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Josh Childress: Far and away the biggest NBA story this week was Josh Childress signing overseas to play in Greece. Childress is the first prominent American born NBA player to spurn the NBA and sign overseas. This is a big loss to the Atlanta Hawks more than it is for the NBA. Childress is looking out for himself financially because his deal in Greece is more money than he could have made in the NBA but at the same time the level of competition is not on par with the NBA. If I were an NBA team, I would have serious doubts about Josh Childress if he tried to come back to the NBA. How much would winning an NBA Championship really mean to Childress if he's willing to go play inferior competition for more money? Don't get me wrong, by all means Josh Childress is a high character person, but maybe he just doesn't have that extra bit of competitiveness that someone like a Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant has.
In related news, Basketball Prospectus takes a look at what other groups of players might be tempted to leave the NBA for a team overseas, including first round draft picks on rookie scale contracts, college freshman, restricted free agents, and elite superstars. We've already seen a restricted free agent and a college freshman bounce overseas and in some sense there have been foreign born first round picks who passed over the NBA as well, but I find it highly unlikely that an elite superstar will leave the NBA for a European team, even if they could make more money there. Chances are their endorsements and other perks and the lifestyle of an NBA superstar would be worth far more than what a European team could offer.
Meanwhile, ESPN's TrueHoop thinks that the Childress signing is good for the NBA and it's possible that Houston Rocket Forward Carl Landry could be the next player to sign with an international team.
Emeka Okafor: Charlotte Bobcats free agent Emeka Okafor remains unsigned and it's possible that he could be involved in a sign and trade. Okafor is a solid NBA big man who has career averages of 14.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.96 blocks per game. He certainly would be valuable to any team but there doesn't seem to be much interest in him right now. I have seen rumblings about the Spurs, Pacers, and Cavs but nothing concrete. My first thought was that he would be a great addition to the Spurs but I'm not sure what they could trade for him to make the contracts match up. Maybe there could be some type of 3-way deal where Okafor lands in Chicago and either Loul Deng or Ben Gordon goes to another team or maybe a Rasheed Wallace for Okafor trade would be possible, who knows. Personally, I think that Charlotte should just pay Okafur because they have no big man depth and Okafur is far from a stiff.
Marcus Williams: It's no often that Marcus Williams gets his own paragraph dedicated to him on my blog but there wasn't much news this week in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors acquired Marcus Williams from the Nets for a first round draft pick. Williams apparently will be the replacement for Baron Davis. Of course, I think Monte Ellis will do a lot of the ball handling and the Warriors will probably look for another point guard, so I wouldn't expect to see Marcus Williams getting more than 30 minutes a night. Not to mention, he is supposedly out of shape and is still unproven on an NBA level. In related news, the Magic sent point guard Keyon Dooling to the Nets to replace Williams, which is probably more of an upgrade then a replacement.
Other NBA news:
- After losing James Posey, the Boston Celtics re-signed guards Eddie House and Tony Allen.
- The Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz swapped point guards with Brevin Knight going to the Jazz and Jason Hart heading to the Clippers.
- Sebastian Telfair re-signed with the Timberwolves and Minnesota is also attempting to re-sign Ryan Gomes
- The Sacramento Kings signed free agent guard Bobby Brown who played well in the Las Vegas Summer League for the New Orleans Hornets finishing with averages of 15.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.2 rebounds, but he did shoot only 42.4% from the floor.
- Roni Turiaf is officially a member of the Golden State Warriors after the Lakers decided not to match the Warriors offer.
- Chris Anderson signed with the Denver Nuggets, so I guess he is part of the plan to replace Marcus Camby.
- Matt Barnes signed with the Phoenix Suns.
More: NBA Weekly
In related news, Basketball Prospectus takes a look at what other groups of players might be tempted to leave the NBA for a team overseas, including first round draft picks on rookie scale contracts, college freshman, restricted free agents, and elite superstars. We've already seen a restricted free agent and a college freshman bounce overseas and in some sense there have been foreign born first round picks who passed over the NBA as well, but I find it highly unlikely that an elite superstar will leave the NBA for a European team, even if they could make more money there. Chances are their endorsements and other perks and the lifestyle of an NBA superstar would be worth far more than what a European team could offer.
Meanwhile, ESPN's TrueHoop thinks that the Childress signing is good for the NBA and it's possible that Houston Rocket Forward Carl Landry could be the next player to sign with an international team.
Emeka Okafor: Charlotte Bobcats free agent Emeka Okafor remains unsigned and it's possible that he could be involved in a sign and trade. Okafor is a solid NBA big man who has career averages of 14.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.96 blocks per game. He certainly would be valuable to any team but there doesn't seem to be much interest in him right now. I have seen rumblings about the Spurs, Pacers, and Cavs but nothing concrete. My first thought was that he would be a great addition to the Spurs but I'm not sure what they could trade for him to make the contracts match up. Maybe there could be some type of 3-way deal where Okafor lands in Chicago and either Loul Deng or Ben Gordon goes to another team or maybe a Rasheed Wallace for Okafor trade would be possible, who knows. Personally, I think that Charlotte should just pay Okafur because they have no big man depth and Okafur is far from a stiff.
Marcus Williams: It's no often that Marcus Williams gets his own paragraph dedicated to him on my blog but there wasn't much news this week in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors acquired Marcus Williams from the Nets for a first round draft pick. Williams apparently will be the replacement for Baron Davis. Of course, I think Monte Ellis will do a lot of the ball handling and the Warriors will probably look for another point guard, so I wouldn't expect to see Marcus Williams getting more than 30 minutes a night. Not to mention, he is supposedly out of shape and is still unproven on an NBA level. In related news, the Magic sent point guard Keyon Dooling to the Nets to replace Williams, which is probably more of an upgrade then a replacement.
Other NBA news:
- After losing James Posey, the Boston Celtics re-signed guards Eddie House and Tony Allen.
- The Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz swapped point guards with Brevin Knight going to the Jazz and Jason Hart heading to the Clippers.
- Sebastian Telfair re-signed with the Timberwolves and Minnesota is also attempting to re-sign Ryan Gomes
- The Sacramento Kings signed free agent guard Bobby Brown who played well in the Las Vegas Summer League for the New Orleans Hornets finishing with averages of 15.2 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.2 rebounds, but he did shoot only 42.4% from the floor.
- Roni Turiaf is officially a member of the Golden State Warriors after the Lakers decided not to match the Warriors offer.
- Chris Anderson signed with the Denver Nuggets, so I guess he is part of the plan to replace Marcus Camby.
- Matt Barnes signed with the Phoenix Suns.
More: NBA Weekly
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