Olympiacos has set its sights on the market. The Piraeus club will do everything possible to sign John Poulakidas, according to La Central ACB, after the Dallas Mavericks waived the American shooting guard this past weekend. The 6'5" shooting guard, according to his Yale file, occupied one of the two-way contract slots with the Texas franchise. Dallas needed to free up the spot before the start of the regular season.
The interest is not new. Olympiacos already targeted him this summer, when Poulakidas preferred to continue betting on the NBA. Now, without a team, the situation is very different, and Georgios Bartzokas' squad can offer him a prominent role in the EuroLeague.
A sharpshooter with a Greek passport
Poulakidas' main appeal is his shooting touch. Developed at Yale, where he averaged 19.4 points with a 39.9% three-point percentage in his final college season, he maintained that accuracy in his first professional season. With the Mavericks he played 13 games, averaging 8.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 19.5 minutes with a 40.3% three-point clip. In the G League he shot up to 45.1% from three, averaging 12.5 points per game.
His Greek roots also give him added value. With a Greek passport, he would not occupy a foreign roster spot in the Greek league, something that also put Panathinaikos on alert at one point.
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A perimeter opening
The move makes sense for Olympiacos, which has sidelined Tyler Dorsey from the squad and needs shooters around Vezenkov. In the preseason with Dallas, Poulakidas played just one game, against the Pelicans, in which he scored 16 points. In the next one he was already left out of the roster, a sign that his spot with the Mavericks was coming to an end.