Fortitudo Bologna kept on loan, until the end of the season, big man Lazaros Papadopoulos. Former Dynamo Moscow center has arrived in Real Madrid in the summer 2007 with a very important contract but disappointed coach Plaza with his performances.
During the last summer there has been a lot of rumors on his transfer somewhere else but at the end he remained in Madrid. In the first months of the season 2008/09 he did not play too much and few weeks ago asked in an interview to play more.
In Bologna he will replace Earl Barron, former Miami Heat player, who got injured during the preseason and never played with the Italian team.
In his career he has been Euroleague champion with Panathinaikos in 2002 (in the final against Kinder Bologna). With Greece he has won silver medal at World Cup in 2006 and the gold medal at EuroBasket 2005.