NBA-to-Europe Movement is Underway, Baron’s New Backup and Team USA Is Banged Up
Is Chris Bosh headed overseas in 2010?In Smack the other day, reader “Big V” summed up the general feeling toward the players who typically leave the NBA voluntarily to ball in Europe: “Too bad all these guys are trash.” Yesterday’s Josh Childress move signaled something very different. Childress definitely doesn’t stink, and while he’s not quite a star in the League, he’s a very good, very American player. He is the next step up from guys you’d expect to leave the NBA for an overseas contract, and one step closer to a legit star taking Euros over Benjamins someday. Can you even imagine Chris Bosh shocking the world and going to Holland instead of Houston in 2010? True, Childress is a Stanford guy, so his decision might have been helped along by his college buddies who’ve spent “awesome” summers in Athens, something you just don’t get with guys who went to, say, Memphis or Louisville … (Question: Didn’t Dominique Wilkins voluntarily play overseas for a year or two in the latter part of his career?) … On the NBA side, the Nuggets took a (small) step in replacing Marcus Camby, signing Birdman for one year at the veteran minimum. Low-risk signing for the Nuggets with a potentially high reward, even if not all of us in the Dime office see all of this potential Chris Andersen is supposed to have. Are we all sure he’s even better than Steven Hunter? … The Clippers traded one Baron Davis backup for another, moving Brevin Knight to Utah and getting Jason Hart back. Good move for LAC; Baron’s already injury-prone, so there’s no need having your #2 point guard be someone who’s older than Baron and just as injury-prone. Hart gave the Jazz some decent minutes behind Deron Williams and will be a solid reserve … In our continuing series of breaking down every NBA team’s offseason needs and finding ways to solve them, yesterday we looked at the Hornets. Still needing someone to step up and be a legit starting two-guard, it was suggested N.O. actually go after Ricky Davis. The idea of the Hornets signing Ricky Buckets reminded us of that “Family Guy” joke about George W. Bush where he was hiding in a treehouse during Katrina begging, “Don’t make me do stuff.” Byron Scott cruised to Coach of the Year honors by basically calling some pick-and-rolls and otherwise letting Chris Paul go; with Ricky on his team, he’ll have his work cut out for him … For a team that went into the offseason with literally zero point guards on the roster and missed out on every top-level PG prospect in the draft (they passed on Mario Chalmers, but no one would have taken him at #12), the Kings have done pretty well for themselves. They re-signed Beno Udrih, picked up Sean Singletary (underrated as a college player) and yesterday signed Bobby Brown (Cal State-Fullerton), who was killing it for the Hornets in the summer league … The Warriors are making a pitch for Mo Evans, but if his asking price starts to get near Kelenna Azuibuike’s current value, GS will just scrap the idea and match Azubuike’s offer sheet from the Clips. On the court, Evans isn’t much different from Azubuike — not the best shooter in the world, not the best intangible player, but someone who can run and jump and play some D … LeBron’s ankle sprain is listed as “mild,” but he might miss tomorrow’s Team USA exhibition against Canada as a precaution. But if LeBron is out, who will dunk on Joel Anthony and Sam Dalembert’s ghost? Oh wait, everyone else not named Kidd … ‘Bron got hurt when he landed on Kevin Durant’s foot in a scrimmage. We would have thought LeBron landing on KD’s foot would turn out much worse for Kevin … Chris Paul (who will bang it on you; ask Dwight Howard) got a little nicked up when he was popped in the face during a scrimmage, but it’s nothing serious … If you hadn’t heard, J.R. Smith was picked for the U.S. select squad. Was that because he just happened to be in Vegas this week or because he was really the top choice? …
UNDFTD in L.A.Some of the Dime crew is in L.A. this week on business, and of course what would a trip to L.A. be without hitting up some of the West Coast’s best sneaker spots? We snapped this photo at UNDFTD, where they still had the decorations up from last week’s McFly Hyperdunk release party … One of our boys in Atlanta told us he was at a local pro-am when Jarrett Jack showed up. And dropped 97 points. NINETY-SEVEN!! The craziest part? That’s not even the record in the annual “Defense Isn’t Allowed” Invitational … Wednesday was an off-day for the Rocky Mountain Revue, but we did catch some of the Spurs/D-League Ambassadors replay from earlier in the week. This was our first real look at George Hill, who by appearance is kind of a mix between Taquan Dean and Jimmy Jackson. On the court, Hill can run a team and plays D (he had five steals), but his jumper is either broke in general or he’s just in a really bad slump. And yet, the first time he touched the ball, one of the announcers called Hill a “sharpshooter” … Hot Rod Hundley (long-time Jazz announcer) was also on the mic, although he didn’t bother to get prepared or anything. A typical call from him went something like this: “Shot missed by, um, the D-League Ambassadors, um, Carl, uhhhh, Elliot.” Hot Rod also called George Hill “George Lee” right off the bat … We’re out like Childress …
July 24th, 2008 at 5:47 am
sans says:
Nique signed a huge deal before returning to play for the Celtics, I think.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:50 am
loot says:
“Can you even imagine Chris Bosh shocking the world and going to Holland instead of Houston in 2010?”
No…to play where? Den Bosch? Maybe Belgium, if you want to mention a small country, but Holland? Never hahaha… no basketball here.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:51 am
sans says:
Sorry, he played in Greece after playing in Boston. Signed a huge deal, walked on it to play for the Spurs. He was old and ish, but averaged 19 the year he came back. Then he went to Italy, where he played ball with Gerald.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:52 am
budz says:
FIRST!
July 24th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Benoit Benjamin says:
Nique played for one year at panathinaikos, i think, where he put uo stats, he was playing the 4, and he was MVP of the euroleage, which he won. then he went back to the states to play for the spurs in their tanking season that led to them netting Duncan.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Soopa says:
Just wanted to mention this. Have you seen the Iran squad playing summer league ball? Seen their jerseys?
It says “I R Iran”… I know its short for something but still, its way to close to I R Baboon from those cartoons and cant you just imaging a playing from the Iran team saying with a thick thick accent “I R Iran”! I find that so funny lol
July 24th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Yoooo says:
Brevin Knight is way better than Hart. He’s only like 2 years removed from being a top 3 assist leader w/ the Bobcats. I never seen Hart near the top of anything but the bench.
I always wondered why Brandon Knight never got a shot at the L. He’s coaching now and still looks servicable. He’s just a dickhead in his normal day to day life.
@ AUSTIN why is DJ Augustin considered a better prospet than Jameer Nelson & even Lynn Greer were? They had the same accolades in college (Boobie more, cuz he was POY I think). And Lynn was just REAL. What do people see in him that those 2 didn’t have? He seems chunky and slower than both of them. He’s definitely not as explosive as either of them and he gets embarrassed by athletic guards who defend him and whom he defends (see Memphis game last year in tourney). Austin what’s good with that???
July 24th, 2008 at 7:56 am
M says:
I’m from holland (actually it’s called the Netherlands) and the distinct possibility of a nba star coming here is preposterous; average salaries here are probably 0,0001 % of the regular nba player..
We can’t even get nba coverage here.. nuff said about those broadcastfootballnerds.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:06 am
92021SpurMD says:
Seems to me people prefer money over pride. Or they are just afraid to play nightly against the best the world has to offer.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am
TZ says:
Bosh to Houston/Holland ?..Mmmm.!! I know what Dime try to do, must be slow week in comment sections( T.dot faithful don’t appreciate). I thought not gonna go for this trap, but here I am..Don’t come up with stuff like that Dime
July 24th, 2008 at 8:37 am
LudaKris says:
Am I the only one thinking this but how bout a sign-and-trade Josh Smith for Josh Howard? I don’t see the Mavs are makin J-Ho untouchable
July 24th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Top_Gun says:
I can’t picture Chris Bosh going to Europe. He’s one of the players that really want a championship, like every other player in his draft class not named Wade(since he already accomplished that.)
It doesn’t matter if Lebron rolled his ankel, Carmelo is the beast when it comes to the Olympics. He is just too hard to guard.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
josh says:
are you guys kiddin….the blokes at dime obviously came up with a random NBA star and two places, one from the USA and Europe to use as an example.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:51 am
M says:
I know, but it was still a nice moment to rant about the dutch broadcasters
July 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Jeronimo says:
@ Soopa: “I R Iran” probably means Islamic Republic of Iran, which is the official name of the country.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:11 am
your favorite writers favorite writer says:
Childress going is great, whats so bad about the fact that he had friends at Stanford who had an “Awesome” summer out there? Seeing new things and going new places is cool, plus plenty of European cities are way better than American ones, Atlanta sucks as a city compared to Athens, Mykonos, etc. Ur trading in Ludacris on the radio for the Mediterranean sea and Mykonos, its not even a contest! Whats so great about riding around Memphis with ur boys listening to Weezy getting Wendys, hanging out on the beach in Mykonos is basically killing it, be smart and google Marbella, Mykonos, Ischea and tell me they’re not better than Oklahoma city…
July 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am
nerditry says:
Nique would have never gone to Europe had he not busted his ACL in the days where that could be career ending and 1-2 years on the combeback. That’s why he made his end of the career tour through San Antonio, Boston, LA Clips and that ugliness with the Magic in 1999.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Mike says:
Any chance Josh Childress gets on the 2012 Olympic team? He’ll be coming off 3 years of ball in Greece (assuming he stays through his full contract). So, he will have an inside information on the European competition. Does that inside information make up for his second tier talent level?
July 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Mac says:
Legal weed will probably appeal to Howard….
July 24th, 2008 at 9:38 am
schoops says:
your favorite…. plus no taxes, a free car and crib with those med. women. Yeah, I think it’s a no brainer is you can’t make more than the mid level in the states.
And bron will be fine for the olympics. Him, Dwight, and Melo will dominate most of those fools no problem. Hopefully this time around coach K will learn to defend the pick and roll (somethign he didn’t do when they lost to greece last time).
July 24th, 2008 at 9:49 am
aj says:
A couple random questions for the readers:
1. Why/How are there so many Raptors fans that populate this board? Is it just a happenstance or an oddity because it’s not like the Raptors have ever really been good and aren’t really going to be that good in the future unless they land some big-name, big-time player.
2. What makes Iverson the most loved/favorite player on these boards? Is it cause he’s the little guy gunner that made it big and causes all us 6′2″ guys to dream big when it comes to ballin?
I’m guessing if you took a poll, the Raps would be the #3 fav team of the readers behind the Lakers and Celts, and Iverson would be the #2 or 3 fav player if not the most fav.
I don’t like either, these are just two observations over the past couple of years of checking this site that I find quite curious, especially all the Raptor-love.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:00 am
isotope says:
Lets take another poll: Why do you think aj is such a hater?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Good for Josh. He’ll get more play out there on the court and with the ladies. European ladies don’t know any better and will probably appreciate an educated guy more. His goofy appearance won’t hold him back out there.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
@DIME
You’ve made it almost a week without having a Marbury topic as a headline. I stand and applaud you. You have made the world a better place.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:10 am
isotope says:
Check this out:
Carl Landry might be going to play in Europe too.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5904656.html
July 24th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Dagomar says:
AJ:
Considering Toronto is the fourth-biggest city in Canada and the US, it would make sense if Raptors fans constitute maybe the third or fourth biggest fan base on the site. And yeah, the Raps can be real good. Lots of nice young talent and an excellent GM.
Oh, and Holland refers to two provinces within The Netherlands, which is the proper name of the country.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
sweetv0mit says:
we should have an all star game with nba all stars against euro league all stars… clearly nba all stars will kick their asses and maybe make current nba players to think twice from going there….
July 24th, 2008 at 10:25 am
been there done that says:
@ your writers favorite writer:
I am actually writing this from Ornos in Mykonos, and this is my second stop after being in Athens for two weeks. First of all Mykonos is nice, but can not compare to NYC or many other American cities unless you enjoy non-stop techno music, overly-feminine men, and pompous Italians who believe their sh#t does not stink. That island is for fruity people or Eurotrash. So yes, I believe people can have their opinions and Mykonos sucks compared to living a normal life anywhere in the U.S. I think it is a great idea for Childress to go abroad because he avoids taxes and will be treated like a god. Anyone who hates on his decision is just that, a hater, and their opinion should be ignored. Sorry i saw the Mykonos comment and had to say, I’d take Ludacris and American girls over house music and homo-Italians.
Peace
July 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Now the agent of any player can try use Euro team offers as leverage to NBA teams. I know Houston fans like Landrys energy (something the Rockets lack) but I wouldn’t be concerned with losing Landry. You still have Dorsey, Greene, and Harris who can bring energy off the bench. Landry is expendable at the wrong price.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Amar says:
wow . . . you guys make it sound like Hart is awesome. Hart makes more than Brevin, and Hart didn’t get any run after december (theoretically), he was a scrub who played in 50 games and was bumped to 3rd PG after Ronnie Price. But whatever, it’s not like I expect you guys to actually *know* the Utah Jazz depth chart. You guys probably still think that Chris Morris and Adam Keefe are there.
Btw, Brevin isn’t that great either, he takes care of the ball, but he can’t shoot the three, so that means that more teams will zone vs. utah when he’s in the game, and clog the paint (removing the spacing that’s so integral to the teams’ offensive sets).
here’s an article about the brevin/hart trade
http://allthatjazzbasketball.blogspot.com/2008/07/aren-pillows.html
July 24th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Skeeter McGee says:
Man Childress is getting PAID son. Free house, free car, tax free (is it tax free in Greece?) and 20 mil. He would have gotten the mid-level exception in the NBA if he was lucky, and he still might not have gotten that much. Smart move for Josh, and I’m telling y’all, the brdige is closing between foreign leagues and the NBA. By that I mean the competition is getting better over there, and now that the money is starting to catch up also, I say watch out for players who don’t get much money in the league jetsetting to another country to get some dough. Like Lloyd Banks said “I’m back for the money, the money, the money, the money…the CAKE!”
July 24th, 2008 at 10:42 am
G-Money says:
yeah DIME, and would you even try to “look” for George Hill if anybody but the Spurs drafted him, or is the Rocky Mountain Revue ‘all we got’.
man we all we got
July 24th, 2008 at 10:44 am
G-Money says:
oh and when Nique played for the Spurs he was stuffed by the rim on a breakaway.
end of nique
July 24th, 2008 at 10:58 am
that's whats up says:
@ post 26 - the international all-star game question
if that happened, the Europeans would select an all-star team way ahead of the actual USA vs. Europe game, drop everything to prepare and practice for the game/s, develop a solid team and probably win.
USA would have some long drawn out “International All-Star” voting promo or coaches poll, players would get selected and some would decline, we’d have two weeks to practice and then get smoked in the actual games.
Oh wait, It’s called the Olympics and it’s coming to NBC in August.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:05 am
that's whats up says:
oh, and the proof is in the omen
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1826150,00.html
July 24th, 2008 at 11:12 am
your favorite writers favorite writer says:
@been there done that says
dude, obviosuly Mykonos is not better than NY, I live in Soho so I know how sick it is, i was merely making an over generalization of some better European cities vs weaker American ones, its not like Brussells can hold a candle to South beach, but Oklahoma city blows compared to Barcelona. Furthermore, ur spitting game for regular dudes(you) in Europe in a country where u dont speak the language is probably not easy, Childress wont have that problem bc well, hes going to be pretty big story and famous for a bit. I was basically ranting against the theme of Smack that was trying to convey that being open minded and experiencing new things is bad. For God Sakes, travel, see new places, be interesting, every jerkoff in some po dunk sports bar talks about dumb things, be interesting.
Next the main point here is he is getting paid to play ball for more money there than here. U have exchange rates of 1.55, meaning for every Euro he earns, hes making 1.55 USD, also hes not getting taxed and i dont know the exact schedule of the Euro league but if its not 82 games, hes getting paid more money to work less is one way to look at it. U wouldnt make that trade?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:27 am
isotope says:
Brevin Knight used to be an assist machine. I remember when i had him on my fantasy squad. I was killing!
…and i agree about Landry. I think his agent is just trying to play hardball and the rockets arent budging. It looks like Carl might be the one losing at the end of the day. They should have at least worked a sign and trade or something. Now he might end up playing with overly-feminine men in Europe. lol
July 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am
doc says:
Let Josh go.He made the right choice now fuck him lets get back to the Real league.If anybody going over there to ball over the NBA the NBA didnt think that much of them anyway.Ive been over there balling and they shit aint better like people say.Some spots is nice and some are trash just like here.And none of them leagues will NEVER,NEVER be as good as the NBA.I guarentee Josh go cop a MVP or 5 over there and he would never make a all star team here.He gonna be the new Anthony Parker over there.They can have them dudes.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
your favorite writers favorite writer says:
I’d rather get paid more money then say im playing in the best league in the world
July 24th, 2008 at 11:36 am
don't matter who I am just read punks!! says:
NOT BREAKING NEWS BUT FUNNY!!!
Shock sign 50-year-old Lieberman to seven-day contract
Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman is leaving the broadcast booth for the floor one more time — and to set one more record.
The Detroit Shock have signed Lieberman, the team’s former coach and a current ESPN basketball analyst, to a seven-day contract, meaning she will become the oldest player to ever suit up for a WNBA game. She turned 50 on July 1.
“It is an amazing opportunity to continue to play the game I love,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman set the mark as the oldest player in WNBA history with the Phoenix Mercury, at 39 years, 54 days in 1997, the league’s inaugural season.
“At last year’s WNBA All-Star Game, our coaching staff watched Nancy run through the skills test. She was very impressive,” said team coach and GM Bill Laimbeer. “We talked after that if the opportunity ever arose to sign her to a seven-day contract we might give her a call. There is no question she is in great shape. I approached her two weeks ago, but the timing was not right.”
“Can she still compete at this level? I don’t know,” Laimbeer said. “But I’m going to throw her in the fire.”
The signing comes in the wake of the Shock losing forward Cheryl Ford for the season with a torn ACL. They will likely lose more players to suspensions stemming from Tuesday’s benches-clearing scuffle with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Lieberman won two college national championships at Old Dominion and was a member of two U.S. Olympic teams, winning gold at Montreal in 1976 and joining the roster of the 1980 team that would have gone to the U.S.-boycotted Moscow Games. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:59 am
bballinca says:
@ #27 what is wrong with overly feminine women? Do you prefer your women to look manly?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Austin Burton says:
Re: “Holland or Houston” — Trying to come up with clever alliteration at 2 a.m. can be difficult.
@Yoo — I honestly don’t know. When I first started hearing Augustin hyped as a Top-10 prospect, I figured it was a result of lots of teams needing PG’s and there not being THAT many great ones in this draft. But you’re right, he didn’t do more than Jameer or Greer in college. I think Greer fell victim to the “tweener” thing; people didn’t know if he was a two or a one. With Jameer, it was kind of the “small school” thing. The A-10 is damn near a mid-major.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
don't matter who I am just read punks!! says:
@bballinca
BIG DUMMY!! Reread the post (27), he said overly feminine men!! CAN U READ STUPID!!! LOL!!
j/k
July 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
don't matter who I am just read punks!! says:
Breaking News!!!
The Lakers are considering bringing Kwame Brown Back!!
Are they stupid or what???!!
That dude sucks!!!
July 24th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Homeless J says:
Lebron didn’t grow up fantasizing about winning the Euroleague MVP.
D-Wade didn’t spend his fifth grade math classes staring longingly out the open classroom door at the hoops outside, wanting to get out there and work hard to improve his game because he wanted to play in Italy someday.
You’re not going to see Kobe Bryant opt out of the final year of his contract so he can go win a Euroleague title with CSKA Moscow. (maybe when he’s 45 or something with mashed potatoes for knee cartiledge, though.)
Josh is going overseas to get paid not only because he’s getting more than he would be in the States, as well as all those extra amenities that have already been mentioned, but also because short of a miracle or a nuclear disaster taking out half of the better teams in the NBA, the Hawks are not going to win an NBA title in the next three years.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
JC says:
Doesn’t appear to me that Dime was being negative about Childress’ move overseas. If anything, it was more of a shot at Memphis and Louisville, inferring that the students there don’t regularly participate in study abroad programs. I haven’t done my research on that one (and never will lol) but I hope Dime did!
I’m confused again. After sifting through the comments, I didn’t notice anyone going nucking futs over JR Smith’s invite to the Select squad. I’m assuming that the Select squad is essentially the group of guys from which the committee will select for any replacements needed on Team USA years down the road. Is this not another roundhouse kick to the face of Dime’s favorite player, Allen Iverson? Come on now… Think of alllll the reasons AI wasn’t invited. Does anyone think JR Smith has a smaller set of issues? I’m pretty sure JR Smith could be more of a problem child than AI. His inclusion on the Select squad is quite curious, as Dime pointed out. Where are the AI fans????
July 24th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Austin Burton says:
I don’t know if the Select squad all have automatic spots in the next USA Basketball three-year cycle (2009-2012) leading up to the next Olympic games; I would doubt they do. (Luther Head?) I think this Select team is just a collection of young, available players. Once the Beijing Games is over, I’m assuming Colangelo goes back to the lab and starts the process over, inviting guys to tryouts for the 2009 FIBA Americas and looking forward to the 2012 Olympics. But you’re right, if J.R. gets a spot then, it would be an insult to Iverson.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
doc says:
I dont see it as a insult to AI.He went there already and got his ass kicked by some dudes we never heard of.That means its time for him to fall back.Who spot he gonna take on the team?CP3 or D-Will.And u know he not gonna go for that select team shit.Thats the JV team and he aint demeaning hiself like that.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
heavy d says:
Well, you could have used Boston and Barcelona or Milwaukee and Moscow (or Madrid or Milan). I think the reliance on a country narrowed your options too much, but as you said it was 2am.
Also Atlanta ain’t so bad, but depending on your personal tastes Moscow, Athens, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Milan have got to have an edge over quite a few of the NBA cities.
I’m starting a countdown clock to when JJ Redick signs in Europe coming off his rookie deal.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
doc says:
Yeah and as soon as JJ leaves we’ll be hearing about watch out they taking our players.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Promoman says:
Dominque won MVP & at least 1 title overseas
July 24th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Lee says:
I wish we had a better league here in London, it’d be an advantage for us getting some us talent because there’s no language barier.
And when the hawks traded nique, it was THE worse trade .. they could have got to the finals that year. Probably would have won it too.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Lee says:
If the lakers get kwame back … maybe they’re going to trade him for Lebron this time .. and get the cav’s 1st round pick a year later !!!
August 19th, 2008 at 4:02 am
Moving Overseas says:
I decide to post comment
Well this is useful… (at least for me)
very thanks
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Moving Overseas