Cavs Board

Hawks General Manager Rick Sund has spoken up on the reports of Josh Childress negotiating with Greece. In today’s Atlanta Constitution Journal, he insists that Childress’s negotiations overseas are a development he was aware of and that negotiations are ongoing with Childress to bring him back to Atlanta.

“We’ve had some dialogue during the negotiation process and we’ve presented a proposal that we think is extremely competitive to the NBA market,” Sund said Monday from Salt Lake City, where the Hawks‘ summer league team is playing in the Rocky Mountain Revue. “Josh’s agent, Lon Babby, is doing his due diligence by continuing to explore options. I know they’ve talked to teams in the [NBA], and looked at teams with cap space, negotiated with us and now he’s looking at global opportunities while at the same time continuing to have a dialogue with us.”

Sund refused to speak about specific figures, but the Hawks are believed to have made a proposal with a first-year salary in excess of the NBA’s mid-level exception, which is $5.5 million. And the Hawks are the only team capable of including incentives in a contract to kick that average salary up higher.

A five-year deal from the Hawks would be anywhere from $33 million to $36 million for Childress, depending on the incentives.

With no salary cap for European teams, Olympiakos can offer whatever they’d like to entice Childress to leave the NBA for a stint in the international game. The Hawks also lose the right to match any offers made to Childress, a condition of his restricted free agency, because they wouldn’t be competing against another NBA team.

If Childress does depart, don’t be surprised to see the Hawks offer him a qualifying tender in either of the next two seasons should he return.  That would allow them to retain his rights.  The only question then becomes will someone offer him a more lucrative offer sheet which would allow him to bolt from Atlanta or get the deal he feels he’s entitled to.  As much as I dislike the trend it could start, I’m curious to see how this would play out for Childress should he sign a European deal.

Cavs Summer League player Jawad Williams, the former UNC Tarheel, and former NBA player Corsley Edwards had this to say about the Josh Childress situation.

“The big difference is that, in Europe, you’re really going to be part of a team,” Williams says. “In the NBA, you know the ball is going to the star player, they’re going to create mismatches and just keep going back to the same play over and over. That’s not really a team game.”

Give the ball to the star player and do the same thing again and again you say?  Obviously Jawad studied up on the intricacies of the Cavalier offense.  Jawad and Corsley Edwards, a former Kings player continued:

“Playing for Olympiakos? For that money?” Williams said. “You can’t knock that. Greece is a beautiful place. To get $20 million guaranteed to play there, when you can’t get that much in the NBA, he has to be thinking about it seriously.”

Edwards was more direct: “He has his four years in the NBA. He played in the playoffs and all. He experienced the NBA. Now, take the money. Go see the major cities, the major artifacts, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, the Seven Wonders of the World. Live in Greece. He’ll love it. If he goes back to the NBA this year on a one-year deal, he might get hurt. This way, no matter what, he has $20 million. And he is going to love it. If I was him, it’d be a no-brainer. I’d be signing the contract by now.”

And yet more of this Europe is so great propaganda:

As a business decision, Edwards and Williams agree, playing abroad is shrewd. Both admit that it’s tough to give up on the NBA dream, but, as Edwards says, “Why should I bust my butt trying to get a veteran’s minimum contract in the NBA, giving 52 percent of that to taxes, buying a car, buying a house, trying to keep up with the Joneses? I can get more money in Europe and not have to worry about any of that. All I pay for is food.”

In other news, Danny Ainge is still riding the tide of having the big three by waiting for the role players to seek him out (via the Boston Globe).

The Celtics have displayed interest in free agent forward Devean George, according to an NBA source. But general manager Danny Ainge is taking a “call us, we won’t call you” stance on prospective players after announcing Tony Allen and Eddie House have agreed to two-year contracts with the team.

“I’m not going to comment on any guys,” Ainge said yesterday of available free agents. “I’m not chasing anybody down. I feel we have a solid team now and I’m going to take some time off.”

Ahh, championship arrogance.  How quick success breeds complacency.  After losing James Posey to the Hornets, Boston is now said to be in the mix for Devean George along with the Pistons.  They still have 2.8 million dollars left of their midlevel exception and could use that to sign George.

Anderson Varejao’s name continues to work it’s way into trade rumors, this time with the Charlotte Bobcats.  The Bobcats appear to be exploring their options after reaching an impasse on a new deal for Emeka Okafor, who last summer turned down a deal that would have paid him approximately 12 million dollars per season on a long-term arrangement. 

 CLEVELAND: Remember when the Bobcats signed Anderson Varejao to that offer sheet last season? Predictably the Cavaliers matched it in an instant. But now Varejao’s agent, Dan Fegan, is interested in moving his client to a team that would prioritize re-signing Varejao.

The Bobcats need an athletic, energetic big man, but here’s the rub: Under league rules, the Bobcats couldn’t trade for Varejao until a year has passed from the time of the offer sheet. That means after Dec. 5. It’s possible the Bobcats could wait that long to resolve the Okafor issue, but that’s a long time to sit in limbo with an unhappy star.

Here’s something to dread.  Portland, one of the up and coming squads in the NBA, will head into next summer with a ton of cap space.  They’re loaded with young talent on rookie deals and with a core of Roy. Oden, Aldridge, Bayless, and very good role players in Outlaw, Martell Webster, and Channing Frye, the sky is the limit for that squad if they can keep their team intact.  

What if Luol Deng joins the lineup?  The Blazers, who will see the contracts of both Steve Francis and Raef LaFrentz go off the books after this season, would be a great fit for the Bulls restricted free agent who is quickly heading towards playing out his last season with the Bulls on a qualifying offer.

Deng turned down a five-year, $57.5 million extension offer last October. Three-year deals are currently being discussed.

Portland is one of several teams projected to have ample salary-cap space in 2009 where Deng would fit. This fact, along with a feeling the Bulls have had two summers to negotiate with Deng, is creating this urgency.

The Olympic team could be changing it’s first alternate.  Apparently, Tyson Chandler has gone down with an injury, and Kevin Durant may supplant him as the first replacement should someone get hurt.  On a roster that includes only three legitimate big men (Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh), Lebron James will probably be seeing a lot of time at the power forward position when the Beijing Games begin.