Nikos Chougkaz Joins the Dragon Family

In the upcoming competitive season, Greek forward Nikos Chougkaz will wear the jersey of Cedevita Olimpija, moving to Ljubljana from Andorra. Chougkaz has signed a two-year contract with the Ljubljana-based club.

Cedevita Olimpija continues building its senior team ahead of the 2025/26 season. Joining the Dragon family for the new season is Nikos Chougkaz, who has previously played for the legendary Panathinaikos, appearing in five EuroLeague games. Before coming to Ljubljana, he spent the 2024/25 season with Andorra, competing in the Spanish national championship. The 24-year-old, who stands 208 cm tall, has signed a two-year contract with Cedevita Olimpija.

“We are very pleased that Nikos Chougkaz will join us for the new season. He is a versatile and promising player who will bring energy and experience to our senior team. We hope that the experience he has gained so far will help him rise to the challenges of the ABA League and EuroCup. We also expect him to contribute significantly to our goals through his work ethic and desire for improvement,” said Cedevita Olimpija’s sporting director, Chechu Mulero, upon the signing.

“Nikos Chougkaz is a power forward who is a strong shooter and can score from distance. This past season in Andorra, he showed an impressive level of play, and we hope he will help us reach our goals in the upcoming season,” said Dragons head coach Zvezdan Mitrović about the addition of the Greek player to the roster.

“I’m happy to join Cedevita Olimpija. I’m excited about the upcoming season, and I’m already working hard to be ready for all challenges. I can’t wait to meet everyone in Ljubljana!” said Nikos Chougkaz after signing with the club.

Chougkaz began his career in the youth teams of Peristeri, before moving to Panionios in 2018 and later heading to the USA. In the 2019/20 season, he played for Northwestern State in the NCAA, averaging 9.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 steals across 29 games.

In 2020, he returned to Europe and played for Ionikos Nikaias. In 2021, he signed with Panathinaikos but was initially loaned back to Ionikos, where he averaged 13.8 points and 6.3 rebounds over six games in the FIBA Europe Cup. In 2022, he made his EuroLeague debut with Panathinaikos. In February 2023, he was loaned to Peristeri, where he averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 18 Basketball Champions League games.

In June 2024, he left Athens and joined Andorra. During the 2024/25 season in the Spanish league, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists over 30 games. In the Champions League qualifiers, he averaged 9.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. In the EuroLeague, he played five games for Panathinaikos, averaging 0.8 points and 1.0 rebound.

Chougkaz has been a member of Greece’s youth national teams (U18, U19, U20), appearing in the 2018 and 2020 European Championships and the 2019 World Championship. He occasionally plays for the senior national team, representing Greece in EuroBasket and World Cup qualifiers. He was also part of the 2024 Olympic team, though he did not play in Paris.