Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul has completed the signing of Georgios Papagiannis on a two-year deal. Papagiannis (2.20 meters, 26 years old) has spent the past five seasons with Panathinaikos Athens, during which time he made 147 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague appearances, averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. Last season, Papagiannis posted 8.5 points, making 59.5% of his two-pointers and sinking 18 triples on 48.6% shooting. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds and ranked second in the EuroLeague with 1.2 blocks per night. Papagiannis is Fenerbahce's fourth signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Yam Madar, Sertac Sanli and Nate Sestina.
Fenerbahce anchors the paint with Georgios Papagiannis
Article
2 Mins read
2021-22 All-EuroLeague center
Papagiannis's career-best season came in the 2021-22 campaign, when he earned All-EuroLeague Second Team honors. That year, Papagiannis became only the fourth player in competition history to lead the EuroLeague in both rebounds (8.2 rpg.) and blocked shots (1.7 bpg.), joining the likes of Arvydas Sabonis, Ekpe Udoh and Andrei Kirilenko.
Papagiannis also led the league in defensive rebounding with 6.0 per game, which was the best in the league in five years, and he ranked third overall with 4.7 two-point shots made. That was all in addition to Papagiannis also setting career highs with 10.3 points per game, 72.7% free-throw shooting and 28:24 average minutes played. The Greek center led the league with eight double-doubles, too.
Papagiannis's journey so far
The past five years saw Papagiannis don Panathinaikos's colors for the second time in his career, as he first joined the club in 2014 and spent two seasons there before heading to the NBA. He made his EuroLeague debut in the second of those seasons, the 2015-16 campaign. Between 2016 and 2018, Papagiannis spent two seasons in the NBA with the Sacramento Kings and briefly with the Portland Trail Blazers. He also played 33 games with the Reno Bighorns, now known as the Stockton Kings, in the G League.
Papagiannis began his career with Peristeri Athens and represented Greece at youth level, winning a bronze medal at the U16 European Championship in 2013 and a gold medal at the U18 European Championship in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, he made his Greek national team debut. At Fenerbahce, Papagiannis reunites with his national team head coach Dimitris Itoudis and teammates Tyler Dorsey and Nick Calathes, the latter of whom he spent two years playing alongside at Panathinaikos between 2018 to 2020.