Nothing against LeBron and Josh Childress, but the unique selling point of last night’s Cavs/Olympiakos (Greece) game was Shaq vs. “Baby Shaq.” If you don’t remember, Baby Shaq is Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the big (6-9, 300-something) Tractor Traylor-looking dude who once upon a time gave Team USA problems but has since turned into the Blazers-era Shawn Kemp of the Euroleague, as his weight is a constant issue and sometimes gets in the way of his considerable skills … Big Shaq got the best of this one, putting up 12 points and five boards next to Baby Shaq’s four and five. Read More »

Even though Josh Childress was playing on a squad with Linas Kleiza, LeBron had to make sure that he knew he wasn’t in the NBA anymore.

I couldn’t make this stuff up. After hearing that Linas Kleiza was signing with Olympiakos, it appears that Von Wafer has decided to join him. Read More »

The latest rumors out of the Euro-basketball world is that the Greek basketball club Olympiakos is set to offer Allen Iverson a 2-year deal worth an estimated $10 milllion. That deal would be the same proposed offer that Nate Robinson recently turned down and would be about equal to the NBA’s mid-level exception that NBA teams are offering him. Read More »

While looking at the list of available unrestricted free agents is underwhelming, the group of restricted free agents is great. For a team in search of talent to add to their roster, making a stab at one of these guys could pay dividends. While Paul Millsap, Marcin Gortat and Jarret Jack have already signed offer sheets, here are the ten best available restricted free agents left: Read More »

After testing the free agent waters like a college player trying to assess his draft stock, it appears Josh Childress is happier making euros than dollars. The restricted free agent and former Hawks swingman said this morning he is returning to Olympiakos for the 2009-10 season, not opting out of his contract and trying to return to the NBA. Read More »

Although the ‘09 NBA free agent class isn’t as stacked as in years past — not to mention the League is being more thrifty than ever due to the slumping economy — teams still have holes they want to plug, and players have moves they want to make. Here, we break down all 30 NBA teams’ free agent strategy… Read More »

They say it’s not really free agent season until somebody gets at least $50 million richer — meaning we’re officially underway now that Ben Gordon cashed in with the Pistons for 50 mil over five years. Detroit also reached an agreement with Charlie Villanueva for $35M over five years, giving the team almost an entirely different core from the one that played in the conference finals just 13 months ago. This isn’t going to be the defense-first, everybody-gets-equal-shots squad we’ve gotten used to … Two questions that popped up as soon as the Gordon news broke: Read More »

In his three-year run at Stanford, Josh Childress never made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In his four years in the NBA, he played in just one playoff series. So we’re guessing Chill wasn’t quite prepared for the kind of postseason intensity he’s seeing in his first year in the Euroleague.

In the opening game of the best-of-five Greek League finals yesterday, Childress’ Olympiakos team lost to their rivals, Panathinaikos. But not before things got kind of crazy. Read More »