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Exodus from Europe to the NBA begins reversing its course By Jerry Mittleman The ground rules of the NBA-Euroleague competition for basketball talent took a major shift this Wednesday, when Josh Childress left the Atlanta Hawks and signed a three-year $21- million contract to play for Olympiacos of the Greek league. Childress, who was a restricted free agent, is the latest of five players to bolt the NBA this summer and be enticed by the strong euro to play in the Euroleague. The eye opener is that the others were international players returning to Europe, whereas Childress is the first American to do so. Advertisement Until now, the Euroleague was an option for marginal NBA players or veteran stars in the dying embers of their careers. Childress hardly fits in either category. He is 25 years old, in the prime of his career, and averaged close to 12 points a game for the Hawks last season, as one of the best 6th men in the NBA. According to David Blatt, former Maccabi Tel Aviv coach, and currently the coach of Dynamo Moscow and the Russian national team, "what Euroleague clubs are doing today is only just revenge for the massive raiding of top European players by the NBA during the past 10 years." Blatt's own Dynamo Moscow team got in on the fun this week by signing Bostjan Nachbar, who averaged 10 points a contest for the New Jersey Nets this past year. Blatt, who helped put together the Maccabi team that would become a dynasty in Euroleague basketball, has always been on the cutting edge of the latest trends in European basketball. "This summer's trend will probably continue and strengthen the Euroleague," he notes. "European teams are exploiting a weakness the NBA has in dealing with mid-level players, because the salary cap and the restricted free agent rule put restrictions on the amount of money teams can offer." The "restricted free agent rule" allows a player's current team to retain his services by matching any offer he receives from another NBA club. This doesn't apply to offers he may receive from Europe. "This will probably lead, eventually," says Blatt, "to some cooperative measure between the NBA and the Euroleague". In the meantime, there are still many highly skilled NBA restricted free agents, such as Emeka Okafor, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Andre Iguodala and Monta Ellis, to name a few, who have yet to sign this summer. Now that Childress has opened the door, there will probably be others who are at least ready to take a peek. Other factors in the Euroleague's favor are the many perks that players receive in Europe, as compared with the U.S. Foreign players' salaries are tax free, and usually free housing is thrown into the deal. The $7 million that Childress will be making this year is the equivalent of a $10-million NBA contract. Now that Maccabi's Euroleague rivals have joined the action, the Israeli team needs to decide whether it's going to loosen its purse strings, or take a conservative approach and remain on the sidelines. The decision could have long-term implications for Maccabi's competitiveness in the Euroleague. Bookmark to del.icio.us   West Bank drought Palestinian Water Authority calls on Israel to rethink its water policies. Death of an artist Egyptian filmmaker's controversial work earned him international recognition.

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