Career: Spartak St. Petersburg (Russia-Superleague, 1998-2000), CSKA Moscow (Russia-Superleague, 2000-03), Dynamo Moscow (Russia-Superleague, 2003-04), Aris Thessaloniki (Greece-ESAKE, 2004-06), Dynamo Moscow Region (Russia-Superleague, 2006-07)

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His wonderfully built body and NBA-level athleticism once found Nikolai Padius as another great hope from St. Petersburg, which is the cradle for many Russian basketball stars. However, his transferring to CSKA and then another move to Dynamo nearly transformed him into major disappointment. The shooting guard failed to have much impact at the Moscow clubs mainly because of his questionable decision-making and unreliable jump shot. Luckily for him, Padius was fairly successful in a two-year stint at Aris, even making it onto the cover of the famous Greek magazine Triponto. Nevertheless, the 27-year-old’s return to Russia was far from triumphant. Despite being Dynamo Moscow Region’s top-scorer, he struggled in games against the Russian “Big Four” teams – CSKA, Dynamo Moscow, UNICS and Khimki.