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
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2009
5:01 pm
Pour one out for Steve McNair. That is some f’d up ish. Probably one of my favorite QBs before the 2001 NFL Draft. Time to replay that classic Rams-Titans Super Bowl on ESPN Classic.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
5:04 pm
Man…every hour with no word on Zaza makes me more nervous. We’re screwed if we don’t bring him back…
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
5:05 pm
I feel you 100% on that one Najeh..
He played in one of the best superbowl games I’ve ever seen.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
5:08 pm
Wabe,
Don’t forget Diaw. He never gets a minute under Woody, wins MIP the year he gets away, and now averages 16ppg.
Royal Ivey becomes a rotation player immediately after leaving.
Horford gets the ball on the post about twice per game.
Marvin scored 30 points in too straight games and then is consigned to catching bailout passes once JJ came back from the flu.
Acie is about to make us look silly next year…I can feel it.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
5:09 pm
Co-sign on McNair…
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
5:11 pm
Good Points Nire.
Couldn’t think of everything – but yall back me up with whatever I may have left out.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
5:13 pm
and I apologize for the grammatical errors lol.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
5:20 pm
If David Lee goes to Portland, they might try to move Przybilla. And they sure as heck won’t go after Marvin.
Strange move if Portland does that…they need a swingman more than a PF/C.
Publix
July 4th, 2009
5:25 pm
We need to hurry up and make a few more moves. Seku what do you say? Resign ZAZA, bring Andersson over and sign Channing Frye. Evidently we are keeping Bibby, which is good because we need anyone who can score. I think we should also go after Murphy from Indiana or Gordat from Orlando.
As of now, we would be ok with:
PG – Bibby, Teague, Murry
SG – Johnson, Crawford, West
SF – Williams, Evans,
PF – Smith, Andersson,
C – Horford, Frye, Pachulia
What do you think?
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
5:32 pm
Don’t want both Frye and Andersen. They’re different shaded versions of the same basic player – decent offensive big men with no defensive skills or effort.
glw
July 4th, 2009
5:35 pm
nire,
I feel you about Zaza. IT makes me nervous, he should be the first priority because he might draw the most interest. But for some reason, I have confidnece that Sund knows what he is doing. I think he is the ultimate poker player. He came out of the situation with the Joshes as well as can be expected. and i think he has not only a plan for every free agent we have, but a back up plan as well.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
5:45 pm
I think Frye, Bass, or Wilcox would be great additions
If they could resign Zaza and get just one of those three..i’d be ecstatic.
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
5:56 pm
SEKOU et al,
Theo Ratliff, Channing Frye, and Chris Wilcox would be welcomed additions, assuming that we can re-sign ZaZa, Flip and Marvin.
The key to being quasi-successful in the playoffs, especially, is having a deep bench that can provide a spark and give the starters a respite. You also have to consider if one of the major rotations get hurt, like what happenend to us this year when Josh, Marvin, Horford, and JJ got hurt a different periods.
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends!”
deep
July 4th, 2009
6:00 pm
So now that Bibby’s back does that mean Flip is gone? Is there no room for him at all? What about this line up (reserve)
Pg- Crawford/ Teague
Sg- Flip/ Crawford/ Teague
Sf- Evans/ (F/A or sign & trade for Chills)/ Mario/ Flip/ Crawford
Pf- Anderson/ (F/A or sign and trade for Chills)/ Solo
C- ZaZa/ Anderson/ (F/A or Sign and trade for Chills)/ Morris
Sounds deep to me. Guess it depends on who else we bring in and if ZaZa returns. I don’t see why we can’t bring back Flip unless Chills decides to come back to the Hawks which I doubt.
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
6:05 pm
I feel that Sund will be fiscally responsible, first, in picking free agents. Remember that he is fighting for HIS next contract, as well. Sekou mentioned several serviceable free agents still out there. The Hawks will be fine next year.
For the past 2 years the Hawks won 25 and 31 home games, respectively. I feel that they can maintain the 25-30 homes wins. However, they had 12 and 16 road wins over the same time frame.
The hawks should be able to win 22-24 road games this year. I still don’t see anyway that they can beat the Big 3, but who knows, if a major piece goes down for one of the Big 3, then the Hawks can lock up a 3rd seed.
JUST SOME THOUGHTS!!
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends.”
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
6:06 pm
JJ, Chills, Marvin, Josh, and Al seem to be the players to grind out the last 5 min of a tight game. Our goal is simply to have enough talent on the bench to get them there fresh.
Riding that dead horse. Woody can’t be blamed for the player developement for free throw shooting. He can’t make JJ look for contact etc. et. Unless we have major injuries this will be the first time Woody will have to come up with 50+ wins to survive.
1 1/2 years ago ZaZa was toast and coming off injury. He was mad, the fans were wanting to dump him. Today ZaZa is great and were worried we’ll lose him. Was that player development that changed his opportunities or natural progression?
Woody gave Royal Ivey a shot, along with Diaw and Sheldon Williams.
terrell barron
July 4th, 2009
6:10 pm
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Mcnair family. RIP my brother.
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
6:12 pm
DEEP,
Has Bibby re-signed with the Hawks? Where are you getting your information?
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends.”
terrell barron
July 4th, 2009
6:14 pm
3 years? Does he even have 3 years left in him? Wow! I’m glad he’s back, but that’s too much money for an aging pg with defensive liabilities, I’m sorry. Hey Manny, so how much money do we have left for Flip, Zaza, Marvin, and a FA big? Is it possible?
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
6:15 pm
KEVIN A,
The Hawks are one of the top 5 teams in the league in the 4th quarter!!
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends.”
deep
July 4th, 2009
6:54 pm
I’m assuming due to the reports. Bibby wants to stay and Sund/ Woodson want him to stay so I’m pretty sure. But why couldn’t Flip stay too.
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
7:14 pm
WHO SAID HE’S NOT GOING TO!!!!
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
7:36 pm
Play JJ and Bibby less in the first half and pass the ball to the front court and we will play better in the first half.
Finish with Chills and we move to 4th. lol
Ariose
July 4th, 2009
7:43 pm
SEKOU’S GOT A NEW FREE AGENTS ARTICLE UP….
Ken Strickland
July 4th, 2009
7:46 pm
SAMUEL-Let me get this straight. You’re saying you credit HC Mike Woodson for the maturity, leadership qualities and production we’ve gotten out of AHorford over the past 2 seasons. Are you crediting him for Marvin becoming a much better DEF player and developing an accurate 3pt shot? Do you credit Woodson for JSmith’s shotblocking and rebounding prowess and his improved 3pt shooting? Was he really responsible for helping JChildress develop his ballhandling, rebounding, passing, inside sccriing and high basketball IQ?
YOU OBVIOUSLY CAN’T DIFFERENCIATE BETWEEN A HC ASSISTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PLAYER DURING THE SEASON, AND A HC TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A PLAYERS NATURAL ABILITIES AND PERSONAL COMMITTMENT TO OFF SEASON DEVELOPMENT. What did Woodson do for 1st rd picks SWilliams, BDiaw and ALaw, or 2nd rd picks SJones, RIvey, SStaudamire and DSmith?
SJones averaged 11.5 Mins per gm as a rookie, but only 4.1 his 2nd yr. SStaudamire averaged 20.3 mins his rookie yr, and rode the bench his final yr. IS THAT YOUR IDEA OF A HC CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A YOUNG PLAYER? We all know what eventually ended up happening to them, and do I have to go into how well he did with Boris Diaw’s development while he was a Hawk?
KEVINA-After having fairly successful rookie campaigns, if SStaudamire, ALaw and SJones had been given increased mins and opportunities instead of having both their mins and opportunities reduced, you would have seen a more talented bench for certain.
ON A DIFFERENT SUBJECT, LET’S PAY OUR RESPECTS TP THE LATE STEVE MCNAIR. HE WAS A QUIET WARRIOR WHO REPRESENTED WHAT TOUGHNESS AND HUMILITY WERE ALL ABOUT, ESPECIALLY IN A QB. R.I.P.
deep
July 4th, 2009
7:46 pm
I would love to sign Flip but the AJC seems not to think so. I think yes. The more rest the better for Joe and co. Plus if someone goes down we won’t miss a beat. What about us getting a pure shooter. A 3-point outside shooting specialist? We need that sort of weapon late the game. Look at Orlando in the playoffs. Also what can we really get for Chills. Camby? Kaman? And no one say Bosh please, be real.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
7:49 pm
Deep,
I don’t think Camby or Kaman are real for Chills either, both in terms of evenness of the trade and in terms of the salary numbers involved.
deep
July 4th, 2009
8:00 pm
So chills for Thomas or Gadzuric? Does that really help the Hawks? What other deals could we be looking at? What kind of pick could we really expect? I know Chills was a lotto but given the situation I don’t see the Bucks giving us their pick. What about a Chills and our next years number one?
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
8:01 pm
Woody seems to do a fair – but not great – job of developing “can’t miss” prospects. That’s why Josh, Marvin, Chill, and Al have done decently well under him. But for more borderline prospects like Diaw, Ivey, Shelden, and Acie, Woody just doesn’t care enough to give them much-needed in-game minutes.
Lenny Wilkens had the same issue, perhaps even moreso. I remember one season, he cut Scot Pollard in favor of useless veteran Mark West. By the end of the year, Pollard was a rotation player backing up Vlade Divac on the playoff-bound Kings. Then he cut Shammond Williams, who became part of the 3-guard rotation on the playoff-bound Sonics. The list goes on.
I also remember Lenny Wilkens loved running his starters into the ground. Anyone else remember Game 5 in the ‘99 playoffs, when Wilkens played all five starters at least 40 minutes, including all 48 for Steve Smith and Grant Long? Here’s the box score of that game:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199905160ATL.html
We got swept in a 4-game blowout in the second round after that. Sound familiar?
There are certain coaches who just have so little trust in their young players that they won’t give them PT during the regular season. There’s always some excuse – “We have to start off strong,” “We have to secure a playoff spot,” “We have to compete for a higher seed.” At some point, you either give your guys PT or you don’t.
Here’s a hint: The guys who don’t are never the guys who coach teams to a title. Never.
deep
July 4th, 2009
8:03 pm
So Chills for Thomas or Gadzuric? Does that really help the Hawks? What other deals could we be looking at? What kind of pick could we really expect? I know Chills was a lotto but given the situation I don’t see the Bucks giving us their #1 pick. What about a Chills and our next years number one? Do we really need another 19 or up pick? We got lucky this year with the draft being so pg heavy.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
8:05 pm
Deep,
Chills is BYC. That makes him very hard to sign and trade.
deep
July 4th, 2009
8:06 pm
So Chills for Thomas or Gadzuric? Does that really help the Hawks? What other deals could we be looking at? What kind of pick could we really expect? I know Chills was a lotto but given the situation I don’t see the Bucks giving us their #1 pick. What about a Chills and our next years number one? Do we really need another 19 or up pick? We got lucky this year with the draft being so pg heavy.
Please respond Ariose and Niremetal. You guys seem to be two of the most down to earth real B-ball fans on here.
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
8:06 pm
Ken,
I beg to differ with you. Training camp for N.B.A. starts in October. The regular season starts in November. Once the season starts, it is on and popping. It is up to the players to hone their skills during the off season. Why would your skill set up to a coach? You are responsible for your own money.
On your job, is it up to you to acquire whatever skills that would make your a more valuable employee? Or will you wait on your supervisor to train you? If you are the latter, you will miss out own more promotions.
JSmooth worked out with Hakeem last season. During the 07-08 season, Marvin only took 10 3’s. He worked on his tres during the off season and came back during this season and lit it up. Michael Jordan did not wait for Doug Collins or Phil to “develop” him. He went out own his own, during the off season and “developed” himself. When he came into training camp and the regular season, he showed the coach what he could do and the rest is history.
Players need to spend the summer “developing” themselves and show the coach when they return to training camp.
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends.”
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
8:13 pm
FLIP was one of my favorite Hawks last season, would hate to see him go, but the gaurd rotation is startin to look a bit tight…
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
8:35 pm
KevinA,
Just realized I never answered your Q – the answer is the day of the last regular season game. So we can trade guys to get under the tax threshold before then, but cutting/waiving players doesn’t get their salaries off our books.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
8:38 pm
PS – In fairness to Lenny Wilkens, the two best draft picks that Pete Babs gave him to work with before his last year with the team were Alan Henderson and Chris Crawford:
1992: Adam Keefe, Elmer Bennett
1993: Doug Edwards, Richard Manning
1994: Gaylon Nickerson
1995: Alan Henderson, Donnie Bryce, Troy Brown, Cuanzo Martin
1996: Priest Lauderdale
1997: Ed Gray, Alain Digbeu, Chris Crawford
1998: Roshown McLeod, Cory Carr
Eesh.
Big Ray
July 4th, 2009
8:40 pm
Ah hell, Sam vs. Ken . It’s got a UFC feel to it….
RIP, Steve McNair…
Free Agency has slowed down, and we’re in cruise mode…
Happy 4th y’all….
Big Ray
July 4th, 2009
8:44 pm
Players need to spend the summer “developing” themselves and show the coach when they return to training camp.
Um, yeah that has a kernel of truth to it. Aaaaaaand….the coach still needs to know what to do with these players. Josh Smith did not come back after the summer with a good, steady jump shot. So why did Woody run sets that had him taking 20-footers (oh yes he did that, ask Bibby). Why did we still not run screens for Bibby and JJ? Why did we still look lik Land of the Lost coming out of timeouts?
It ain’t all about the players. If it was, then you wouldn’t need a coach.
Next…
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
8:49 pm
Roddick vs. Federer – any predictions? TB/Ariose/anyone?
Happy 4th!
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
9:05 pm
Big Ray I am with you on Josh taking jumpers in the Woody flow. I think Woody has one thing in mind. In spite of floor play or injury, he is going to exploit his best 5 players first. After that he will keep the rotation as short as possible. If he had not done that in the past he would be gone. This year is the first one he might have more options to survive.
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
9:12 pm
Block buster deal: Andrew Bogut + whatever for Chills and Crawford, They like Chills. We could throw in ZaZa.
KevinA
July 4th, 2009
9:27 pm
nire metal – tks for the info.
Wabe
July 4th, 2009
9:38 pm
Roddick’s playin well as of late, but he’s like the Phil Mickelson of tennis…
Federer will win and will own the record for grandslams…
Should be a good match though.
niremetal
July 4th, 2009
9:51 pm
I’ve got Federer in 4 sets. I’ll say 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Still don’t know who I’m pulling for…
Ken Strickland
July 4th, 2009
10:01 pm
NIREMETAL-Actually, Lenny Wilkins had an excellent record of developing young players, until he became the Hawks HC. He did an excellent job of developing JSikma, GWilliams, PSmith in Seattle and MPrice, RHarper, BDoughtery and CEhlo in Cleveland. As Hawks HC, he was too preoccupied with becoming the NBA’s winningest HC to risk the extra losses he surely would have suffered while developing his younger players. and thus employed a win now philosophy. His unwillingness to develop and play the younger players the team was drafting and spending big money on was the main reason he was fired. After all, he was hired to win gms and develop young players like he did in Seattle and Cleveland, not misuse the team in persuit of personal records.
INTERESTING FAN-regardless of how much time and effort a player puts into his off season development, it’s still up to he HC to give him the consistent time and opportunity to utilize those skills, and hopefully without risk of being punished if a mistake is made. After receiving 11.5 mins a gm as a rookie, and working hard the following off season to improve his skills, SJones got rewarded for his efforts by having his mins reduced to 4.1 the following yr. WOULD YOU SAY HIS DECREASE IN MINS AND OPPORTUNITY WAS BENEFICIAL OR DETRIMENTAL IN FURTHERING HIS DEVELOPMENT, AND WHO DO YOU FAULT FOR THE DECREASE?
Melvin
July 4th, 2009
10:30 pm
Don’t sleep on The Raptors next season. With the addition of Hedo to go along with Bosh and Bargnani on the front line and Calderon in the backcourt. If they find an effective player to play at SG (rookie DeMar DeRozan), they could very well be a much improve team next season….
terrell barron
July 4th, 2009
10:33 pm
Nire, I’ve got Federer in 3 sets. 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Roddick shrinks when he plays Roger. Hopefully, I’m wrong.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2009
10:43 pm
Who on that Raptors team is going to play defense or come off the bench?
I could see them being a lot like the Warriors of a couple of years ago, running and gunning and making the playoffs and possibly even bouncing a high seed due to matchup problems. They will definitely be fun to watch. But I have a hard time seeing them be true contenders with that roster.
THE MOST INTERESTING HAWKS FAN IN THE WORLD
July 4th, 2009
10:47 pm
KEN,
Point well taken with the S. Jones comment. You mentioned several players that Woodson left by the wayside, but I am sure that you are aware that he played JSmoove, JChills, Horford as rookies with heavy minutes.
Very good points…
“I don’t always watch basketball, but when I do, I prefer the Hawks. Stay thirsty my friends.”
Najeh Davenpoop
July 4th, 2009
11:00 pm
I don’t watch a whole lot of tennis, but I do follow it enough to make a (unoriginal and pointless) prediction — Federer in straight sets.