Childress in play?
(Former) Hawks swingman Josh Childress appears to be in play for the second straight summer as a restricted free agent. He's in Milwaukee today visiting the Bucks.
HAWKSVILLE - From Athens to Milwaukee and back to Atlanta, the name Josh Childress is being tossed around in every direction these days.
Childress is in Milwaukee today visiting the Bucks with his agent, Jim Tanner.
What that means for the Hawks is that they might get a do-over with Childress, a restricted free agent again this summer as he was last summer.
Last summer they lost him as an asset when he chose to sign with Greek power Olympiakos (for $20 million post taxes). What the Hawks didn’t lose was the right of first refusal on Childress if he decided to return to the NBA this summer.
And two of my spies have made it clear that were Childress to receive any sort of “reasonable” NBA offer (the $5.6 million mid-level exception or below), the Hawks would match it before Childress finished signing his name on the offer sheet (the aim, however, is to work out a sign-and-trade deal to appease both sides since Childress has made clear his desire to play elsewhere, per a source).
Still, no player on the free agent market has more intriguing options than Childress. He has until July 15 to decide if he wants to return to the NBA (he’d have to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract with Olympiakos). So he has a window now that allows him to gauge his current value around the NBA while also holding on to the safety net that is his lucrative contract with Olympiakos.
Childress was in Atlanta last Sunday to meet with the Hawks’ brass and made clear that he would do his due diligence in evaluating his NBA options before deciding whether to return to Greece or not. It’s smart business yet again on the part of Childress, who had drawn interest from a number of other teams (Lakers, Clippers, Cavaliers and Spurs are included in that list, according to my league spies) curious to explore the potential of him making an return to the league now as opposed to at the end of his contract with Olympiakos.
“It’s a tough free agent market right now,” a former player now working as an analyst told me by phone Thursday morning. “I can’t imagine [Childress] could do better financially than he would by going back to Greece. But you never know what might go on in free agency, so he’s wise to explore his options.”
MOSTLY QUIET ON THE FREE AGENT FRONT: Things are quiet where the Hawks’ other free agent targets are concerned. Neither Zaza Pachulia nor Marvin Williams is scheduled to visit anywhere as of right now.
Plenty of teams are interested, from what I’m hearing, but no face-to-face meetings have been set up as of yet. Williams is a restricted free agent, so it’s expected that his summer will last a little longer. Pachulia’s summer could heat up rather quickly if one of the big man dominoes on the summer circuit (Rasheed Wallace, Marcin Gortat, etc.) were to commit to a new team.
Several sources inform me that the Hawks have moved into the “common ground” phase of their talks with Mike Bibby’s camp. Nothing has been announced yet, but those sources insist that a deal is closer to getting done than people might think. I’ll be curious to see how things progress through the July 4th weekend and into early next week, when the salary cap numbers come out on the 8th.
Rumors are flying around about what teams are doing. It’s almost too difficult to keep up with it all, since there are so many different outlets reporting (fact and fiction). But my man Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports does as good as job as anyone at keeping his finger on the pulse of what’s happening out there. Check out his latest buzz.
RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION?: While most of us working class folk are struggling to make ends meet during these tough economic time, there is a segment of the population that’s doing just fine. Check out some of the NBA players on Sports Illustrated’s list of top “ballers” in sports.
Steve Francis should be your new hero, since he clocked $20 million last year without playing a single second of basketball. How’d that song from the 90s go, “I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller.” Dang skippy!
NORTH OF THE BORDER: Both Cousin Doug up in Toronto and my man Ken Berger of CBSSPORTS.com are reporting that David Lee has become the object of the Toronto Raptors’ affection now that it appears Hedo Turkoglu could be headed to Portland.
Turkoglu agreeing to a deal could open the floodgates for guys like Williams, especially, considering Charlie Villanueva’s deal with Detroit (5-years, $35-$40 sounds reasonable, though it raises some issues for the Pistons, per my man David Aldridge of TNT) has already set a benchmark for players of that ilk.
Stay tuned folks. There’s no telling where this free agent roller coaster goes next.
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642 comments Add your comment
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
1:35 pm
Hoops,
I was just showing that we wouldn’t really have room for another rotation player – but yeah, I did break my own rule. I’ll do 10 push-ups as punishment. Ha!
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
1:38 pm
KevinA,
Teams mostly get that far over the cap by re-signing their own players at huge raises (like we did with Smoove last summer). The MLE is more of a piecemeal thing.
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
1:43 pm
niremetal Sorry I keep asking so many questions. Say we sign all players and are into lux tax. What date is the money locked in. Can we make moves after that to get under the tax?
Example, Sign Chills, Flip , ZaZa . You mentioned in the case of Crawford we have to wait.2 months to pgg him with others. Is there a date the money is set for pre season?
doc
July 4th, 2009
1:47 pm
nire and ken nice rationale posts. good start to the fourth to see ken go off like a chinese fire cracker. the guy has had a longer fuse this summer. nice to know he still has it in him. go ken.
nire, i love the stats. you also noticed that jj had the most minutes in the fourth than all but one person. personally his stats are inflated because of the minutes he played. he comes back to ordinary if he rests like most people or as you say maybe he doesnt glide so much an take so many possessions off during the early aprts of games. he might become more efficient that way.
did you see who was sixth? the guy who could have been his running mate for a lot less than 15 mil for the last three years. yup roy.
also interesting that smith ranked a plus three. not many folks got into that category. i saw only two people higher, kobe at 5 in more minutes and west in cle in less. i know you hate that one dude. he is still a stud that will only get better and be a killer in three years. yup, jj a not so shabby plus two in about 150 more minutes.
this shows flip’s overall huge contribution last year and he might get stiffed. too bad but crawford will be better. funny chills was our third best contributor the year before and didnt get any respect either.
this one suggests that our top two top five rotations didnt include marvin and had jj at the three. yup, jump on it rod if you are still reading me. you might be at the scroll stage but if not check it out.
it also may suggest the best closing five this season will be point guard, crawford, jj, smith and horford. the two guys that made the most difference last year might not be back as bibby was in the mix on the top two top fives with jj at three around murray. the other really high contributor to the mix and even more so than horford with bibby, flip, jj and smith was zaza. it seems a shame to think he will be lost at such a young age and really didnt get much cred for two of the years he was here. i dont think the popcorn man did much for his game. zaza didnt seem to perform well until lorens left as he was doing pretty well before he got here, like his role was not defined. woody had to play him and give him his due finally when rens was sent parking for bibby. that might have been the best move for the team to get zaza’s energy back as he came on fast at the end of the year and went toe to toe with kg. gosh that was a great night. i still get chills; better than a prize fight and no blows struck.
thanks nire for giving the prod to check it out. i have often liked looking at those stats and see if they reflect what we think we see. i could see jj at three more, was a bit surprised at bibby’s contribution and not the least surprised at zaza and flip’s. would have liked to have seen horford’s numbers better as i would have marvin’s especially.
we need zaza back. he would be huge for san antonio if he could find a way over cap humps onto their roster. tim, zaza, jefferson, parker and ginobli. that would be interesting to watch finish games.
on a different note; i wonder how artest is going to finish his career? i could see him becoming the modern day pippen to kobe’s act and help a whole lot. unfortunately, i can see him becoming the worm at the end of his career and going crazy like rodman did in the end as for him as he has tortured himself. there will be the glare of the l a lights to deal with and ultimately his choice. i hope it is more to bball salvation than purgatory, though it might just give kobe and jackson a few more rings in the next four years. geez, the rich get richer.
happy fourth guys.
oh well the post without the links, see if it goes through.
Hawksfanatic
July 4th, 2009
1:48 pm
Nire and Melvin-
You are both incorrect. If we signed DA we would have to use our MLE. DA was a 2nd round pick not a 1st round pick, so we do not hold a Rookie Exception to sign him. You can only use the Rookie Exception to sign 1st round picks, and when you do you are bound to the rookie scale. The only options for signing 2nd round picks is cap space, MLE, LLE, and minimum contract. We don’t have any cap space and the LLE and minimum contracts are too little to bring DA over. The only option is the MLE.
terrell barron
July 4th, 2009
1:50 pm
I here we’re keeping Bibby? How much and how many years?
doc
July 4th, 2009
1:54 pm
finally the spell was broken. out of moderation. check out the stats from nire’s post earlier, very revealing. i am sure others will find there on source of “truth”, maybe interesting what others glean from it.
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
2:00 pm
Say what you want, but Even if he gets no PT, FLip will be back…..Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!
Ken Strickland
July 4th, 2009
2:00 pm
HOOPS & GTHANG-I don’t dislike Woodson as a person, just as the HC of the Hawks. I actually believe he could be an good HC for certain veteran laden teams that already have their OFF systems in place. What I dislike is his negative approach and attitude towards rookie PG’s and young players that are none starters.
NIREMETAL-I wasn’t referring to JJ’s production during the 2nd half of gms, but rather the 2nd half of the season. However, after rereading my post, I could see where I didn’t make the distinction, my bad.
KEVINA-Woodson is a creature of habit and he’s set in his ways, which explains his lack of innovation and flexibility. He’s also prone to preconceived ideas about certain players and their rolls. He saw Chills as a 6th man and refused to use him in any other capacity, and sees Flip as his replacement. His loyality to MBibby stems for the fact Bibby’s acquisition and play after the trade got him a 2yr contract extension.
We’re past the point where firing Woodson is an option. However, it’s time Sund impressed upon him, in no uncertain terms, the organizations desire for him to get more involved in player development and doing a better job of managing starter mins. He also needs to be reminded of the need for him to stop acting like a one man coaching staff and rely more on his assistants and delegate more responsibility.
I still say we should resign SJones and go after another BIG(CFrye) or two. If we resign Bibby, it should be with the understanding he could be replaced as the starter if Teague demonstrates he can run the team. WE NEED A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PG LIKE TEAGUE RUNNING THE TEAM AND PRESSURING THE BALL OF DEF, NOT A ONE DIMENSIONAL PG LIKE BIBBY WHO’S LIMITED OFF SKILLS AND LACK OF DEF AFFECTS THE ENTIRE TEAM. HOWEVER, I CAN SEE BIBBY BEING VERY EFFECTIVE COMING OFF THE BENCH AS A COMBINATION GUARD.
Hoops
July 4th, 2009
2:01 pm
Hawksfanatic,
If you are correct on the info on D. Anderson having to be signed out of our MLE, can he be signed out of our Bi-Annual instead?
CaliHawks
July 4th, 2009
2:10 pm
Bibbys back 3 years 22 miliion.. ty sund..
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
2:21 pm
Cali, where did you get that info from??
Pen
July 4th, 2009
2:28 pm
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20090704_76ers__offer_to_Bibby_was_for_1_year.html
Arise^
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
2:30 pm
Pen, thanks, But i’m talkin’ about the 3yrs 22mill.
Pen
July 4th, 2009
2:35 pm
Oh, I think he’s guessing. But it’s definitely 3 years.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
2:37 pm
3 yrs 22 million?
Man, that sounds a bit pricy.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
2:39 pm
It’s a 50% cut though, so I guess I can’t complain..
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
2:41 pm
Hawksfanatic,
I indicated the first time I discussed Andersen that I wasn’t sure. I’m still not. I’ve read through both the CBA and Coon’s FAQ and can’t find anything discussing how second round picks are dealt with under the salary cap rules. If you show me a link saying that, I’m perfectly willing to admit my instinct is wrong.
Samuel
July 4th, 2009
2:44 pm
I see you guys are still talking out the side of your as_ about Woody. How many teams in the league were as young as the Hawks and went as far into the playoffs? Thought so.
Now who was the coach of this team of youngsters. Thought so.
But he can’t develop players. Bull Shi_. I’d say that “BASED ON RESULTS”, Woody is the best in the NBA. Based on oponion, you guys think he stinks. I’d rather have results.
It’s also good to want to win Championships but tell me how many teams have won a ring “WITHOUT” at least one or two TOP TEN players. And how many do the Hawks have? Thought so.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
2:44 pm
$7M a year is not pricey for even a borderline-starter PG in the modern league. It’s right in the range of what I thought Bibby would get. If this were next summer, my guess is he’d pull in $8M per on the open market (and Kidd would be getting $10M instead of $8M).
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
2:45 pm
But yeah…where’s a link for that $22M figure?
CaliHawks
July 4th, 2009
2:49 pm
espnews has it on tha bottom of tha screeen
.. philiadelphia tryed to get bibby but only for 1 year but he deciced to stay wit tha hawks because they offerd him 3 years..no link just look at espn news……
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
2:56 pm
K niremental.
If you say so…
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
2:57 pm
Where are yall getting the 22 million dollar figure?
Hawksfanatic
July 4th, 2009
3:03 pm
Hoops – yes, the Bi-annual exception is also called the LLE. However, DA more than likely won’t come over and sign for less than $2 million a year so thats why I ruled that out.
Nire – its an implicit rule in the CBA, I can’t show you a link because there isn’t one that explicitly says 2nd rounders can only be signed using cap space, MLE, LLE, or minimum contracts. What you are referring to is 1st rounders with the rookie exception, here is a Coon link for you:
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q19
Notice a rookie exception only counts towards 1st rounders. That means you cannot use the rookie exception for 2nd rounders. When you said Andersen doesn’t count towards our MLE you were implying that we could use the rookie exception to sign him, which is where you are incorrect. Just because Andersen was a draft pick doesn’t afford us the right to use the rookie exception because that only applies towards 1st rounders. The only right we have to Andersen is the exclusive right to negotiate his first NBA contract, thats it.
Melvin
July 4th, 2009
3:07 pm
Hawksfanatic,
I was under the impression that a team doesn’t have to use the exceptions to sign their draft picks. I could be wrong but please prove the link that explains such topic if you can.
CaliHawks
July 4th, 2009
3:07 pm
Tryin to find some truth to the espn news report but there sources arent always correct.. The 22 million figure is on espn news ….. At the botton on the scoreboard tracker…
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
3:08 pm
Samuel, you’re dilluted.
Melvin
July 4th, 2009
3:09 pm
Hawksfanatic,
Looks like you post again before I could. I will read your link
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
3:12 pm
it doesn’t have any money figures on ESPN NEWS…
just says the 3 yrs.
CaliHawks
July 4th, 2009
3:14 pm
the 1st reports this morning on sportscenter was 3 years 22 million maybe the figure is wrong but Bibby is stayin in Atlanta.. now we need a dam big man..
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2009
3:22 pm
“it also may suggest the best closing five this season will be point guard, crawford, jj, smith and horford. ”
I suggested on this blog a couple of days ago that the Hawks could probably give opponents fits using this lineup from time to time… they would of course lose a lot defensively but when they have trouble scoring this lineup would do them a lot of good, especially if Woody allows them to run. I wouldn’t necessarily assume those 82games stats carry over to different roles on different teams, but I do think that lineup would give opponents fits.
From my limited knowledge of Spanish I didn’t see anything in that hoopshype article to indicate that the Hawks had indicated interest in signing him… it just seemed like it was rehashing Andersen’s previously stated interest in coming to the NBA. But if $3 million is all it takes I don’t see why not.
Ken Strickland, outstanding post as usual.
Happy 4th everyone.
O'Brien
July 4th, 2009
3:30 pm
Sekou,
Have you heard anything in regards to David Andersen, and the Bibby offer?
$7 mil a year for Bibby is fine with me. But I hope that 3rd year is a team option.
Samuel
July 4th, 2009
3:34 pm
Wade,
Prove it with facts not opinion.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2009
3:35 pm
Don’t know if this has already been posted, but this article offers up some Childress possibilities from the Bucks’ perspective… Obviously the Hawks wouldn’t be interested in Sessions anymore after re-signing Bibby, but if they waited until August 15th and got Kurt Thomas and a pick in exchange for Chills I think it would be a pretty good deal, especially considering that Chills doesn’t seem likely to play in a Hawks uniform again.
O'Brien
July 4th, 2009
3:40 pm
Even if the Hawks sign David Andersen and ZaZa, we still need one rugged PF who plays defense and bangs.
Good Post Ken. Despite’s Woody’s accomplishments, I still feel like a better coach would have led us to a better record. How many games did we lose when we failed to make any half time adjustments (when the other team did). How many games did we lose, where we had a chance to win at the buzzer, but the only play we have is iso-JJ (and the whole world knew that play was coming). How many games did we lose, where one player was stinking it up, but Woody refused to give somebody else a chance.
I understand Woody will be here next year, and I hope Sund gives him the bench players he needs to succeed. Because one thing with Woody, he always clings to his excuses.
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
3:40 pm
Cali, cool. I wasn’t saying you were wrong, I just’t hadn’t seen any monetary figures on the net and was looking for it.
mrH
July 4th, 2009
3:43 pm
Would someone be kind enough to post the exact words of the ESPNews ticker message for those of us who don’t get that channel. For now, it just sounds like ESPN is reporting the speculation in the PI article. (Nothing concrete).
Najeh, the problem with waiting until August 15th is two-fold:
1. Childress has to make a decision by July 15th. He isn’t going to risk all of those Euros on the possibility of a S&T a month later.
2. The Hawks will be spending money in the interim, likely pushing their salary cap closer to the luxury tax limit. If they do that, a smart team would just sign Childress outright, knowing the Hawks won’t match.
CaliHawks
July 4th, 2009
3:45 pm
i kno its cool.. im still tryin to see sum truth to what was on espn.. either way it dont matter im just glad to have bibby back we need him I think ever Atlanta Hawk fan should kno that even tho there are sum haters on bibby..
SB
July 4th, 2009
3:57 pm
If that 22 million is correct, I don’t like it. I think they could get a better pg for 7 million a season, plus Bibby will be way over paid before the contract ends. If it’s under 20 million and the 3rd year is a team option I can’t complain.
Samuel
July 4th, 2009
4:03 pm
So O’brien,
You’re saying that with a better coach, we would have beaten Cleveland in the playoffs. Injuries and All? And who might this coach be?
Samuel
July 4th, 2009
4:06 pm
Poop,
I say we go after Gadzuric. That would help both teams IMO.
doc
July 4th, 2009
4:07 pm
najeh i agree and have voiced it as well and like you dont get much of a response to the positive when it is mentioned. only difference is this uses numbers/stats to back up my intuition. this is from a data base that spells it out in positive and negative numbers like they do in the nhl. over one game it doesnt read right but over a season it is about as fair as it could get for guys that play significant minutes.
if you want defense then you bring in zaza as he tended to have the best numbers spread over times where he is in with the first line players. he also brought in a significant contribution on rebounds and per minute better than horford is my guess. i also think crawford is going to be a better defender than most think and maybe better than jj at the 2 spot and a better support to bibby because he will be quicker than jj was. flips numbers were pretty good on the whole and if that is true then you got to be playing some d along the way.
though bibby wasnt my first concern it is good to know he will be around and if the numbers are correct a pretty fair contract. glad to know he wants to stay and didnt over play or over inflate his market value. got to hand it to him. now it is time to put to rest zaza and move on to take care of marvin and the chills situation. man even though aj is feeling bad and kirk is playing the waiting game i am going to go quickly to the optimistic side if this keeps up.
samuel, though i hounded you a bit in the early times when you wanted the likes of curry around, dude you are convincing me on the woody thing and my boy rick. keep jammin!
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
4:07 pm
Ken I can agree with you about Woody being unflexable. He lacks situational awareness during game time play. Both Flip and ZaZa could have and arguabely should have played more minutes. I think Flip played so well, Acie became a faint memory.
I can also say I think Woody played the starters to much in big wins and big losses.
Where we may have some disagreement is talant level. I did not see the talent and skill level of the rest of the players on the bench. Evans did ok but would have limited play on any bodys team. I don’t think the rest of our bench would get much play on any other team. I don’t think we can put this on Woody.
With the addition of Crawford/Chills/Teague and maybe another big, Woody will have better and more options. If Flip and Bibby are resigned, would you play Teague much? At the risk of losses?
Teague, and second year players – who decides who can go to the D league. The coach, Sund or lack of money. Maybe thats a smarter way to get player developement.
O'Brien
July 4th, 2009
4:31 pm
Samuel,
I am not saying we would have beaten Cleveland. But if Woody had played his bench more this year, we would have played better against Cleveland (than we did…despite the injuries). And JJ should not be #1 or #2 in minutes played.
And I’m not talking just this past season. I am also talking about the season before that, when we had 37 wins (and barely made the playoffs, partly due to Indianna losing). And overall, with more wins, we may have ended up with a better seed.
But I will say this. Our goal is championship, so I hope Sund gives Woody the players he wants. Realistically, If we dont win the NBA championship, at the very least, I hope we improve on our record, and I hope we make it further in the playoffs. If that happens, then I am all for Woody getting his extension.
SB
July 4th, 2009
4:33 pm
Sam…… I’l side with O’Brien for a different reason. With a better coach maybe win 59 games instead of 47. So we play Boston not Clev.
SB
July 4th, 2009
4:43 pm
Any one else hearing this news about Steve McNair?
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
4:48 pm
I’d say 52, not 47. We still finish in 4th but we don’t get blown out in 4 straight game. And we make a freaking adjustment every once in awhile.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
4:55 pm
Samuel, sure, Woody had one of the youngest teams in the league…
SO WHAT? HOW MANY LOTTERY PICKS ARE WE TALKIN ABOUT?
Marvin Williams – Lottery Pick
Josh Childress – Lottery Pick
Al Horford – Lottery Pick
Shelden Williams – Lottery Pick/Bust
How Many 1st Rounders?
Smoove (Pick 17)
I honestly don’d see Woody has having performed any miracles…
He got players that came into the league with high expectations…
Let’s not forget how many PG’s we’ve shipped in – and then within a couple seasons – shipped out. Stoudamire, Dickau, Ivey, Law…
I don’t know what you’re thinking…I’ll give the man props for getting the Hawks this far – but it’s not like he was workin with medicore talent.
Solo’s been sittin on the bench for nearly 3 seasons now..just sitting there. I bet DeJaun Blair will get MORE PT THIS SEASON than SOLO’s had throughout his career…and they were both 2nd round picks (picks 30-39).
We passed on Chris Paul AND Derron Williams (not pinning entirely on Woody) – but I wouldn’t be surprised if Woody’s disapproval of young PG’s impacted this decision – you can be the judge of whose to blame…(by the way, are they top 10 players in the league now?)
Be real man. I DONT CONSIDER THIS GUY A GREAT COACH. Sure, it’s my opinion – and you have yours. I applaud what he’s done for the team, but seems to me you have him on a pedestal…
There’s talent on this team. Look at teams like Houston with guys like Von Wafer coming off the bench. How do you expect guys like Gardner to DEVELOP if they never get minutes? Woody runs a 7 man rotation – and the rest of the guys rarely ever see the court – are they developing?
The only thing they’re developing is film/gametapes to watch for the guys that actually play.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
4:57 pm
Wow,
RIP Steve McNair