishly fouling his ugly as 3 point attempt.

[yannisk]

Jasikevicius used to kill USA as well.

This was a big surprise for me. I think Jasikevicius could be very useful offensively in another role (defensively is another story)

Spanoulis I don't think his game translates well in the nba (and I rate him lower than most). Still, I think he could play as a poor man's Ginobilli on a lesser team than the Spurs.

[UcanUwill]

Jasikevicius used to kill USA as well.

This was a big surprise for me. I think Jasikevicius could be very useful offensively in another role (defensively is another story)

Spanoulis I don't think his game translates well in the nba (and I rate him lower than most). Still, I think he could play as a poor man's Ginobilli on a lesser team than the Spurs.

Jasikevicius had terrible handle. That was his main setback. He was pick and roll master, good mid range shooter, but his dribble was terrible. He was good at protecting the ball with his body, so its not like you could just pick pocket him, but dodn't expect anything out of him in ISO situation. Very predictable as well, you know he would need a screen every time.
These are two not great NBA prospects, but I would rather have Spanoulis over Jasikevicius in the NBA. Rather have Teodosic over both. Teodosic is very Jasikevicius esque, but he has NBA ball handling ability, very creative player.

[Pachinko_]

Read on Twitter

that would be a mistake for both Bulls and Teodosic.

[Pachinko_]

From what I've heard (I don't really follow European basketball), this guy is one of the best players in Europe right now, getting paid $12 million a year, and you have average players like Mike Conley here getting $30 million a year. That's crazy to me.

This seems like a fitting time to point out that one of the best players in Europe, Spanoulis, was utter trash in the NBA.

Spanoulis is only good when he is number one guy on the court and he played like 30 games with 6 minutes average in NBA. You can't even say that he was an utter trash when he didn't even get a chance to show what he can do

Guys that don't know him HAVE to watch this video. That behind the back pass against USA when Bogdanovic couldn't hit a 3 Pass at 1:55 is still one of the best I've seen in a professional game

Watch on YouTube

ps I'm so glad that 2 of the best passers on this planet are from Serbia Too bad Teodosic can't play decent defense, he would've been a star in NBA. Right now I can see him as a decent starter (which isn't bad at all really)

NBA teams simply don't move like that. Euro teams don't have dominant offensive players to just give the ball to and watch them take over like NBA teams do, so they have to work much harder as a team to create the space and the opportunities. They move a lot. To get an NBA offense to move like that you'd need to get players to rethink basketball from scratch, and good luck doing that with D Wade, Rondo, Butler. These guys are used to just give them the ball and go stand in the corner so they can drive and finish or drive and kick. Teodosic would be in a whooole different world... plus he'd be targeted in D in every-single-possession. There's a reason why there are no players like Teodosic in the NBA, and it's not because they don't exist. Best case scenario he'd have an NBA career like Calderon.

[Mirotic12]

Jasikevicius used to kill USA as well. I give Spanoulis props, he was very clutch and living for the big moments, he was born to play in final 4s and against dream teams of USA. He is probably better than my original comment made it sound, but it still doesnt convince me. Would his finishing, shooting and foul drawing rates would translate, a big question mark. And I mean real marksmanship and foul drawing, not bank 3 or LeBron flukishly fouling his ugly as 3 point attempt.

Spanoulis gets what is a foul in the NBA, on literally 90+% of his drives in Europe. 90+% of his drives in Europe would be 2 free throws under NBA rules.

James Harden...in EuroLeague, would get maybe 5-6 free throws a game, maximum. So actually, Spanoulis' numbers around the rim would be exponentially higher in the NBA, than in the EuroLeague, where contact initiated by the offense is NOT a foul on the defense, like it is in the NBA.

In EuroLeague, it's drive after drive, after drive, with major contact and no foul called. In the NBA, it's 2 free throws every time you initiate contact with the defender. So Spanoulis would have it much easier to score around the rim and get to the free throw line in the NBA.

Remember now, under EuroLeague rules, the defender is allowed to make contact with the offensive player and it's not a foul. As long as the defender is in their space of the court first. Remember, under EuroLeague rules, the offensive player cannot initiate contact to the defender.

The complete total opposite of NBA rules. We see this every time Team USA plays in a national team tournament also. Where none of those pile yourself into the defense (Wade, LeBron, Rose, Harden) to draw a foul type of plays ever actually results in a foul being drawn. While in the NBA, the same exact plays automatically results in 2 free throws, almost every single time.