Josh Childress signs with Olympiakos of Greece

[cordobes]

........

I have no idea of what Stern could/should do. Soft the cap even more? That would be terrible to the NBA. Do you really want to see the Knicks winning almost every year?

I actually like most of the cap rules. Its the owner/management's fault for over paying guys and crippling their cap space.

2 changes I would like though:

Soften the luxury tax cut off a little.
Also soften some of the trade restrictions, to allow more movement. But not too much. We don't want a series of Gasolesque firesales, where the lower teams loose the talent, and the giant teams get them all.

The only reason I'd like to see the luxury tax threshold moving up is because I'm a Celtics fan - and a very egoistical person . Seriously, it would give big market franchises, or those with owners like Paul Allen, a bigger advantage.

Trade rules are fine to me. It's not because of trade rules, or restricted free agency rules, that Childress bolted for Europe. No team in the NBA would be interested in giving him such a salary.

What I think that should be changed is the rookie scale. I consider the Splitter/Pekovic situation more concerning than the Childress one. It's unfair that San Antonio are not able to bring Splitter. It's unfair for the 1st round teams that were forced to pass on Pekovic, because they'd have to wait forever if all they could offer was a rookie salary. Teams should be allowed to add salary from the MLE or cap space to the rookie salaries.

[Brickowski]

The fact is that 5 years ago the dollar-Euro exchange rate was roughly 1:1.  Now it's 1:2, and I do not see the dollar strengthening any time soon. The government owes such a huge debt (much of it to China and Japan) that it has no incentive to strengthen the currency.  It would rather repay that debt in devalued dollars.  (If you owe alot of money, inflation is good.)

The NBA can do nothing about this.  The good news, I suppose, is that U.S. companies can now offer much lower prices abroad, thereby improving the balance of payments.  Unfortunately, the NBA is getting into the export business unwillingly.

And if that high schooler does well in Europe, the colleges can forget about the blue chippers playing college basketball for chump change.

[cordobes]

I got a quick question.  I know it said Childress signed a multi-year contract with Greece, but say he only signed a 1-yr deal.  If he tried to come back to the NBA the next season, would there be any restrictions, i.e. would the Hawks have any rights to him?

Yeah, the Hawks still retain his restricted rights, so long as they extend him a qualifying offer.

Another qualifying offer? When does the current qualifying offer officially expire?

March 1.

Childress' goal is to force the Hawks to not extend a QO next season, because of the cap holds. With Bibby's contract expiring, they'll probably renounce to Childress in order to have cap room. Smart move, he'll be making much more money than he'd playing in the QO and he'll still be an UFA.   

In related news, don't be surprised if an offer to Deng from Panathinaikos is announced during the next days.

[Schupac]

I do recall reading that a factor in his decision was his genuine interest in travelling and seeing other parts of the world.  Heck, I'd take a 50% paycut right now to do my same job in another country, if they were willing to cover living costs like this Greek team is.

I think it's a great decision for Childress and makes me like him a bit more as a person.  I wish him the best of luck!

[Roy Hobbs]

I got a quick question.  I know it said Childress signed a multi-year contract with Greece, but say he only signed a 1-yr deal.  If he tried to come back to the NBA the next season, would there be any restrictions, i.e. would the Hawks have any rights to him?

Yeah, the Hawks still retain his restricted rights, so long as they extend him a qualifying offer.

Another qualifying offer? When does the current qualifying offer officially expire?

March 1.

Childress' goal is to force the Hawks to not extend a QO next season, because of the cap holds. With Bibby's contract expiring, they'll probably renounce to Childress in order to have cap room. Smart move, he'll be making much more money than he'd playing in the QO and he'll still be an UFA.   

In related news, don't be surprised if an offer to Deng from Panathinaikos is announced during the next days.

Ah, very interesting point.  TP for you.  The only thing that might prevent that is if some team was willing to work out a sign-and-trade with them.

Apparently, Atlanta offered Childress a deal at greater than the MLE.  I figured they were low-balling him, but that seems like a fair enough offer.