Hollinger wrote the news wire piece:
Atlanta general manager Rick Sund said that while he believes the Hawks made a proposal that was competitive within the NBA, it would have been fiscally irresponsible to try to match Olympiacos. Sund wouldn’t reveal the exact numbers of Atlanta’s offer. But he said it exceeded the salary cap’s midlevel exception, which is more than $5.5 million, and would have made Childress the team’s fourth highest paid player.
“Obviously I’m not happy with it because I wanted him on my team. I wish things would have turned out different, but it’s his decision at the end of the day,” Hawks center Al Horford said. “I’m disappointed about it because he’s one of the guys that I really liked to play with, but we have to be able to bounce back and try to sign the other Josh [free agent Josh Smith].”
Olympiacos initiated the contact, said Lon Babby, another of Childress’ agents. With the strength of the euro against the dollar, Babby believes international clubs now have the resources to pursue high-level American players — and other restricted free agents may reciprocate the interest because it creates leverage they lack within the NBA.
“The path to globalization that the NBA has paved for years now appears to travel in both directions,” Babby said.
“I think it’s always going to happen when you get a player that’s pretty solid over here and then they get offered more money, it’s hard to pass up,” Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh said. “Especially guys in the midlevel range when they can go over to Europe and probably make a little bit more money, it’s always a better situation for them.”
Chris Sheridan’s article:
Josh Childress’ agent interrupted somebody during a conference call Wednesday to make sure everyone understood that the contract Childress signed with Greek club Olympiacos was worth in the neighborhood of $21 million over three years after taxes.
That’s nearly $7 million a year in take-home pay, which amounts to some $2-3 million more per season (when you account for U.S. income taxes) than the Atlanta Hawks were willing to offer.
And with his anxious client already turned off by the way the Hawks did not seem to be sharing his sense of urgency, Childress shocked the NBA and the international basketball world Wednesday by signing what is believed to be the most lucrative contract ever offered to an American player to head overseas.
His agent, Lon Babby, said Childress will have the opportunity to opt out of his contract each of the next two summers without having to pay a buyout, though the Hawks can maintain his NBA rights and keep him a restricted free agent in perpetuity as long as they tender him a qualifying offer each summer.
“I’ve talked to a few guys, and it could become a trend. I’m not so sure that it won’t,” Childress said. “It’s different. We thought out of the box a little on this one, and players see a fellow NBA athlete move overseas and adjust to the culture, some might ask ‘Why not me?’ So I’m interested how this might turn out for some of the other restricted free agents.”
“If you believe in the globalization of the sport, there’s no reason the path can’t travel in both directions,” said Babby.
Euroleague teams are not hindered by a salary cap or a luxury tax, but there are a limited number of owners with deep enough pockets to operate their teams at a substantial financial loss in order to sign the caliber of players needed to consistently remain among the top European teams.
But with the euro recently at an all-time high against the dollar, it takes a lot fewer euros than it did just a couple years ago to make an offer that, dollarwise, seems over the top.
“I think there will be a lot of American players shaking their heads over this, wondering why there are [European] teams willing to pay $4, $5 or $6 million when the most NBA teams are willing to offer is the biannual exception, which is less than $2 million. How could you not consider that? I can’t say how many players will go, but I think a lot will explore this,” agent Marc Cornstein said.
“The level of concern is low,” NBA president of basketball operations Joel Litvin told ESPN.com in a phone interview. “This is what happens when you have a global sport and a global marketplace for elite players, and we’re confident that the NBA remains the gold standard for professional basketball. Businesswise, it’s good for us, because it means more basketball fans will be watching basketball, and those fans will find the NBA because that’s where the best of the world plays.”
Check out the rest of his article, lots of good information.
Hollinger wrote a separate article talking more about what the loss of Childress means to the Hawks:
After the Hawks came back to beat the Lakers in a game in February, one of the team’s myriad owners sidled up to a reporter, beaming, and said, “We have arrived.”
It appears it was a brief stay.
First and foremost, obviously, it deprives the Hawks of one of the best sixth men in the game, a guy who could make a huge impact without needing any plays run for him because of his ability to attack the glass, score in transition and play off the ball.
It also leaves them scrambling to fill out the roster, with most of the offseason’s top free agents already claimed by other teams. Atlanta has only eight players under contract at the moment, and two of them (oft-injured Speedy Claxton and oft-inactivated Solomon Jones) barely count. Even if the team can re-sign Josh Smith, the Hawks are still paper thin.
Hollinger mostly focused on the Hawks reputation and the organization rather than focusing on the basketball side of things
But the real damage here isn’t immediately visible. Nothing could do more to perpetuate the Hawks’ standing as one of the league’s worst-run organizations than to have a player they desperately wanted to keep bolt for another continent. The stink from that will linger long into the future — affecting other free agents’ decisions to join the Hawks and/or remain with them — until there comes a time when the organization can prove it has its act together.
That day seems a long way off. Look, good organizations just don’t screw up like this. They stay in touch with free agents: They make sure the player knows he’s wanted and it’s just a question of finding the price, and they lay the groundwork far ahead of time by operating in a first-class manner.
On that level, the fact that Childress didn’t think twice about leaving — and that Josh Smith seemingly would gladly pack his bags too — speaks volumes about the management. So does the fact that Atlanta is among NBA players’ favorite cities to visit, yet nobody wants to play there.
Best not say the name Chris Paul to Hollinger anytime soon …. sounds like he hasn’t gotten over that one yet.
Henry Abbot over at Truehoop took a completely different direction:
But Childress is the first American player in line to make big money as a key part of a good team who has decided to ditch the NBA.
As NBA fans, how should we take this?
Just about every reaction I have seen from NBA fans has been along the lines of “oh no, this is bad for us.”
My reaction is exactly the opposite. Unless you’re a fan of the Atlanta Hawks, have a party! This might be a little bit of a short-term black eye for the NBA, but this is great for NBA fans, and ultimately, the NBA.
Go check out his list of reasons, they’re good. To sum it all up, he thinks the competition offered by Europe will help force the NBA to improve some of it’s problems. He also likes that it’s becoming worthwhile to spend more time checking out the EuroLeague.
I really enjoyed reading your blog…Keep up the good work!