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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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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Mike Bibby will bring shooting and poise to the Hawks

On the surface, most fans are saying, “So what.”

Mike Bibby gets traded from one under .500 team to another under .500 team.

But there is more here than meets the eye.

In the Western Conference, to be under .500 is to be out of the playoff race. In the Eastern Conference, only 5 teams are above .500. That is right, only 5 teams.

Atlanta is still in it.

The Hawks played my Pistons the other night in a nothing pre-All-Star-time game and took Detroit down to the wire.

Now admittedly the Pistons were having a tough time staying interested in that game and needed a Rasheed Wallace referee blowup to get excited, but Atlanta was busy showing off young talent at the same time.

You have a team with Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Josh Childress, Al Horford, Marvin Williams and, lo and behold, no point guard. That is until now.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson said Bibby, acquired from the Sacramento Kings for four players on Saturday, will provide scoring help for Joe Johnson. Atlanta’s All-Star shooting guard often faces gimmick defenses because he’s the team’s only outside shooting threat.

“There’s another option now,” Woodson said. “It’ll be like a one-two punch in the backcourt.” source

And Sacramento?

Don’t kid yourself about these deals. Sacramento picked up a bunch of expiring or almost expiring contracts and probably nothing more. They just want cash space in the off season to pursue players.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can Mike Bibby ignite the Hawks?

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