Nigel Williams-Goss signs with Olympiacos

[Jstock12]

https://sportando.basketball/en/europe/greece/280127/nigel-williams-goss-signing-a-multi-year-deal-with-olympiacos.html

Nigel Williams-Goss is headed to Olympiacos on a three-year deal, a source told Sportando.
The player was drawing interest from several teams as Zalgiris and Baskonia but he will join David Blatt’s Olympiacos.

[Jstock12]

It appears NGW will earn around $700k per year.

Nigel Williams Goss and Olympiacos are finalizing a 3 year agreement at more than $2mil, according to sources

Definitely not an offer that Zalgiris could have competed with. Good for Nigel!

[ZagNative]

Wow! Super news!

Some links for future reference:

Olympiacos Eurobasket page

Olympiacos Home Page

Olympiacos Twitter Link

Euroleague

Greek Basketball League

It appears NGW will earn around $700k per year.



Definitely not an offer that Zalgiris could have competed with. Good for Nigel!

[webspinnre]

Big-time payday for him. Well done.

[MileHigh]

It appears NGW will earn around $700k per year.



Definitely not an offer that Zalgiris could have competed with. Good for Nigel!

thats 700k, with little to no taxes, and he will get a free apartment and 2 meals a day paid for. If he is smart with his money he should be able to sock away over a million dollars (cash/Investements) over the course of his contract, and then maybe make another run at the NBA. Not bad for a kid that people on this board called "stupid" for leaving college when he did

[Jstock12]

thats 700k, with little to no taxes, and he will get a free apartment and 2 meals a day paid for. If he is smart with his money he should be able to sock away over a million dollars (cash/Investements) over the course of his contract, and then maybe make another run at the NBA. Not bad for a kid that people on this board called "stupid" for leaving college when he did

Someone called him stupid?! Well, now those people are eating crow

[Mojo13]

thats 700k, with little to no taxes, and he will get a free apartment and 2 meals a day paid for. If he is smart with his money he should be able to sock away over a million dollars (cash/Investements) over the course of his contract, and then maybe make another run at the NBA. Not bad for a kid that people on this board called "stupid" for leaving college when he did

I'd like to see the source quote on his pay, but keep in mind that is likely Euros as well (so add another 17.5%). So net (after tax), and everything is comped - all living expenses, all agent fees, union dues, food, accommodation, transportation (unlike the NBA).

700K euros net is likely worth around $1.7MM NBA equivalent. As a rookie in the NBA he likely be at the rookie minimum which is ~$800K.

I really think young guys like NWG (or Pangos) who'd be a deep bench player in the NBA really can be better off in Europe. More money, more minutes, getting lead PG reps daily, leading a team, being put in pressure situations daily. It seems some of the more "worldly" players like NWG, Pangos, Wiltjer see this rather than trying to cling to the NBA dream shuffling up and down to the G league or wasting away as a 14th man on a bench so they can say they are in the NBA.

[MileHigh]

I'd like to see the source quote on his pay, but keep in mind that is likely Euros as well (so add another 17.5%). So net (after tax), and everything is comped - all living expenses, all agent fees, union dues, food, accommodation, transportation (unlike the NBA).

700K euros net is likely worth around $1.7MM NBA equivalent. As a rookie in the NBA he likely be at the rookie minimum which is ~$800K.

I really think young guys like NWG (or Pangos) who'd be a deep bench player in the NBA really can be better off in Europe. More money, more minutes, getting lead PG reps daily, leading a team, being put in pressure situations daily. It seems some of the more "worldly" players like NWG, Pangos, Wiltjer see this rather than trying to cling to the NBA dream shuffling up and down to the G league or wasting away as a 14th man on a bench so they can say they are in the NBA.

Mojo-you seem to really understand overseas hoops. Good stuff! Most of what I know about euro ball is by talking with guys that played over there and have also been that last guy on the NBA bench. from what I have been told these are a few things to keep in mind though when comparing NBA to Europe:

--all living expenses are not paid by the team. All they get is apartment and 2 or 3 meals a day (depending on their deal with sponsor) and those meals have to be eaten at sponsors restaurant everyday. Its usually something equivalent to Chilis in the US so players do get tired of the food and will pay to eat elsewhere. What the NBA gives there players in per diem per season ($7500 or so)combined with the game day spreads when they are at home is actually a better food situation than what the Euros get with the free meals.


--transportation is much better in US. Even the top euroleague teams will take long bus rides and trains to a lot of their games. Tough travel for a 6-9 guy. NBA teams all have their own jets and fly to all their games. Players are given a car on some of the top tier euro teams to drive during the season, so thats a perk.

--Being away from family and friends in a different culture is really tough on a lot of these guys. Usually they dont speak the language, and in a lot of the smaller cities the fans can be brutal off the court when the team isnt winning or the player is playing bad. Hard to be inconspicuous when you are a 6-6 black guy in Greece so when things are going bad they tend to isolate themselves in their apartments.

As for the development part, I think G league is probably better competition night in and night out for a player, but European ball is more team oriented, so euro ball doesnt breed the bad habits that G league can..If a player is willing to make a career out of euro ball (with no eye on the NBA) then the financial rewards are better in europe then a two way contract guy or a guy that is a fringe NBA roster guy that is always trying to find a spot on an NBA roster.

Other than all the above in comes down to $$. What can a guy make (and save) on an NBA contract vs. a euro contract. NBA contracts are guaranteed, while most Euro contracts are not where teams are notorious for cutting a guy mid season and not paying him money that is already due. NWG may or may not see the bulk of his 2 million dollar contract, it really comes down to how well he plays and how well the team plays, becasue if the team is bad they usually blame the americans on the roster and get rid of them. Some of the top american players in europe are able to get a lot of their money for that season up front, which is some security.

[Mojo13]

Mojo-you seem to really understand overseas hoops. Good stuff! Most of what I know about euro ball is by talking with guys that played over there and have also been that last guy on the NBA bench. from what I have been told these are a few things to keep in mind though when comparing NBA to Europe:

--all living expenses are not paid by the team. All they get is apartment and 2 or 3 meals a day (depending on their deal with sponsor) and those meals have to be eaten at sponsors restaurant everyday. Its usually something equivalent to Chilis in the US so players do get tired of the food and will pay to eat elsewhere. What the NBA gives there players in per diem per season ($7500 or so)combined with the game day spreads when they are at home is actually a better food situation than what the Euros get with the free meals.


--transportation is much better in US. Even the top euroleague teams will take long bus rides and trains to a lot of their games. Tough travel for a 6-9 guy. NBA teams all have their own jets and fly to all their games. Players are given a car on some of the top tier euro teams to drive during the season, so thats a perk.

--Being away from family and friends in a different culture is really tough on a lot of these guys. Usually they dont speak the language, and in a lot of the smaller cities the fans can be brutal off the court when the team isnt winning or the player is playing bad. Hard to be inconspicuous when you are a 6-6 black guy in Greece so when things are going bad they tend to isolate themselves in their apartments.

As for the development part, I think G league is probably better competition night in and night out for a player, but European ball is more team oriented, so euro ball doesnt breed the bad habits that G league can..If a player is willing to make a career out of euro ball (with no eye on the NBA) then the financial rewards are better in europe then a two way contract guy or a guy that is a fringe NBA roster guy that is always trying to find a spot on an NBA roster.

Other than all the above in comes down to $$. What can a guy make (and save) on an NBA contract vs. a euro contract. NBA contracts are guaranteed, while most Euro contracts are not where teams are notorious for cutting a guy mid season and not paying him money that is already due. NWG may or may not see the bulk of his 2 million dollar contract, it really comes down to how well he plays and how well the team plays, becasue if the team is bad they usually blame the americans on the roster and get rid of them. Some of the top american players in europe are able to get a lot of their money for that season up front, which is some security.

All great points that I agree with (except maybe the level of G League competition). There is clearly a number of great reasons why American players are so willing to take a pay cut to play in the NBA versus more money (possibly) in Europe or China. I only point all this out as so many NBA fans discount outright anybody who plays in Europe or Asia as "not good enough" for the NBA. I have heard Fran Fraschilla point out more than once that the top 50-100 foreign based players are better (and better paid) than the bottom 50-100 NBA players (I don;t know how true that is, but it seems plausible when you see what Pangos and NWG have done this summer). People are certainly usually confused about the salary quotes the see for Europe. Seeing a guy get a 200K might not seem impressive, but after accounting for taxes and exchange rates $500K equivalent looks pretty good.

[zaguarxj]

thats 700k, with little to no taxes, and he will get a free apartment and 2 meals a day paid for. If he is smart with his money he should be able to sock away over a million dollars (cash/Investements) over the course of his contract, and then maybe make another run at the NBA. Not bad for a kid that people on this board called "stupid" for leaving college when he did

Does anyone know the Chump Change to U.S. Dollar conversion rate? Someone posted that he would receive Chump Change as compensation over there. Strange name for a currency.

[MileHigh]

All great points that I agree with (except maybe the level of G League competition)..

In my opinion, other than the Euroleague, the G league talent is without question, top to bottom, better than the talent in the various european leagues, and arguably better than most euroleague teams. Last season the majority of the players in the G-league were guys that were either 1st or 2nd round NBA draft picks. According to the G league website, 53% for the players on NBA rosters last year had G league experience, with 50 players being called up last season alone. The era of two way contracts has definitely improved the talent level in the g league.
As you know, Euroleague teams only play half their games in that league, and the other half of the time hey are playing in their national (local) leagues against talent that is far below that of the euroleague and G league, which is why I think, night in and night out, you face better players in the G league than you do in the euroleague.

[Jstock12]

In my opinion, other than the Euroleague, the G league talent is without question, top to bottom, better than the talent in the various european leagues, and arguably better than most euroleague teams. Last season the majority of the players in the G-league were guys that were either 1st or 2nd round NBA draft picks. According to the G league website, 53% for the players on NBA rosters last year had G league experience, with 50 players being called up last season alone. The era of two way contracts has definitely improved the talent level in the g league.
As you know, Euroleague teams only play half their games in that league, and the other half of the time hey are playing in their national (local) leagues against talent that is far below that of the euroleague and G league, which is why I think, night in and night out, you face better players in the G league than you do in the euroleague.

I think you have a point about G-League having more raw TALENT (but not structured basketball or teamplay!) than a lot of worse European leagues, however Euroleague isn't the only competition that's superior to G-League, IMO.

Euroleague, ACB, Eurocup, VTB, Greek league, Turkish league, Russian league are all better than G-League, to varying degrees.

FIBA Champions League, Italian league, French league are arguable, I'd be willing to accept G-League has a small edge on them if we're only looking at raw talent. But most of those teams would still beat G-League teams, IMO.

[ZagNative]

Nigel seems to be fitting in well with Olympiacos, coming up with big wins in preseason games: https://www.eurohoops.net/en/eurolea...e-season-game/

2/2 in preseason so far for David Blatt’s team.

By Eurohoops Team / [email protected]

Olympiacos Piraeus continued its preseason games with a win over Aris Thessaloniki. The ‘Reds’ defeated Aris in Metsovo, 89-67, two days after blowing out PAOK .

Even though the first quarter started with both teams scoring (20-19), after twenty minutes, David Blatt’s team was leading by eight points (42-34).

In the second half, Olympiacos went on a run and increased its lead to 14 points (67-53). Aris could not respond, and so Olympiacos won its second game of the preseason.

From the game, Nigel Williams-Goss shined with 19 points, while Vassilis Spanoulis added 13 points.

I wonder how Gary Bell performed for Aris in the game. It would be nice to see a box score.

[ZagNative]

Great first pic of nigel sporting Olympiacos gear, from his instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCSHgen...-by=nigelwg5):

[Bogozags]

Great first pic of nigel sporting Olympiacos gear, from his instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCSHgen...-by=nigelwg5):

ZN once again, GREAT find!