Georgios Printezis

Georgios "George" Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) (Greek: Γεώργιος "Τζορτζ" Πρίντεζης, born February 22, 1985) is a Greek professional basketball player for Olympiacos of the EuroLeague. Printezis won back to back EuroLeague titles with Olympiacos in 2012 and 2013. His game-winning shot against CSKA Moscow at the end of the 2012 EuroLeague Final, off an assist from Vassilis Spanoulis, is one of the all-time highlights in the history of the EuroLeague.

Georgios Printezis
Printezis with Olympiacos, in 2013.
No. 15 – Olympiacos
PositionPower forward
LeagueEuroLeague
Personal information
BornFebruary 22, 1985 (age 35)
Syros, Greece
NationalityGreek
Listed height2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight109 kg (240 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2007 / Round: 2 / Pick: 58th overall
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career2001–present
Career history
2001–2009Olympiacos
2006–2007→Olympia Larissa
2009–2011Málaga
2011–presentOlympiacos
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Greece
EuroBasket
2009 Poland

He earned an All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2017. While representing the senior Greek national team, Printezis was instrumental in the national team's bronze medal run at the 2009 EuroBasket.

Professional career

Early years

In the 2006–07 season, Printezis was loaned by Olympiacos to Olympia Larissa in the Greek League, where he averaged 11.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. At the Greek All-Star Game weekend that season, he won the slam dunk competition.[1] At the end of that season, he was also voted the Greek League Best Young Player.[2] Following that success, he returned to Olympiacos.

Málaga

In 2009, he signed a 3-year contract with an NBA escape clause after the second year, worth €3.6 million euros with the Spanish ACB League club Unicaja Málaga.[3][4]

Back to Olympiacos

On April 27, 2011, Printezis returned to his previous club, Olympiacos,[5] after being transferred from Málaga.[6] In the EuroLeague's 2011–12 season's Final, he hit a game-winning shot, off an assist from Vassilis Spanoulis, with .7 seconds remaining on the game clock, to give Olympiacos the EuroLeague championship, with a victory over CSKA Moscow.[7]

On July 12, 2012, he signed a new three-year contract with Olympiacos.[8] Prior to that, he had considered a three-year, 4.5 million US dollars net income contract from Fenerbahçe Ülker, but he chose to stay with Olympiacos instead.[9] With Olympiacos, he also won the 2012–13 season championship of the EuroLeague. On July 8, 2014, he extended his contract with Olympiacos until 2017.[10]

On June 14, 2017, Printezis signed a three-year contract extension with Olympiacos.[11] He signed a one-year extension with the team on June 16, 2020.[12]

NBA draft rights

Printezis was selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, with the 58th selection overall of the 2007 NBA draft. The draft rights to Printezis were then acquired by the Toronto Raptors, in exchange for their second round draft pick in the 2008 NBA draft (Spurs used that pick to draft Goran Dragić, and immediately traded Dragić to the Phoenix Suns to acquire the draft pick they used in 2009 to draft future NBA All-Rookie Second Team member DeJuan Blair).[13][14] On January 20, 2011, the Toronto Raptors traded his draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks for Alexis Ajinça, a conditional second 2013 second round draft pick, and cash.[15]

On December 10, 2011, the draft rights to Printezis were traded to the New York Knicks, along with Tyson Chandler and the draft rights to Ahmad Nivins, in a three-way trade. The Mavericks received Andy Rautins from the Knicks, and a second round pick from the Washington Wizards. The Wizards received Ronny Turiaf from the Knicks, in addition to a Dallas 2012 second round pick, a 2013 Knicks second round pick, and cash considerations.

In the summer of 2012, Printezis turned down a one-year contract offer from the Knicks, that reportedly was for slightly more than the minimum NBA salary.[16] On July 16, 2012, his and Kostas Papanikolaou's draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, in a deal that sent Raymond Felton to New York.[17] On February 21, 2013, his draft rights were subsequently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a deal that sent Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers.[18] On July 15, 2014, his draft rights and Thabo Sefolosha, were traded to the Atlanta Hawks, in exchange for the draft rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis, cash considerations, and a trade exception.[19] On July 9, 2015, his draft rights, alongside a 2017 second-round pick, were traded to the Spurs, in exchange for Tiago Splitter.[20]

National team career

Greek junior national team
Printezis playing for the Greek national team, at the 2009 EuroBasket.

With the junior national teams of Greece, Printezis played at the 2001 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, the 2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.

Greek senior national team

Printezis was selected to the senior men's Greek national basketball team that played at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket, and he also played at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

He was also a member of Greece's senior national teams that played at the following tournaments: the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the 2013 EuroBasket, the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the 2015 EuroBasket, the 2017 EuroBasket, and the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

† Denotes seasons in which Printezis' team won the EuroLeague

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2002–03 Olympiacos 302.0.000.000.000.3.0.0.0.0.0
2003–04 30.91.000.000.000.3.0.0.0.7.7
2004–05 105.2.000.000.000.0.0.0.0.0-1.0
2005–06 808.9.611.500.5001.1.1.3.03.82.4
2007–08 211019.0.513.238.6093.2.6.3.26.76.2
2008–09 201518.7.636.500.5173.3.6.4.18.88.5
2009–10 Málaga 12624.2.517.421.7504.3.8.7.211.711.2
2010–11 14815.6.386.182.6882.7.3.2.15.63.7
2011–12† Olympiacos 21421.8.500.310.8644.11.2.3.310.611.3
2012–13† 292720.9.465.312.7504.01.0.2.110.510.1
2013–14 211421.2.443.273.6594.71.0.4.210.210.3
2014–15 201325.3.486.300.6964.81.0.2.112.213.2
2015–16 212025.0.513.364.6985.51.3.5.214.115.4
2016–17 323225.4.468.403.7005.11.0.7.212.814.9
2017–18 282725.6.466.343.6915.51.4.5.312.013.7
2018–19 302625.6.480.308.6215.21.3.4.210.612.6
Career 25416621.4.487.329.6964.2.8.4.210.210.6

Awards and accomplishments

Club career

Individual

Greek senior national team

References
  1. FIBA.com Official Player Profile Won Greek Dunk Contest.
  2. FIBA.com Official Player Profile Best Greek Player 22 And Under.
  3. Gazzetta.gr Printezis signs with Unicaja Málaga (in Greek). Archived 2009-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Sportando.net Printezis to land in Malaga.
  5. Olympiacos Inks Giorgios Pritenzis. Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ACB.com Giorgos Printezis abandona el Unicaja (in Spanish).
  7. Euroleague.net Final Four Game 2 - May 13, 2012 - SINAN ERDEM ARENA GAME REPORT CSKA Moscow 61 - 62 Olympiacos.
  8. "OLYMPIACOS extends Euroleague hero Printezis". Euroleague.net. July 11, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  9. Eurohoops.net Printezis said “no thanks” to Knicks. Archived 2012-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Olympiacos, Printezis together until 2017". Euroleague.net. July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  11. "Georgios Printezis agreed to a three-year contract extension with Olympiacos". Sportando.com. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  12. "Olympiacos, Georgios Printezis agree to extend contract". Sportando. June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  13. Raptors Acquire Draft Rights To Giorgos Printezis.
  14. Raptors Add Greek Forward Giorgos Printezis On Draft Night.
  15. "Raptors Acquire Ajinca, Draft Pick And Cash Considerations From Dallas". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. January 24, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
  16. "Printezis said "no thanks" to Knicks". Eurohoops.net. July 12, 2012. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  17. "Trail Blazers Acquire Jared Jeffries From New York". iamatrailblazersfan.com. 2012-07-16. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  18. "Thunder trade Eric Maynor to the Trail Blazers for Giorgos Printezis". 2013-02-21. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  19. "Hawks get Sefolosha in trade with Thunder". Yahoo! Sports. July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  20. "Spurs Trade Tiago Splitter To Atlanta Hawks". NBA.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
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