Josh Childress Liked Greece Enough to Stay Another Season

Despite an awful riot during the Greek championship and a brief flirtation with Milwaukee, Josh Childress apparently liked playing for Olympiakos enough to do it again. According to Sekou Smith of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Childress will not opt out of his Olympiakos contract this summer.

Smith reports Chill's reps have been attempting to get the forward moved in a sign-and-trade deal for a few weeks, but Atlanta -- who holds the rights to Childress as a restricted free agent -- has not been cooperative. The complex rules of restricted free agency surely complicate matters, as well as the general NBA cash crunch. One of the reasons Childress made his way to Greece is because he's better than mid-level but not a star -- the death zone under current salary rules.

The problem for Childress is that he will still be an RFA next summer, so he's still at Atlanta's mercy. Unless he plans on finishing his career in Europe, which seems more likely today than it did yesterday.

Childress missed a good chunk of the Euroleague and Greek club seasons with a sports hernia. He averaged 8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in Euroleague play.