That headline deserves a few !s, if you ask me. It really happened, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Sekou Smith: Atlanta restricted free agent Josh Childress signed a fat contract with Olympiakos of Greece -- bigger than the previously reported three-year, $20 million offer.
To say this signing is a major coup for Olympiakos and the Euroleague is a massive, massive understatement. Childress, a 25-year-old stud just entering his prime, reported turned down a five-year, $33 million contract from Atlanta this summer. Are things in the Hawks franchise that bad? (Probably.) Is the Greek offer that much better? (Probably.) Did anyone ever think a signing like this could happen so soon? (Definitely not.)
This is much bigger news than the Brandon Jennings signing with Virtus Roma. Jennings is biding his time before an NBA entrance because he actually cannot play in the NBA next year. Childress, a former top-10 pick and a would-be perennial Sixth Man of the Year contender, is entering his prime and could have secured millions in the NBA. But he chose to go elsewhere.
If revenue continues to grow in Europe for the top clubs, teams like Olympiakos can continue to offer these mammoth contracts to yank studs away from the NBA. Europe will likely never pull a LeBron or Dwight Howard cornerstone type. But Childress is only the beginning. (Maybe the Lakers ought to give Andrew Bynum his contract, lest they find themselves in a contract battle with BC Kiev or something.)
Previously on FanHouse:
Is ATL Good Enough to Let Childress Flee?
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I'm not sure I'd call Childress a stud, but this is certainly a monumental move.
I agree. I wouldn't say he is a stud at all. This is really interesting how the future of the NBA might be in a downturn. If players keep getting bought out by European club teams then we defiantly could see a change sooner than later in the NBA. I wonder how the China NBA will turn out when they start bringing in NBA players overseas.
The rise of the “Euros” will put a halt to the manipulation contracts by NBA teams, prior to Europe being a viable alternative to the NBA, a Josh Childress would not have had a choice. The Kobes and Elton Brands of the world had leverage by virtue of their perceived earning power outside of basketball and the considerable demand for their services by rival teams but for the Matt Barnes of the league it was a take it or leave it world.
This will balance out the process better and ensure an equitable offer to mid level guys. Normally the usual course of business was for the front office to gamble on some big man and then try to get frugal with wing players, for every “can’t miss big man Jerome James” that misses, there are 30 combo guards or 2/3 swing players that will struggle to get the minimum. The problem is that Europe values the swing position players more than the NBA does at the moment and has shown a willingness to pay for talent at those positions.
People tend to overlook that the $20 mil from the Greek team is after-tax salary. The team pays the taxes on this. That makes a huge difference. Plus, if he's really smart, he should asked to get paid in Euros and not dollars.
This is a monumental day in NBA history. Childress is a stud; I totally agree with Ziller on that point, and if you think that's going too far then you didn't watch J-Chil closely last season. So when was the last time a U.S. player in his prime with plenty of options in his home league chose Europe over the Association? It just doesn't happen.
Blame it on the economy, or blame it on Europe closing the gap from a hoops perspective. But ultimately it's a sad day for the NBA.
This may doom the the NBA's salary cap, luxury tax, and limitations on players' salaries, as the NBA does not want to start losing top players to foreign teams which are not bound by such rules. What if Olympiakos were to offer Labron James $50 million per year, while the most any NBA team could offer him would be $20 million per year?
Remember when Brian Shaw and Danny Ferry (both of whom were more highly regarded at the time than Childress is now) decided to play in Italy in 1989 and everyone said their decision was monumental and game-changing?
Yeah, not so much.
If you want to see this system already in operation take a look at the way Soccer (Football) is run in Europe. A team like Chelsea with a "Mark Cubanisk" billionaire "fan/owner" does not appear to have a budget, they pay anything for the players they want, profit making is not the object here.
There is nothing wrong with a little competition, there are billionaire owners already paying WNBA players (Like Sue Bird and Diana Traurasi) 10 times what they make in the states, they keep them (foreign players) in luxury apartments and provide chauffer driven cars during the season. These owners are not in it for the money, they will never make back what they pay these ladies but that is besides the point here, if Euro league presents a viable alternative to the NBA it will only work out better for the teams and the players.
Josh Childress was just the type of guy who either got overpaid or was robbed because he had no better alternatives but now there is a third choice. The Atlanta Hawks avoid giving a player $8 Million a year when they do not think his work is worth that much and a player finds a home where they think he is worth $8 Million a year, what is wrong with that?
The NBA owners are making millions off these player, so it is only right that the players start thinking of themselves.They all in the business to make as much money they can and if the owners cannot give them that.Then go where they will pay you.
WASN'T MARC GASOL, PUS'S BROTHER MVP OF THE EURO LEAGUE LAST YEAR? YA! HEY JOSH, HAVE FUN PLAYING IN THE NO AMERICA ATHLETE WORTH A GRAIN OF SALT WOULD PLAY LEAGUE. I'M SURE YOU'LL POST GOOD NUMBERS AGAINST WASH UPS, NEVER HAS BEENS, HIGH SCHOOL KIDS TO DUMB TO PASS THE S.A.T TEST, AND THE OCCASIONAL GOOD PLAYER WHO WILL BE MOVING TO THE NBA SHORTLY.
PS- WE'LL NEVER HERE FROM YOU AGAIN. HA HA HA HA
No he was the Spanish League MVP. Speaking of too dumb to pass the SATs, where did you learn how to spell?
Some really talented players were left out of the nba draft, and I for one resent these owners, who will be losing out on fans,slowly they will start to see the results of their ignoring really good players
I am from Greece,i am a fan of Olympiakos and i can tell you that our presidents(2 brothers-and owners of the bc),have spend a lot of money cause they truly love the team.Our first five cost a total of almost 30m dollars and all team about 55m dollars.
We sure have a great advantage from euro(Childress costs us 12m euros)but we have also made huge steps in front (as Europian basketball).You will see it again in the Olympic games basketball tournament next month(remember Greece-Spain-Russia)
Maybe Josh Childress wanted to get a fresh start away from the NBA and play overseas.