

HOUSTON – Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has acquired the draft rights to forward Kostas Papanikolaou (KOE-stahs PAPA-nick-o-lao) and center Marko Todorovic (toe-DOE-row-vitch), as well as two future second-round draft picks from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for forward Thomas Robinson.

Papanikolaou (6-8, 225, Greece) was originally selected by the New York Knicks in the second round (48th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft. His rights were later acquired by the Trail Blazers in a sign-and-trade deal involving guard Raymond Felton on July 16, 2012. He continues to play oversees with Olympiacos Piraeus in the Greek League, where he was voted the Euroleague Rising Star Trophy winner for the 2012-13 season and helped Olympiacos capture the 2013 Euroleague Championship. The Reds defeated Real Madrid, 100-88, at The O2 in London to become just the fourth team to win back-to-back Euroleague titles in the Final Four era. In 2011-12, Papanikolaou led Olympiacos past CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague Championship Game. He scored a season-high 18 points on 3-for-3 3-point shooting in leading the Reds back from an 18-point deficit to a thrilling 62-61 victory. He made his pro debut in the Greek League with Aris Thessaloniki in 2008-09, earning the 2009 Greek League’s Best Young Player honor and was named MVP of the 2009 Greek Youth All-Star Game. Papanikolaou is also a member of the Greek National Team.

Todorovic (6-11, 240, Montenegro) was drafted by Portland in the second round (45th overall) of the 2013 NBA Draft. An early entry candidate, Todorovic made his ACB debut at the age of 18 with Spanish team DKV Joventut Badalona. He played two seasons with Joventut before moving to F.C. Barcelona in 2012-13. Todorovic also competed for Prat Juventud in LEB Silver (Spain’s third division) from 2010-12. With the National Team, Todorovic represented Montenegro at the youth level in international play in the 2011 U-20 European Championship and at the 2008 U-16 European Championship.

Robinson (6-10, 237, Kansas), who was acquired by the Rockets in a trade with the Kings on February 20, 2013, was originally drafted by Sacramento with the fifth-overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. In 19 games with Houston, Robinson averaged 4.5 points and 4.1 rebounds.