John Poulakidas, shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks, has become a target for Olympiacos, according to journalist Aris Barkas. However, there's a catch that cools the deal in the short term: the player's priority is to continue fighting for an NBA spot.
And there's another angle that makes the interest even bigger. Thanks to his family roots, the American can obtain a Greek passport, which would give him local player status in the Greek league. That detail, Barkas points out, could also bring Panathinaikos into the bidding and move the eternal Athens derby to an agent's office.
Why He's So Attractive
The profile is the kind that makes European clubs fall in love: a pure shooter at 6'6" and 23 years old. In his final season at Yale, he was the Ivy League's leading scorer with 19.4 points and 40.8% from three-point range, conference tournament MVP, and a star in big March Madness nights, like the 28 points with six three-pointers that knocked out Auburn in 2024 or the 23 against Texas A&M a year later.
His professional start has followed the classic path of an undrafted player with skill. Undrafted in 2025, he went through the Summer League and the Clippers' preseason, developed with their San Diego affiliate, and in March made the jump: two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks, with whom he made his NBA debut the same day he signed. This season he will continue under that arrangement between Dallas and the Texas Legends.
The Precedent Athens Knows Well
The passport play has an obvious mirror in Olympiacos's own locker room: Thomas Walkup, another American who became naturalized and ended up representing Greece internationally. Quality local roster spots are gold in the Greek league, and a 23-year-old sharpshooter with a Greek passport would be worth double what his statistics suggest.
For now, everything points to patience: as long as the player has a spot in the NBA, Athens will have to wait. But the two giants of Piraeus and the capital have already noted his name, and these stories usually have second chapters.