Stephon Marbury showing his Greek smile

Oh yeah, Stephon Marbury may be headed to Greece.

Olympiacos, which competes in the top-tier Euroleague, shook up the NBA during the offseason when it signed former Atlanta Hawks swingman Josh Childress, a restricted free agent, to a lucrative contract. The team’s owners have said they’re willing to spend to make their club the best Europe has to offer.

According to reports in Greece, the team’s owners have said they are interested in offering about $15 million to broker a buyout for Marbury and bring him overseas, the Post reported.
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Turns out Childress is injured, so Marbury may be a stand in for Josh going into the playoffs.

The Marbury story is a strange one.

Marbury has been exiled since early in the season by the Knicks, who have been unable to make any substantial progress in buyout talks with the former All-Star. Marbury is in the final season of his contract and is making $20.8 million to sit on the sideline. He has offered to give back $1 million to secure his release, but the Knicks have asked for more. Also, Knicks president Donnie Walsh remains convinced that a viable trade opportunity involving Marbury could arise between now and the Feb. 19 trade deadline.
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Photo source Newscom

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Carmelo Anthony does not want to hand the game to Greece

It has been easy sailing so far for Team USA in Olympic Basketball. China and Angola were really not much competition. Greece is different. They are tough and may expose some weaknesses in the US game.

Greece has beaten the U.S. in the teams’ last two significant meetings, in 2006 and at the 2004 Olympics. Greece, a team without any NBA players, routed Germany, 87-64, holding NBA duo Dirk Nowitzki (13 points) and Chris Kaman (four points) in check with aggressive defense.

Instead of a roster with one-named NBA stars, they have a roster with long-named stars such as guards Theodoros Papaloukas and Vassilis Spanoulis. “They’ve played together for so long and run their system so well,” said Chris Paul of Greece’s success.

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Do you think the US players are concerned? Just ask Carmelo Anthony.

“It’s been circled on my calendar for about two years,” Anthony said of the rematch. “They know we’ll be coming back to redeem ourselves. Everyone’s excited.”

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Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks or soon the Memphis Grizzlies?

In a surprise move, one of the only teams left with money, the Memphis Grizzlies, have signed Josh Smith to an offer sheet of 58 million dollars for 5 years.

Hawks management had said they would match any offer. They have seven short days to do it.

Josh Smith averaged over 17 points and 8 rebounds last year and is a key part of the playoff Atlanta Hawks team.

Atlanta recently lost 6th man Josh Howard to Greece.

Before losing Josh Howard the Hawks led the league in Josh’s with Josh Childress also on the team.

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Josh Childress will be taking his game to Greece

Hey, it is called free agency and Josh Childress took it to its extreme by signing with a Greek team. The team is called Olympiakos.

So did Josh just get Olympic fever and get confused?

No, he got 32.5 million bucks. Comparable to what the NBA was offering and for fewer years.

Read that again, comparable to what the NBA was offering and for fewer years.

Atlanta had offered him a five-year, $33 million contract. But the Hawks’ slow-paced negotiating tactics and the limits of restricted free agency, combined with what Childress called Wednesday the “opportunity of a lifetime,” resulted in his decision.

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The luxury tax and slow U.S. economy are changing the landscape.

This year, it’s changing even more. Over the past couple of weeks, those NBA free agents with international roots seemed inclined to leap. Carlos Delfino has left the Toronto Raptors and opted for BC Khimki; Bostjan Nachbar is finished with the New Jersey Nets and is on his way to Russia to play for Dynamo Moscow; the Memphis Grizzlies were so excited about acquiring Juan Carlos Navarro last year only to find him heading home to Spain to play for Barcelona next season. And Nachbar’s teammate with the Nets, 7-footer Nenad Krstic, is reportedly mulling over an overture from Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli league.

The reasons are obvious. A lot of young restricted free agents are getting nothing more than qualifying offers in the $2.5-million range, and the European teams are offering them twice that money with the much stronger Euro also trumping the dollar. Splitter, meanwhile, scoffed at the Spurs’ offer because — thanks to the rookie salary cap — a handcuffed San Antonio front office was only able to offer half of what he got to stay in Spain.

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Seems bizarre doesn’t it. We just got used to Europeans coming over here to play.

David Stern has taken notice and you can bet he will step up his effort to create more NBA ties in Europe.

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