Ioannis Bourousis offered NBA Contract?

Recent reports say that Greek center Ioannis Bourousis has been offered a four-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs.

It comes as no surprise as the 7-0, 280lbs center has been making waves as of late.  Most recently Ioannis averaged 12.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in 22 games with his Euroleague club Olympiakos Piraeus.  The hulking center made his first All-Euroleague team and was named MVP of the 2009 Greek all-star game.

And before the ULEB, Bourousis played well in the 2008 Summer Olympics for the Greek National Team. In six Olympic games with Hellas, Boroussis averaged 11.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.0 steal filling in for Lazaros Papadopolous and underachieving Sofoklis Schortsianitis.

Apparently it’s just not the Spurs that is after the 25-year old pivot, Gazzetta.gr is also saying that both the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavs are interested in Bourousis.

If the Memphis and Cleveland rumors have any truth, Bourousis will have to compete with international centers in both situations.  In Cleveland, he’ll battle with Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania and with Anderson Varejao of Brazil.

In Memphis, he would be a battle of four international centers vying for a roster spot come the 2009-2010 season. Including Bourousis, there is Marc Gasol (Spain), Darko Milicic (Serbia), and Hamed Haddadi (Iran).

Edit: We should note that this is a rumor and we are aware that reports like this can be untrustworthy, especially coming from the Greek press. In the past, representatives have used reports of NBA contracts as a leverage in negotiation with their Euroleague clubs.

Links and Resources: Bourousis to NBA? (Gazzetta) Bourousis to San Antonio Rumor (Interbasket), Ioannis Bourousis Olympic Profile (Interbasket), ULEB Game 4: Olympiakos, Pana move on to Berlin, Euroleague Final Four (Interbasket), Spurs going Greek? Not so fast (MySanAntonio Blog)