Semi-OT: International Temptation

[Miklo]

So with Childress being the latest NBA player to receive a tempting offer from an overseas team, I wanted to discuss what seems to be becoming a fairly big trend over the last few years. As evidenced by Olympics performances, other countries are getting more and more serious about basketball. And on the club level, some of the major teams (Maccabi, Olympiakos, Tau Ceramica, etc) are talent-wise at or near the performance level of at least some of the lower echelon NBA squads. These clubs have begun to throw more money at players, "stealing" some already from the NBA and with more seemingly on the way. And with the NBA talking about international expansion, we seem to be encroaching on territory and competing with other leagues. The NBA may not sit alone on the top shelf of professional basketball entertainment for long.

How do yall see this trend developing?

I think as more and more teams bring over NBA players, it will become a precedent and help increase basketball fans overseas, which will in turn lead to even more lucrative offers from foreign teams. Josh Childress, if he were to accept the Olympiakos offer, would represent an NBA sixth-man quality player leaving and this seems to mean a lot for the future of players who are NBA MLE material. Will the NBA salary cap need to be adjusted? Will NBA teams eventually have to start paying players who are closer to min quality, with contracts closer to the MLE (Diop, lol)? Time will tell...discuss.

[NashtyNas]

Dude, as far as I see it, it's just his agents trying to stir things up and get some offers from NBA teams. They are just looking at the lack of interest in the NBA, so they want a better offer from the Hawks therefore act like they have interest from Europe teams. If he doesn't get any offers in the NBA though, I doubt he declines such a lucrative offer.

[Sarlonus]

I think it shows you why the restricted free agent system is broken. There are many MLE talent restricted free agents out there but since most teams can only offer the MLE, they won't because the team will match them. European teams can then go after the players because of the lack of offers. I think that restricted free agents will be the most targeted players by European teams. The new CBA needs to address this by making it so that European teams must pay at least some kind of fee to get these restricted free agents.

Another idea I had would be if by September 1, any team with 2 million or less in cap space (excluding the MLE cap hold but including any other cap hold) can package the cap space and the MLE to offer a restricted free agent a contract. That will allow teams to offer around 8 million to a player. It isn't perfect but it does give power to those teams that go into the off-season with only a little cap space.

[walkingart]

The dollar is in decline, and you don't have to pay taxes over seas. Those two factors are making the money far too tempting. I don't see them stealing away to many players because they play a shorter season and therefore can't generate the revenue to match the bigger NBA deals.

I am sure when the CBA is up, a couple things will change. One will be RFA's having a buyout to go to Europe as sarlonus suggested. Two, no more Lux tax. We might also see the MLE and LLE raised.

[Cash]

I think it shows you why the restricted free agent system is broken. There are many MLE talent restricted free agents out there but since most teams can only offer the MLE, they won't because the team will match them. European teams can then go after the players because of the lack of offers. I think that restricted free agents will be the most targeted players by European teams. The new CBA needs to address this by making it so that European teams must pay at least some kind of fee to get these restricted free agents.

Another idea I had would be if by September 1, any team with 2 million or less in cap space (excluding the MLE cap hold but including any other cap hold) can package the cap space and the MLE to offer a restricted free agent a contract. That will allow teams to offer around 8 million to a player. It isn't perfect but it does give power to those teams that go into the off-season with only a little cap space.

Nice breakdown in the first paragraph. But as you say, the restricted free agent system basically cripples a player's ability to get a fair contract in the US, so they're going to start considering the Euro loophole. So is the solution to put further leverage-crippling restrictions on the one loophole players currently have? Even if it is, don't think for a second that the players' union would ever allow such a stipulation in the CBA.

Personally, I find this whole affair very exciting, and I hope both Josh Smith and that blue-chip high school senior go over to Europe. Hopefully it will help people realize that it's not enough to just say you're the best over and over. You have to actually *be* the best if you want to be treated that way. For as long as I can remember, the NBA was far and away the best pro basketball league in the world. As of now, it's still #1, but the gap has narrowed remarkably, to the point where choosing the Euroleague is a viable option for guys who could have NBA jobs if they wanted them.

Hopefully, this causes the league to get its act together. Although honestly, the bottom line is our pathetic dollar. Bring the US dollar back up to anywhere near respectable, and the Euro teams won't be able to compete financially. If that was a 3-year, $12.6 million deal offered to Josh Smith (instead of $20mil), I doubt he'd even consider it.

[Miklo]

Hopefully it will help people realize that it's not enough to just say you're the best over and over.

I too am very excited by the prospect. I was glad to see Team USA struggle over the last few years, because we realize that we can't just throw the top 12 (?) guys who are willing to play onto a roster and let them individually school up on the opponent. We need to change our concept of what professional basketball is, both on an intra-league basis and on a global level. As the efforts of our olympic team become more and more intuitive as far as team play goes (yeah Coach K!!!), it will EVENTUALLY carry over somewhat into the competition between each NBA squad. As we saw a few years back, having Kobe Malon Payton etc on a team doesn't mean you have the best team. We can't just keep doing things like that; European teams who are rapidly growing in talent certainly don't. Sure the Celtics are stacked but look at how the Big 3 interact. Its not all about star power, its about running the team effectively through each player's strenghts/weaknesses on a nightly basis. Otherwise, you have if I remember correctly a Raptors team a few years ago even with VC that only beat Maccabi by 1 point. I just hope NBA organizations care enough to remain at the top.

the bottom line is our pathetic dollar.

This is a big factor along with taxation, but not the primary factor or not quite as major as many people make it out to be. Based on the law of one price/purchasing power parity, in an efficient market identical goods would cost the same everywhere - which means that no matter how much stronger one currency is, the good will cost the same when exchange rates are factored in (a candy bar would cost $1.56 here versus 1 euro over there). Now, obviously the market is anything but efficient, but it still approximately means that it costs as much for a Euro team to offer 12 million euros as it costs for a US team to offering 18 million dollars. So if a US team offers 20 million dollars and a Euro team offers 20 million euros, it is because the Euro team has deeper pockets that their offer looks better, not because the dollar sucks. Again this is not fully true because markets are in my belief only semi-efficient but this is not just The Curse of the Dollar; its Euro teams becoming more willing and able to take it to the next level.

[amitg]

Another issue is the fact that the schedule in Europe is much easier.
There are no back 2 back games, and about 2 games a week (1 local league, 1 euroleague) throughout the season. You play much less than the 82 games you play in the NBA season and players who play in Europe for few seasons should have longer careers.

And about that raptors game, they actually lost by 1 to Maccabi, on a buzzer beater by Anthony Parker (who joined them 2 years later) who is the perfect example of a player that is in a great physical condition for his age because he spent most of his career in Europe.