With all of this talk about trading for Gerald Wallace, Shane Battier, Caron Butler, etc. etc. I completely forgot about a free agent that should be available this summer and probably wouldn't break the bank to get him. Anybody remember the famous Olympiakos small forward Josh Childress? I know he's a restricted free agent, but there's a lot of bad blood between he and the Hawks so I can't see them fighting much to keep him plus I can't see him commanding much more than 6-7 million a year, which puts him right in our wheel house as far as affordability goes; so even if Darius plays his ten games this year and hits our cap figure Chill would still be affordable. Pros: A good perimeter defender Plays above the rim A good rebounder Can play the 4 in small lineups An unselfish passer High Bball IQ (and real IQ!) Cons: Not a great outside shooter Has a giant afro which needs its own seat on the plane Went to Stanford (yuck!) What do you guys think? Anybody up for a small forward rotation of Childress/Batum?
Not bad but if (and that may or may not be a big IF) Batum continues to develop then they seem somewhat similar with Batum having a higher ceiling. Would I take him over Outlaw ....
I think with the unexpected quick development of Batum, Josh Childress isn't as desired as maybe he once would have been. He is certainly better than Batum at this point, but he lacks what this team really needs. Playoff experience and knowing what it's like to win in the playoffs. A proven winner who has been there before and would be able to teach our oyung players what it really takes to compete on a nightly basis in the NBA is what this team lacks desperately.
i'd like to see what batum looks like in a year and where webster is at before giving a non-superstar a big contract to take most of their potential minutes.
I've been very interested in Childress for quite a while. Basically, Portland would have to work out a sign-and-trade with Atlanta, I think (giving up some very minimal value in return as Atlanta clearly has no real hold on Childress, since he's willing to find his fortune in Greece). Without a sign-and-trade, Childress couldn't risk signing with Portland, because Atlanta might match. There is a possibility that Atlanta will renounce their rights to him, I guess. I believe he counts against their cap as a cap-hold for as long as they hold his RFA rights.
yes please! I like his D and smart team ball offensive play. an additional pro would be that he's from the West coast. I don't think he'd be much of a 4 as he measured in at the combine about the same as Martell in height, wingspan, and standing reach... dude is wing sized. I do like the possibilities of adding him as he'd be both attainable and an upgrade on Martell and Travis. STOMP
Does this really make sense to you though? He signed with europe for more money than the Hawks would pay. Why would they match Portland, but not match a euro team? Secondly, just because Josh is signed with european team, I don't think it translates to immediately being to sign here and play. Wouldn't there be a buyout that would be needed from his euro squad in order to make it take place? It seems to me, there are a lot of pieces folks have overlooked here that make this seem to be a reach, at best.
They couldn't match Olympiakos. RFA matching rights only apply to the NBA. Joining a team in Europe is, in terms of the CBA, equivalent to him going off to become a computer programmer for Microsoft. The Hawks can't match salaries paid by entities that aren't part of the NBA and force him to play for them. Nope. Childress' contract has opt-outs for him every year. No buy-outs will be necessary. It's a pretty sweet deal he signed.
Josh Childress' stats in the Euro league confirm his fairly average talent level. I bet they are feeling some buyers remorse on his bloated contract. He's solid on defense, but a pretty bad fit in terms of both scoring and rebounding.
His NBA stats suggest otherwise. He's obviously not a volume scorer (and has never been billed as such) but he averaged double-digit points per game on VERY high scoring efficiency for a non-big man. His rebounding is very good, as his career Rebound Rate is over 10, which is strong for a wing. In addition, he's a very good defender and a solid passer. He's also a high basketball IQ player, for what that's worth. He's even a decent perimeter shooter, as his career 3PT% is .360 (granted, he hasn't shot many...but Portland would get him many more open three-point looks and he can knock them down). He's not a star, but as a complementary player he's a virtually perfect fit.
Not really. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=2373 Childress is a very good rebounder for his position, a classic "glue" guy who hits 50%+ 11 ppg, averages 2.2 offensive rebounds for his career (5.6 total) averages half a block, a steal, and about 2 assists per game in roughly 30 minutes. Imagine Travis without the corner jumper, crappy shot selection, better decision making and better understanding of team defense. The so-so adjustment to Euro ball doesn't really surprise me, as it is a very different kind of "inside" game.
how so? Compare him to last years stats from Martell. FG% - FT% - 3Pt% - Pts per 36 Minutes - RBs per 36 Minutes MW 42% - 73% - 39% - 13.8 - 5.0 JC 57% - 81% - 37% - 14.2 - 5.8 as his FG% and FTs attempts indicate, he takes it to the hole a lot STOMP
I think that's an excellent comparison in terms of production. I'm not huge Martell fan, but I think he could easily provide them same ho-hum production if given the minutes.
Sure. Childress is merely Webster with far better scoring efficiency, far better passing, better rebounding, better decision-making and far better defense. Actually, that's not much like Webster at all...
you're confusing me. Childress played about the same amount of minutes that Martell did last year. Scored more points a lot more efficiently. Bested Martell 4.2 to 2.8 in trips to the foul line per 36 minutes. Rebounded a lot better. By most everyone accounts including yours he's also a better defender which means he limits the other teams production better... yet you think Martell provides the same level of production STOMP
