Europe a threat to the NBA?

[51X3RF4N]

I am starting to think this has some merit. If Biendrins, Landry, Vujacic, and Delonte West all bolt to the other continent, that is 4 pretty decent players leaving. In addition, these players have already gone Euro:

Bostjan Nachbar, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Delfino, Primoz Brezec, Tiago Splitter, Jorge Garbajosa and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, and Childress.

That's 12 men. Think about it. In one summer. Let's just say next summer, a similar amount of non-american players leave for Europe because of the influx of college rookies.

And then a few of the FA's are not treated well by the NBA market and are offered decent contracts from Europe. If we see 12 more total going over there, that is nearly 2 NBA rosters in total.

And with the economy in its current state, the agents of these players may be pushing them to go Euro(as it is inching closer every day to being the new worldwide currency, although many will disagree).

I know we are not going to see such a strong push from the Euro market to get NBA players, but anything is possible.

Even high school kids are considering Europe instead of NCAA(Jennings). If that trend grows and they think they can skip college to make real Euros over there to start their professional careers, it could be a very different scene 5-10 years from now.

[sec-106]

It is only the beginning my friend

Thought the Jenning move was very interesting.

Look at Mayo. His only reason for going to USC was because he HAD to.

With Europe as an option, HS players see they actually don't have to go.

The age restriction rule is ridiculous at best. The Oakland A's just signed a 16 year old to millions, and do the high-handers stomp their feet for that?

I don't see many (if any) All-Star players going to Europe. I see the mid-level talent FA's, who teams are unsure they want to overpay for going, especially during a period (2010, 2010, 2010) that everyone is fanatically clearing space for.

It could be the NCAA who suffers more from Europe than the NBA, if foreign teams go after more Blue Chippers out of HS

[Phillyboy]

Guys, it's only going to take a notable NBA player or two, maybe even a superstar to go to Europe and the migration would move into high gear.

The old ABA survived and eventually 4 teams absorbed because of a select group of stars in their league that could draw NBA crowds. Julius Erving the best of the bunch.

European cities have legions of fans with money to spend. Don't kid yourself that they couldn't support NBA teams and even compete. Already we're seeing contract offers that are more attractive than the NBA offer. Once a European team can make a mega offer to a mega star you'll see the beginning of the expansion of the NBA to Europe.

[psykosacul]

the sky is falling! the sky is falling!


didnt i hear that childress's contract was the most lucrative european deal ever? REAL nba players arent going anywhere. their contracts would have to be 4 times what childress's was the fringe players might get sucked away but guess what... those same guys existed in europe before and the nba has been fine for quite a while without them.

jennings going however... well that completely screws the ncaa.

[Phillyboy]

the sky is falling! the sky is falling!


didnt i hear that childress's contract was the most lucrative european deal ever? REAL nba players arent going anywhere. their contracts would have to be 4 times what childress's was the fringe players might get sucked away but guess what... those same guys existed in europe before and the nba has been fine for quite a while without them.

jennings going however... well that completely screws the ncaa.

Hey Psyko. How's it going?

I don't know if you thought my post was of the "Chicken Little" persuation but it's not.

I'm of the mindset that expansion into Europe is a great thing. Expanding marketshare is great for any business. And we'd need 26 accountants to figure out the mountain of revenue that can be generated by this.

Not only is expansion probable I believe it's only a matter of time. My biggest concern would be how things go in the interim. With no CBA binding European teams in fact no rules of engagement whatsoever, that the direct competition for players could get fierce. And not just at the pro level. The rules of recruiting don't apply to European scouts. They could conceivably sign 8th graders to deals.

We stop that before it goes too far. We lend the prestige of the NBA to Europe and establish revenue generating franchises there. More money. More fans. More opportunities for players.

This would be a very good thing.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

It all sounds pretty crazy but in the likelyhood that NBA players start bolting for Europe this does in fact create more opportunities for other players who want to play in the NBA to make teams. Think about it, if twelve of these guys leave for Europe then thats twelve more roster spots open on an NBA team. Players that don't have the chance to play will now get the chance, and some of these guys can play they just don't get a good enough look.
As far as Brandon Jennings goes, he is screwing the NCAA. However he is doing what is best for him in his eyes. This is a player that I will never like as he has totally screwed my AZ team over. I could see this getting worse but not to the point where Euro teams are signing 8th graders. Everyone knows that the NBA is the biggest stage you can play on and it will always be.

[psykosacul]

the sky is falling! the sky is falling!


didnt i hear that childress's contract was the most lucrative european deal ever? REAL nba players arent going anywhere. their contracts would have to be 4 times what childress's was the fringe players might get sucked away but guess what... those same guys existed in europe before and the nba has been fine for quite a while without them.

jennings going however... well that completely screws the ncaa.

Hey Psyko. How's it going?

I don't know if you thought my post was of the "Chicken Little" persuation but it's not.

I'm of the mindset that expansion into Europe is a great thing. Expanding marketshare is great for any business. And we'd need 26 accountants to figure out the mountain of revenue that can be generated by this.

Not only is expansion probable I believe it's only a matter of time. My biggest concern would be how things go in the interim. With no CBA binding European teams in fact no rules of engagement whatsoever, that the direct competition for players could get fierce. And not just at the pro level. The rules of recruiting don't apply to European scouts. They could conceivably sign 8th graders to deals.

We stop that before it goes too far. We lend the prestige of the NBA to Europe and establish revenue generating franchises there. More money. More fans. More opportunities for players.

This would be a very good thing.

its going well, thanks...

my post wasnt in direct response to your post. it was in response to all of the people who actually think there is a chance that europe is going to steal a marion from free agency next year or someone bigger after that. just because espn gave a little hype to europe signing people doesnt mean its possible. again, someone correct me if im wrong but childress's deal was the biggest deal ever in euro league history... and its peanuts compared to what it would take to get a good nba player to go there.

as for expansion... i honestly dont see it as possible. i think the basic logistics of travel negate the possibility of nba teams in europe. why would teams want their players flying to europe for games? its basically impossible unless you shorten the season to allow for more travel time... and west coast/mid america teams would never do it. i think david stern would have to find a worm hole for the nba to actually "expand" the league to europe.

now... setting up an nba developmental team in europe?... or something like that so the nba can steal their talent and merge it with the euro league? sure. something like that i think is VERY likely to happen. the nba will figure out a way to keep stealing euro talent, while retaining their own.

[CPops57]

Well, I love this.

I'm a fan of basketball first, not a fan of any specific organization or league.

I think competition is great and would force the nba to look at some issues regarding the rules, the salary structure, and other things that they wouldn't have without competition and hopefully emerge with a better game.

[Rickdiculous]

Everyone knows that the NBA is the biggest stage you can play on and it will always be.

This is why I believe that Europe will never be able to lure away the stars of the NBA. Now I am fully aware that there are players who will always follow the money, but your legitimate superstars have pride in knowing they are competing against the best of the best. It is the same reason why once they are established and have already signed 1 or 2 big contracts they suddenly start caring more about winning a championship instead of how much money they are making.

Money will always factor in, but this same idea applies to why they wouldn't want to go to Europe. They could win 5 championships in Europe, but it will not garner them the same respect as if they had won even just one NBA championship.

Also, it would be a huge burden on the families of the players that do decide to go to Europe. Imagine how hard it is to pack up and move across the country or to another state; this same burden would increase exponentially considering you are in a whole new country across the damn Atlantic ocean where they don't speak English.

Oh yeah, what happens when the U.S. economy gets better? What happens when the dollar strengthens? Will these same euroleague teams still be able to offer those 20 million dollar contracts when it doesn't cost them just 13 million Euros and instead it costs 17 or 18 million Euros?

I think the biggest risk here is to the NCAA and not the NBA. Guys like Josh Childress are fine players, but lets wait and see if he doesn't regret his decision in the future. He still is young and he has a lot to improve, but he'll want to start playing for the varsity teams when he is tired of dominating the JV squads.

I may come off as ethnocentric, but no one would argue with the fact that the NBA has the best players in the world. The euroleague teams are merely taking advantage of luring decent players away based on economic opportunity.

[Eyeamok]

What happens when the dollar get's stronger? With baby boomers getting ready to retire in record number, Social Security and Medicaid payrolls growing larger and larger. The economy is not about to boom. The dollar will get weaker before it gets stronger.

What a lot of people are missing is that the best of the fringe players could be lured away to europe.
Sure you keep your stars, but the overall quality of the game goes down. You don't have a Paxton that can hit the winning shot after Jordan drives. You don't Maurice Cheeks to anchor your championship team. You don't have a Posey coming off the bench to do his thing.

It's the old saying you don't miss your water until your well runs dry. The NBA is already a "star" as opposed to team advertised game. Wait unitl the supporting cast is nothing more than journeymen, then how much are you going to enjoy your basketball?

[Sixerscan]

Not to nitpick but James Posey and John Paxson aren't quite Mo Cheeks.

But it is a good point that people that don't get guaranteed money (Like late round picks like Cheeks was) could jump over. You could start seeing people that get taken in the 2nd round choosing to go over to Europe over sitting on an NBA bench for 500K a year.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

Either way if these players don't want to be in the NBA there are ones that do that are willing and ready to replace them the way I see it. The NBA is fine without Josh Childress, the NBA is fine without Stephon Marbury. It's when you see Kobe Bryant or Lebron James signing with a Euro team that you get worried. I don't think that happens. I understand from a players point of view about money, playing time, etc. If that player can go overseas, become a star and make top dollar then why not do it? I'm positive that Childress will really shine overseas more so than he would staying here making half the money he's making over there and not getting any burn.

[CPops57]

What happens when the dollar get's stronger?

a) Short of a massive change in foreign policy and government philosophy, which doesn't seem likely, this isn't going to happen anytime soon in my opinion. There's no way to controvert economic law. Inflating the currency to keep the economy going is only going to work for a little while longer.

b) I think Childress is smart. Taking your money in Euros instead of dollars is a really sensible thing nowadays. As a good all-around player and former nba player, his game will be respected more over there instead of here where scorers are paid more. He's going to be treated with a lot of respect there. And Greece is an amazing place to live if you're not poor. Beaches are everywhere, while there's some heat there's very little humidity so its comfortable even in the middle of the day, you have islands and nightlife all around you, the rest of Europe is fascinating to travel and close by, etc. And if somehow it doesn't work out, he has an option every year and can come back any time he wants.

[Rickdiculous]

I think Childress is smart. Taking your money in Euros instead of dollars is a really sensible thing nowadays. As a good all-around player and former nba player, his game will be respected more over there instead of here where scorers are paid more. He's going to be treated with a lot of respect there.

Economically, it is definitely a great idea, and yes, very sensible; but a player like Childress has made enough money to live the rest of his life more than comfortably. He is young and hasn't hit his prime yet. At that level I'd imagine that the pride in knowing I am in the best league competing against the best players would trump more money. Yes, he'll get respect, but as I previously stated, its not like hes competing against the best players.

I don't want to downgrade the European teams, but theres a reason why a guy like Anthony Parker was so successful over there (and considered one of the better players) while over here he is decent, but an average player.

[Phillyboy]

Don't underestimate the size of their markets and their ability to generate the type of revenue an NBA team needs to generate. The economy discussion seems irrelevant since these markets would thrive once established even in a weaker European market.

Today it's "fringe' players. Consider that even luring fringe players wasn't possible not too long ago. As the popularity of the pro game grows in Europe so will their capabilities to sign that one big name player grabbing headlines and starting a trend. It may be in as little as 5-10 years in the future.

The biggest problem is placing NBA franchises in key major markets is not in draw or in capital investment, it's in scheduling. London's 5 hours ahead, Paris 6 and so on. What's Greece? 7 or 8 hours ahead?

Even technology can't solve the time zone differences where live events are being watched simultaneously in two continents. Somebody isn't going to be happy with the tipoff time.

[The Sixer Fixer]

Looks like Krstic might be the next to bolt for Europe.

Apparently he has a deal on the table with a team in Russia and the Nets have a midnight deadline to do a S/T. Staying in the NBA is apparently Krstic's first choice.

http://www.netsdaily.com/?p=6266