# OT: Josh Childress Signs 20-Million Dollar Deal With Greece



## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

> Josh Childress is leaving the Atlanta Hawks for Greek club Olympiakos, reversing the course of the many international stars who have signed with the NBA.
> 
> Heading overseas allows Childress to make more money than he could have as a restricted free agent in the United States. The Hawks had the right to match an offer from another NBA team, but not from an international club.
> 
> ...


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3501488

I recall when Steph stated the same thing, people tried to clown him. I think this is going to be a huge trend, especially since the Euro leagues will pay millions to acquire NBA talent. The Hawks just got caught holding the bag. Walsh may want to give them a call. :biggrin:


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

1st the sneakers and now this , maybe he isn't dumb as he seems .

as far as childress goes , its a smart move , euro teams pay taxes , agent fees , housing etc. if he can take playing in greece he can set for life real easy.

or he can come back next season as an UFA because its unlikely the hawks want him on the cap if he isn't going to play for them especially at that cap hold(15 mil. i believe is what i heard) either way he wins.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

cant blame him, those euros are gaining in value, dollars dropping, not that it matters when you're making millions.........so from now on instead of teams worried about drafting euros who don't come, they gotta worry about drafting players who take off to europe if you dont play/pay him enough.


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## urwhatueati8god (May 27, 2003)

Da Grinch said:


> 1st the sneakers and now this , maybe he isn't dumb as he seems .
> 
> as far as childress goes , its a smart move , euro teams pay taxes , agent fees , housing etc. if he can take playing in greece he can set for life real easy.
> 
> or he can come back next season as an UFA because its unlikely the hawks want him on the cap if he isn't going to play for them especially at that cap hold(15 mil. i believe is what i heard) either way he wins.


Nope. The Hawks maintain his restricted free agency status until he signs an offer sheet with an N.B.A. team. It works the same way it did with Varejao when they were making the big stink, if he lasts a year on the R.F.A. market, it carries over.


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*Small clarification....*

The teams are paying the local and city taxes. The players are still responsible for federal taxes as long as they are US citizens. The teams are not paying those. Still, the big money and strong Euro is compelling.


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

urwhatueati8god said:


> Nope. The Hawks maintain his restricted free agency status until he signs an offer sheet with an N.B.A. team. It works the same way it did with Varejao when they were making the big stink, if he lasts a year on the R.F.A. market, it carries over.


well they can hold onto him forever as an rfa until he comes back.

but the cap hold for childress is about 15 mil(3 times his QO )....for the knicks it would mean nothing who are over the cap ...but the notoriously thrifty hawks can be under the cap easily and it can hamper their ability to get free agents ...it doesn't make sense to keep him past next summer if they aren't going to sign him.


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