The Lakers reportedly are going beyond U.S. borders in their search for a new backcourt starter.
With Smush Parker out the door and Farmar having played only one NBA season, the Lakers have offered a multi-year contract to 30-year-old guard Theodoros Papaloukas, according to Eleftheros Tipos, a newspaper in Greece. The report said Papaloukas had confirmed the offer and was pondering it among a handful from NBA teams. Lakers officials declined to comment.
Papaloukas, a Greek native who is listed at 6 feet 7, was the Euroleague player of the year last season with CSKA Moscow, and is widely thought to be the best point guard in Europe.
He signed a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow in June 2006, a contract that could require a substantial buy-out price. The Lakers probably would have to use most or all of their mid-level exception — five years and about $30 million — to sign him. The mid-level exception is given to teams that are over the salary cap and can be divvied up to sign more than one free agent.
Papaloukas had 12 assists to lead Greece to an upset of the U.S. in the semifinals of the 2006 world championships. He had 10 points and nine assists for CSKA Moscow in a 94-75 exhibition victory over the Clippers last October, an effort that prompted Clippers forward Elton Brand to tell the Associated Press that he "definitely [had] flashbacks of Papaloukas," from the U.S. semifinal loss.