He was a second draft pick in a trade with the Pacers
Panathinaikos BC player George Kalaitzakis will be a teammate of Giannis Antetokounmpo at Milwaukee after the NBA defending champions paid the Greek team $300,000 set as his buy-out fee.
It was the Bucks’ second pick of the second round of the night as the NBA champions had dealt their original pick (No. 31) to Indiana for picks at No. 54 (Sandro Mamukelashvili) and No. 60 (Kalaitzakis, 22 years old) along with two future second-round selections.
Milwaukee had originally acquired No. 31 from Houston in March as part of a deal that brought P.J. Tucker to the Bucks.
About Georgios Kalaitzakis
Georgios Kalaitzakis was born on January 2, 1999 in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. The 6-foot-8 wing grew up playing for the youth club teams for Aris. In 2016, he embarked on a professional career with Panathinaikos in Greece. The team captured the Greek Cup title in 2016, 2017 and 2019, while winning the Greek League championship in 2017. 2018 and 2019. Kalaitzakis initially entered his name in the 2018 NBA Draft but ultimately withdrew.
Kalaitzakis went on to play for Nevezis Kedainiai of the Lithuanian Basketball League in 2019-20, averaging 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal per contest. Kalaitzakis declared for the 2020 NBA Draft, but again he withdrew and ultimately returned to Panathinaikos for the 2020-21 season. Across 27 appearances, he averaged 2.6 points, and 1.0 rebound per contest. Kalaitzakis has extensive experience with Greece’s junior national teams. He participated in the 2015 FIBA Europe U16 Championship, as well as the 2016 and 2017 FIBA Europe U18 Championships. Kalaitzakis also took part in the 2018 and 2019 FIBA Europe U20 Championships. In 2019, he led the tournament in scoring at 19.7 points per game.
The Milwaukee Bucks made Kalaitzakis the final selection (No. 60 overall) in the 2021 NBA Draft.