Luke Sikma's unique game fits the Olympiacos mindset

Last season's runner-up, Olympiacos Piraeus, made veteran power forward Luke Sikma its third addition to the roster on Thursday, following center Nikola Milutinov and playmaker Nigel Williams-Goss.

Of course, Olympiacos had major roles to fill after losing three-time champion Kostas Sloukas to archrival Panathinaikos Athens and EuroLeague MVP Sasha Vezenkov to the NBA. Apart from their trophies and numerous accolades, those two players combined for 28.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.5 assists last season. No single player, and very few pairs of players, can replace that kind of production, but acquiring Sikma is a step in that direction for Olympiacos.

What Sikma brings to Olympiacos

Sikma is the best definition of a point forward in the EuroLeague and easily the best passer among frontcourt players. He averaged 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists last season. Just six other teams had players with higher average assists than his. And last season was no fluke. For his 121-game EuroLeague career, Sikma has put up 8.8 points on 35.8% three-point shooting, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

On paper, Sikma fits into a gaping hole left by Vezenkov at power forward. But it's safe to say he is not about trying to fill the shoes of the MVP. In fact, even though he will play at Vezenkov's position, Sikma will also offset the departure of Sloukas with his passing. Sikma (8.7) was only three places behind Sloukas (9.8) in assists per 40 minutes played last season.

Don't expect Sikma to score like the people he is replacing, though. In four EuroLeague seasons so far, the 33-year-old has never averaged double-digit points, while Vezenkov was last season's top scorer at 17.6 points per game. Vezenkov did that while knocking down 79 triples last season, which is just 3 fewer than Sikma's career total. Sikma does not arrive to Piraeus as a man who will replace that volume but filling in the void left by an MVP can never be a one player's job, anyway. It needs to be a collective effort, and Sikma is certainly someone who can make teammates better.

Fitting the Reds' system like a glove

Olympiacos posted league-bests of 21.0 assists on average 60.2% two-point accuracy last season, and ranked second at 82.8 points per game. All those could hold or improve with Sikma, a matchup nightmare in the low post who has perfected setting up teammates for easy scores. So, a team that already moved the ball so well gets a player who excels in that regard and is at his best when serving his teammates.

One can already imagine the likes of Shaquielle McKissic, Kostas Papanikolaou and Thomas Walkup thriving on cuts to the basket for Sikma's passes, or Alex Peters and Isaiah Canaan knocking down open three-point looks assisted by their new teammate. That's not to forget big men Milutinov and Moustapha Fall, who will have enough room to operate under the rims because Sikma doesn't require that space. But they will need to have their hands ready for anything when Sikma has the ball in his.

Sikma may not be not the last Olympiacos signing this summer, but it feels strongly as if the Reds got a player who fits their already-successful offense to a T. His arrival might make Olympiacos even tougher to defend.