It's becoming more commonplace for foreign players to dabble in the NBA and then go back overseas. Jorge Garjabosa, Primoz Brezec, Sarunas Jackisevicius, and Bostjan Nochbar are all headed back overseas. Guys like Travis Hansen are finding they might as well stay overseas since they can make more than any NBA team would be willing to offer. Draft picks like Fran Vasquez and Tiago Splitter are signing mutli-year deals to stay away rather than come to the NBA. Now word has it Greece has offered Josh Childress a three-year $20 million deal. That will be really interesting. It will mean that the NBA has real competition for the talent.
It may mean next time there's a bargaining over the collective bargaining agreement, the players will have a little more leverage. "Hey if you don't want to lose all your sixth men to Europe, we need more leeway and cap space here." Owners may not like it, and some teams are losing money as is, but their paradigm is in for a big shift soon. If Childress takes the midlevel to stay rather than the extra $2 million a year to go to Greece, the NBA's bought it self a little time (and with no taxes and a weak dollar, the money's worth more over there).
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