Olympiakos

Admittedly, I was shocked when I heard that Josh Childress had accepted Olympiakos’s $32.5 million contract offer.

Certainly it is not unheard of for NBA players to hop the pond to play in Europe, but for the most part these are role players or perhaps others on the tail ends of their careers.

Though certainly not a star player by any means, Childress was certainly a solid NBA player and one of the premier sixth men in the league. At the very least, he was a player that the casual NBA fan probably had actually heard of before.

While Childress’s decision, in and of itself, does not necessarily or even probably portend a massive exodus to the NBA’s salary cap-less European counterpart, it did demonstrate that this possibility in a relatively high-profile manner.

What will likely be more important than Childress simply signing with Olympiakos will be his actual experience there. Recently, LeBron James admitted that he would consider a European offer of “$50 million a year or more.”

Though this seems outlandish both in terms of how ludicrously high his salary expectations seem to us, as well as how utterly impossible it seems for the NBA’s best young player to leave at the zenith of his career, upon closer consideration, there are many reasons why LeBron probably should spend a year or two abroad.

Firstly, European clubs do not have salary caps. Simply, this means that no NBA franchise could offer anything even in the ballpark of what European ones could propose. Moreover, it is possible that much like Olympiakos is reportedly already going to do for Childress, they could pay LeBron’s income tax for him. LeBron could potentially be making $50,000,000 straight up.

Obviously, this is substantially more than he would be making in the United States. For an athlete whose self-stated financial goal is to become a billionaire, this must be an extremely compelling selling point.

Secondly, the Euro league is not the NBDL. LeBron would not be playing in a minor league in any sense, as anyone who has seen what has happened to the US National team in recent years can attest. Although it is not up to par with the talent level of the NBA, LeBron would be playing in a professional league in every sense of the term.

If the King does truly want to become a “global icon,” it is difficult to see a better venue for him to accomplish this besides playing in Europe.  Of note also is the fact that Commissioner David Stern has stated that he envisions a global NBA, with divisions both in Europe and in Asia.

Without a doubt, LeBron playing in Europe would contribute greatly to the realization of this project. Him thriving in Europe, as a person as well as a player, would do much to mitigate the concerns of American players living and playing in foreign countries.  In this sense, LeBron would be taking a huge step towards a more global game.

Consider that the King is currently 23 years old. He will be 25 should he decide to play in Europe in 2010.

Michael Jordan won his first championship at the age of 28. I contend that LeBron, in choosing to spend a couple of years in Europe (which reportedly would be the length of time he currently envisions spending there), really doesn’t stand to damage his basketball legacy in any way.

Jordan retired twice, played minor league baseball, and is still unquestionably the greatest of all time.  The hundred million obvious reasons aside, once you think about it, why wouldn’t LeBron want to play in Europe?

Josh Childress, Carlos Delfino, Juan Carlos Navarro, Primos Brezec, Bostjan Nachbar, Jorge Garbajosa. What do these guys have in common?

They have rejected their future in the NBA, taking the option to play in Europe next seasons. The strength of the Euro, the weakness of the dollar and the economic power of many European teams is changing the dynamic. Some clubs can compete with the NBA in salaries and players look now to the old continent as a reliable option.

This is disturbing the NBA operation, but, is this new trend a real threat to the NBA dominance?

Well, is thought to predict the future, but in my opinion many things have to change in order to make the European competition a real option of dominance in the next decade.

Current moves are enabled by four reasons:

1. Rich owners: Many rich people are entering in world of basketball. They are billionaires, and they ride their teams as a hobby. They invest millions of euros, but they don’t recover almost anything. They don’t worry about money. They have too much. A perfect example is Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC and investor of CSKA Moscow, former Euroleague champion.

2. Contracts free of taxes: Contracts in Europe are free of taxes. When a player signs 12 millions of euros for three seasons, he is paid just this amount. This will earn Josh Childress in his European career. Twenty free millions of dollars in three years.

3. Soccer clubs that maintains the basketball section: There are two major examples: Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Their soccer teams generate millions of euros, and the club invests a minimal part of the total into the basketball team.

4. The strength of the Euro: Today is more interesting working in Europe than in the States. Quite simple.

These are the facts that are setting Europe at the spotlight. Many talented players are coming here to play the game of basketball, but there is much work to do. Basketball in Europe has to capture the momentum, make several changes in the organization of the game environment and build a solid product that is able to compete in business terms with the NBA. 

Time to step forward

The European League has to start right now. The local competition is not in their best moment. Only the Spanish one has a reliable group of powerful teams. In the rest of the continent, a couple of teams per country dominate year by year.

Running the European League will generate much more income. The level would be better and the product would be awesome. The product would also be more attractive for television and sponsors.

Nowadays, the Euroleague is broadcast by local stations; unbelievable for a continental event.

All of this would give all the clubs a solid economic base, making them able to face the salaries of emergent European stars, avoiding their departure to the NBA.

Can you imagine a real playoff system involving a seven game series with teams such as Maccabi, Tau, Panathinaikos or Olympiacos?

Sounds great.

So, what’s the problem?

The European mentality: here, the game of basketball is not understood as a business. For this reason I think that, unfortunately, Europe will miss the chance to build a competition able to compete in talent, show and business with the NBA.

In many years, the rich guys will get fed up with basketball, and the dollar will recover its position, and everything will be the same.  

I hope to be wrong. In this case, a new stage of dominance will begin, and the threat will be pretty real.

But, by now, this trend is a simple disruption for the NBA.

Until this season, the Atlanta Hawks had the longest playoff drought of any team in the NBA, missing the playoffs for eight straight years.

They haven’t finished a season above .500 since the 98-99 year, and that was in a 50-game shortened season.

And while taking the NBA champs to seven games looks good on paper, the fact is that the Hawks were never in contention to win a game in Boston, and a makeshift Cavs team that had less than three months to gel did the same thing. In two of the three wins the Hawks were down by double digits heading into the fourth quarter. There was a little luck involved.

But for the first time in nearly a decade, there is optimism in A-town. The Hawks are young and improving, and Joe Johnson has reached star status.

Unfortunately for fans, the Hawks are repeating the same pattern of behavior that has put them in this rut of mediocrity—the front office is screwing up again

The Hawks' front office, which is currently counting its pennies and hoarding them away, has been very reluctant to commit big money to fan favorite Josh Smith and athletic swingman Josh Childress.

Childress was so upset about his neglect and the front office that he opted today to play for a team in a country he’s never lived in, leaving the NBA rather than play for the Hawks. His deal with Olympiacos is reportedly the largest in Euroleague history and was closer to what he could’ve received in free agency next year

Hawks GM Rick Sund said he just thought Childress was trying to create leverage with the Hawks, and didn’t take the Greek threat seriously. The Hawks were busy counting pennies—and just lost a key player from their playoff team as a result.

This just adds to a laundry list of things the Hawks front office has botched in the last ten years.

The management of the Atlanta Hawks has been bad since the turn of the century. Almost all of their major moves have backfired. It started right after the lockout season, when the Hawks broke up one of the most overlooked backcourt tandems in the last 20 years—Mookie Blaylock and Steve Smith

Blaylock is still the Hawks all-time leader in three-pointers and steals. He is also one of just three players to lead the league in steals in back-to-back years. The Hawks traded him to the Warriors for the 10th pick in the ’99 draft, which turned into Jason Terry. That one wasn’t a bad move. It was the exception to the rule.

Steve Smith was one of the best sharpshooters of his time. His departure killed the fan base. He was traded with Ed Gray to Portland for J.R. Rider and Jim Jackson. This would start a trend of bringing in questionable character players based on raw talent. Jackson was traded in the following offseason, along with two other players, for Brevin Knight.

Knight would then only play in Atlanta for one year. In 2001, he would be part of one of the worst deals in franchise history. The Hawks traded the third pick in the draft, along with Knight and Lorenzen Wright, to the Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and the 27th pick.

The third pick that year? Pau Gasol.

Abdur-Rahim was a 20-10 guy in Atlanta for the better part of three years, but if the Hawks had kept Knight and Gasol, they would have found their next big-time center. This is especially important, considering the other major deal they pulled off in this offseason.

The Hawks traded Dikembe Mutombo to the 76ers for an aging Toni Kukoc, Theo Ratliff, Nazr Mohammad, and Pepe Sanchez. Kukoc gave the Hawks 20 points a game the next year, then fell off considerably over the rest of his career. Mohammad had a very unfulfilling and injury-prone stint with Atlanta.

Ratliff was supposed to be a poor man’s Mutombo, but played just three games for Atlanta in his first year with the Hawks.

Meanwhile, Mutombo won the Defensive Player of the Year Award and helped the 76ers reach the NBA Finals. The Hawks now had a void in the backcourt and frontcourt.

In 2002 the Hawks made a “blockbuster” deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and acquired Glenn Robinson for Kukoc, Leon Smith, and a future first-round pick—which turned into T.J. Ford.

Robinson averaged 21 points and seven rebounds, but had the worst shooting year of his career. He was also a headache for the coaching staff. He would only play with the Hawks for one season.

If the Hawks kept the pick and took Ford, they wouldn’t have needed to bring in Mike Bibby last year, and would have found a permanent resident at the position. If this had happened, Ford may have avoided all of his neck problems.

In 2003, the aforementioned Robinson was dealt in a four-way deal to the 76ers in exchange for Terrell Brandon, Randy Holcomb, and a future first-round pick. The Hawks wasted little time in getting rid of another bad decision. By trading the pick later on, the Hawks got nothing for a player they gave up a whole lot to bring in just a year before.

In 2004 the Hawks unloaded Abdur-Rahim, along with Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau, on Portland for Rasheed Wallace and Wesley Person. Person became an inconsequential member of the bench for two years, and played just 67 games for the Hawks. Rasheed Wallace was literally one and done, traded almost immediately to the Pistons in a three-team deal.

This would be one of those rare deals to work out for the Hawks, as they received Bob Sura, Chris Mills, Zelijko Rebraca, and a first-round pick. Mills was cut about a month later and Rebraca was useless. Sura was gone by the end of the season but averaged 15 points and eight assists. In reality the Hawks should’ve kept him.

The deal worked out because the Hawks used that pick to draft Josh Smith. Smith has paid more than enough dividends—and the Hawks better lock him up long term in the coming weeks.

The Hawks made one other deal that year. They acquired Michael Doleac, Joel Pryzbilla, and a 2005 second-round pick for Nazr Mohammad in another three team deal. Doleac never played for the Hawks. At least Pryzbilla played in 12 games. The draft pick never did anything in the league.

Current Olympiacos guard Josh Childress was drafted sixth in the draft later in the year.

After the draft, the Hawks worked out a sign and trade, picking up Al Harrington from the Pacers for Stephen Jackson. Harrington started for the Hawks for the better part of two seasons and played extremely well. His versatility turned him into one of the most promising big men in the league. The Pacers regretted letting him go and would do something about that later on.

The Hawks then traded Jason Terry, who they didn’t want to pay down the road. The Hawks traded Terry to the Mavericks along with Hawks stronghold Alan Henderson and a future first-round pick for Tony Delk and Antoine Walker.

Walker led the Hawks in scoring the following year with 20 a game, but the Hawks won just 13 games. Meanwhile, Terry resurrected his career in Dallas. Ironically enough, the Mavericks, in making the Terry deal, shelved trade talks with the Nets for Jason Kidd.

At the end of the busy year, the Hawks traded away Jon Barry for Tyronn Lue.

In 2005, the Hawks made more financially-motivated moves. They traded Antoine to the Celtics for Michael Stewart, Tom Gugliotta, Gary Payton, and a future first-round pick. Payton was then purposely cut so he could go back to Boston.

Tom played 74 games in two years with the Hawks. Walker and Pierce were a dynamic duo for Boston for some time.

The Hawks would then make a major move toward their current lineup. They traded Boris Diaw and two future first-round picks for Joe Johnson. Johnson has been a star—but if the Hawks had kept Terry they could’ve used those two picks and be a year or two ahead of their current schedule.

In 2006, the Hawks were finished with Al Harrington. They traded him back to the Pacers along with the non-telepathic John Edwards for a future first-round pick.

The pick in the deal was Acie Law. Law could certainly turn into the point of the future in Atlanta, but as of right now he is struggling and underutilized. His current career path with Atlanta is reminiscent of someone they traded the year before—Boris Diaw.

If the Hawks showed a little patience and kept Harrington, they would’ve enjoyed one of the best starting fives in the Eastern Conference for the last couple of years. The starting lineup would have been Johnson, Childress, Smith, Harrington, and Horford.

And with Childress being a full-time starter, there would be a much better chance he would have been content with playing in Atlanta. The Hawks would’ve played above-.500 ball in 2008. They may have ended their playoff series drought as well.

On top of that, it would’ve prevented the Hawks from resorting to signing Slava Medvedenko at the end of 2006.

2007 was a quiet year for the Hawks. Not a good year. Just quiet.

Last year was the most recent “mega deal” in Atlanta. They picked up declining and injury-riddled Mike Bibby from the Kings for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, and a future second-round pick.

The Hawks didn’t give up a lot to get Bibby but they are hurting themselves on the court. So far the Hawks have been better off with Johnson running the point and Bibby on the bench.

With Childress now leaving, that might no longer be the case. If Bibby can get and stay healthy, the Hawks should ultimately win this deal. And if things don’t work out, recent history says Bibby will be gone by the end of next season.

The Hawks' front office is muddled with communication problems as the Hawks co-owners clearly have a conflict of interest. This is creating a situation where a young promising team that will cost money to keep together might break apart because of the power struggle in the skybox.

In a weak Eastern Conference where the champs are a team of mostly 30-plus veterans, the future is ripe for the taking. The Hawks have some pieces of a future title contender already in place. Only pinching pennies can prevent that from coming to fruition.

And it looks like it will.

Barcelona have made back up keeper Jose Manuel Pinto’s loan move permanent. The Catalans have paid Celta Vigo half a million Euros or three hundred and ninety five thousand pounds for their new third choice shot stopper. (Marca)

Palermo have signed Fiorentina’s former Lazio midfielder Fabio Liverani on a three year deal, the Sicilian club have confirmed. (Sky Sports News)

Fenerbahce are in talks with Newcastle’s Turkish International Emre about returning to Istanbul for four million. Emre started his career with Fenerbahce’s arch rivals Galatastaray.

Rennes, Lens and Portsmouth are all interested in signing Liverpool back up keeper Charles Itandje. (The Sun)

Jose Mourinho is almost certain to take over at Inter Milan after Roberto Mancini’s sacking by the Italian club. Ironically the former Leicester and Italy International is now favourite to take over at the “Special Ones’” old club Chelsea. (The Guardian)

Fiorentina Viola have signed AC Milan’s Italy international striker Alberto Gilardino. (The Guardian)

Lyon will sign Nice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to replace the departing Gregory Coupet, who is expected to leave the Stade Gerrland this summer. (L’Equipe)

Ernesto Valverde, who resigned from Espanyol a few days ago, has been appointed Olympiakos manager on a three year contract worth four million Euros. (The Guardian)

Sam Morrowhas become the first managerial casualty of the MLS season after the FC Dallas manager was sacked last night after the club’s after the Texan clubs disappointing start to the season. (ESPN)

Former Argentina Manager Jose Pekermanhas resigned from his position as manager of Mexican outfit Toluca for family reasons. (ESPN)

Chelsea could appoint AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti as their new head coach, and then exploit his relationship with star playerKaka with a fifty million pound bid for the Brazilian superstar. (Daily Star)

Barcelona claim that Arsenal’s Belarus Captain Alexander Hleb has agreed to join them for next season, Yaya Touregoing the other way as part of the deal. The Catalans are also reportively interested in Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbartov and Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Although no deal for either of the front men can be made until Samuel Eto’o leaves. (Daily Star)

Reading’s Ivory Coast midfielder Emerse Fae is close to a return to France with Nice close to acquiring the player on loan with a view to a permanent two point four million pound move. The player was previously fined two weeks wages for refusing to play for the club’s reserves back in April (The Times)

Crystal Palace are facing a real war to keep hold of some of their star players. Teenage superstar John Bostock is on the verge of signing for Tottenham and fellow midfielder Ben Watson is being chased by Derby, Nottingham Forrest, Bolton, and Middlesbrough. QPR have already had a one and a quarter million pound bid turned from the eagles. (The Times)

Rangers are interested in Le Mans left back Jean Calve, and Monaco left back Jeremy Berthod. (Various)

Portsmouth are interested in Trinidad and Tobago international eighteen year old midfielder Khaleem Hyland, who will play against England on Sunday. (The Times)

Sunderland are planning a swoop for Aston Villa’s Scotland midfielder Shaun Maloney with a four million pound bid (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham will bid for twelve million pound rated Paraguay striker Oscar Cardozofrom Benfica. (Daily Mirror)

Derby, Reading and Coventry are all in the race to sign Swansea’s Dutch midfielder Ferrie Bodde this summer. (Derby Evening Standard)

Plymouth Argyle and Aberdeen will fight it out for Leicester’s former Republic of Ireland full back Alan Maybury. (Daily Record)

Cardiff City want to sign Manchester City’s young Welsh midfielder Ched Evans on loan this season. (South Wales Echo)

West Brom are considering making a move for Dundee’s highly rated midfielder Kevin McDonald. (Daily Record)

Swedish champions Djurgardens and Dundee United are bidding to take Ranger’s winger Alan Gowon loan for next season. The Tannadice club are also interested in taking Charlie Adamfrom Ibrox in a similar deal. (Various)

Celtic will rival Sunderland for the signing of Manchester city’s Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland with a five million pound bid. (Daily Mirror)

Roma came from a goal behind to secure a memorable 2-1 win over Real, their first victory in four attempts against the Spanish giants at home.

Raul gave the visitors an eighth minute lead but David Pizzarro equalized 15 minutes later to give Roma some hope. Mancini scored the winner early in the second half to give Roma a slender advantage.

Madrid came thundering back with Raul and van Ruud van Nistelrooy having good chances to score, but Roma held on.

It should be an exciting game when the teams meet next in the Santiago Bernabeu. Both have attacking flair in abundance. Perhaps there could be an upset in the making with Roma going through.

Shalke (1) FC Porto (0) , Arena AufShalke

2004 champions Porto succumbed to a fourth minute Kevin Kuranyi strike when right back Rafinah’s strike was partially parried.

Shalke were in control for much of the match but Porto rallied in the second half and could have snatched an equalizer. 

Kuranyi should have capitalized on Jermaine Jones’s 60th minute cross, but shot wide. Shalke might regret their squandered chances come the return leg. Porto will feel confident having conceded only the one goal away.

Liverpool (2) Internazionale (0),  Anfield

A deflected 85th minute shot from Dirk Kuyt and a Steven Gerrard injury time drive secured a well-earned win for Liverpool at home.

Inter’s Marco Materazzi was sent off after his second foul against Fernando Torres, leaving the visitors to defend manfully for the remainder of the game.

The Merseysider’s enjoyed much of the possession and territory. Sammy Hyypia, Ryan Babel, and Fernando Torres all had chances, but Inter’s organized defense and goalkeeper Julio Cesar kept them at bay.

With 25 minutes left, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Pennant came in and the latter’s crosses directly lead to Liverpool’s goals.

With a two goal cushion Liverpool will hope to sit back, absorb, and counter Inter at home. Benitez’s European sensibilities seem to be working again.

Olympiacos (0) Chelsea (0), Gergios Karaiskakis Stadium

An unimaginative Chelsea failed to score against their less-fancied opponents who were content to counter attack the Blues and defend in numbers. Chelsea was without captain John Terry and midfield goal getter Frank Lampard for the encounter.

Playing as the lone striker, Drogba was starved for service despite Chelsea’s 4-3-3 formation, which had Malouda and Joe Cole playing as wingers.  

In the second period, Olympiacos had the better of the chances and went close with a Galleti volley that went over the bar.

Avram Grant should be happy with his team’s result and will feel confident of progressing when the teams meet at Stamford Bridge.