Josh Childress considering Europe

July 21, 2008

Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Childress is considering his debut in Europe with Euroleague team Olympiakos of Greece: So reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports today.

Josh is taking advantage of his free agency either to either get a better offer from another NBA club, while many think that he is actually considering joining Olympiakos who made him a nice offer to re-enter a more promising free agent market of the NBA in a few years.

Olympiakos is known for bringing in NBA players, as they did with Lynn Greer last season. Now, Josh is not exactly what we would call a NBA superstar, but he can make any team in the NBA better. Why? He actually shares the ball and works for his team.

Should the NBA and NBA fans be scared now that Europe is taking advantage of the weak dollar to lure away their NBA players? With European stars such as Juan Carlos Navarro, internationals like Carlos Delfino, high school standouts such as Brandon Jennings and solid NBA players like Josh Childress, many different players have considered and even joined teams in Europe and the Euroleague.

To me, this is a logic consequence of European basketball getting better. Just take a look at the teams that will participate in the Olympics: Host country China, Americas Champions and runner up USA and Argentina, Asia Champion Iran, African Champion Angola and Oceania Champion Australia. This makes the remainder — six teams out of 12 — European: Spain, as the 2006 FIBA World Champion; European Champion Russia; and European runnerup Lithuania; as well as the just-qualified Germany, Croatia and Greece. A total of six European teams made it to the Olympics.

Of course, for Team USA, anything but THE GOLD is unacceptable as every TEAM USA athlete, man or woman, keeps repeating on TV; this will be a very hard battle, though, especially with Americans joining European teams to make everybody around them better.

Side note: It is said that Olympiakos will go after New Jersey Nets free agent Bostijan Nachbar if the Childress deal doesn’t come through.
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This post was published on July 21, 2008
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Comments: 7
  1. Os Davis
    16 years ago

    Good points, Tobias … i was thinking about many of these things today after considering the Olympic pool draw … damn, do you realize six of the final eight in Beijing could easily be European teams? Eliminate Australia, Iran, Angola and China — all imaginable — and you’ve got the Americas (USA and Argentina) vs. The Continent (the six Euros).

    Is this a peak in terms of Europe vs. the World? Or can things get even better?

    As for the professional leagues, i see lots of US-born b-ballers signing one-year contracts to play in Europe in the short-term — you know, they can’t get a high enough offer on the NBA free agent market, rehabbing an injury — at least until President Obama turns the dollar around, right?

    Cheers,

    Os.

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  2. 16 years ago

    ESPN reports Nachbar to Dynamo Moscow.

    This trend will continue.

    Euroleague + NBA = Champions League B-Ball. Not likely, but it would be awesome.

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  3. Kostas
    16 years ago

    Guys, Josh Childress is not currently considering to join Olympiakos.HE IS ALREADY IN GREECE TO SIGN HIS 3-YEAR CONTRACT!!!and Olympiakos never was keen to sign Nachbar.After Josh Childress the two other names that Childress’ agent mentioned to Olympiakos as players who would leave the NBA for Greece and Europe are……………………………………Josh Smith(Hawks) and Luol Deng(Bulls)!So this is Europe’s counter attack!This info is absolutely true , you can check it out at greek websites.
    PS: Do you really think that the USA team will get the gold medal?Have you asked Diamantidis,Papaloukas,Zisis, Schortsianitis, Bourousis or even the Gasol Bros,Navarro, Calderon, Rubio, Rudy Fernandez?????

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  4. Steve
    16 years ago

    It comes as a bit of a shock that Josh Childress is considering Europe, but I’m not as surprised as one might expect.

    The Atlanta Hawks have a history of being stingy, of not paying good players what they are worth. When you don’t pay a good player what he is worth, you lose him (see Elton Brand).

    Josh Childress could play for a European powerhouse club for a year, help them win a national and quite possibly Euroleague championship, then head to an NBA team that will treat him better.

    If the Hawks lose Josh Smith and Josh Childress, they’ll be in trouble, and it will be the fault of incompetent management.

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  5. Steve
    16 years ago

    I know if I was in a situation like that, on a team with senior management that doesn’t appreciate me, and then a European team in a nice city called and offered a good deal, I’d seriously consider it.

    Olympiacos is a great team, they are competitive pretty much every year and with Childress… Man, that would be one heck of a team.

    Even if he only stayed for a year or two, a player like him could contribute so much to the team. If he signs, NBA teams will be worried and will have to be more flexible when it comes to contract negotiations.

    There are definitely some players who would rather be a star in Europe than a bench player in the NBA, especially if the pay was the same either way.

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  6. Phil
    16 years ago

    Hawks have had a poor management for years ! I think that NBA’s Fre Agent (FA) and Restricted Free Agent (RFA) regulations compounded by the Salary Cap is what may drive top players to play in Europe (or whoever pays).

    After all, it is not only Olympiakos (although I support them) but also Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Khimki and quite a few others that pay top dollar for elite players….

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  7. Teo
    16 years ago

    he signed today, done deal.

    welcome to greece josh

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