By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos lost the semifinal against Fenerbahce but won the race for TJ Shorts. The star of Paris will move to Athens with a multi-year deal, unless he gets an intriguing offer from the NBA.
Since Wednesday, when practically everyone traveled to Abu Dhabi for the EuroLeague Final Four, the consensus was that Panathinaikos was moving aggressively to lock Shorts, and sports director Sani Becirovic even confirmed the talks.
Multiple sources close to the talks confirmed to Eurohoops that Shorts and Panathinaikos have a tentative agreement with only one thing left.
Shorts wants to keep his NBA option open, since he expects an offer, and that’s the only thing that may keep him from wearing Green next season.
Money-wise, it’s hard to imagine that Shorts will get a better offer than the one Panathinaikos is giving him. On the other hand, the challenge to compete in the US is alluring for every player.
Meanwhile, initially, there was no confirmation from the Panathinaikos side on the deal, but on Sunday night, club sources leaked that there’s a deal with TJ Shorts because he decided to put his NBA aspirations aside for this summer.
Meanwhile, with TJ Shorts on board, it seems highly possible that Giorgos Papagiannis may also return to Panathinaikos in the summer, as both players share the same agent, Nikos Spanos.
Greek reporter Sotiris Vetakis was the first to report the impending deal between Panathinaikos and TJ Shorts.