I like Henry. I'm going to say that now. I love True Hoop because it provides a level of understand for basketball I never had before without it. Without True Hoop being on ESPN that site would be almost entirely worthless unless breaking news happened, and even then they basically beat everybody else by 30 minutes. That being said I think Henry, who I agreed with some stuff he said earlier (great post by Clipper Steve of Clips Nation) last week about Childress signing with Olympikos in the Greek League, that he's missing the boat on the overall tenor of what's happening with negotiating.

Essentially, what I've seen with Henry, like today's post, is that there is a flaw in the current CBA that leaves team's vulnerable to players who want to walk over to Europe because they no longer have an upper hand in negotiating! Good! That's not a bad thing. There should be a give & take in the CBA, and I think this balances that. Smith and Deng are upset that they aren't getting their money, and their blaming their Restricted Free Agency status for it. That, last I checked, was the case when they came into the league. But now they've crossed the "can't turn back" stage they're both pouting a bit because they've showed glimpses of super-stardom and nothing that consistently displays it. The Bulls and Hawks, up to a point, are correct to be stingy on not "over"paying Deng or Smith. But, at the same time, if Deng and Smith don't want to take a reduced value, and that's their right, the CBA gives them a course to take a one year offer and play out the rest of their rookie contract. That's their recourse.

So my question what is wrong with that? Why does Josh Smith have to get his money if no team is willing to give it to him? Is it his fault he went into RFA at a bad time? No, it's not. Is it the NBA's? No, it's not. I say that people need to get over the fact that Smith and Igoudala aren't getting big contracts as a sign more & more owners are getting the need to be picky with whom they pay. I think some fiscal discipline on the owner's part helps keep the league affordable for fans. (Although, that's not really it either. Owners do whatever they can to put money in their own pocket. That's a fallacy but I'm going to print it anyway like I really mean it.) I think the whole idea that the league is suffering because Josh Smith and Luol Deng aren't getting the contracts they want is a crock. In fact, I don't think it shows a flaw within the system at all. I think it shows a flaw in Deng and Smith's opinion of themselves, and in Childress' case, shows the poor marketing position that the Hawks put themselves in by not extending Childress or Smith last summer. (The Bulls do get a pat on the back for trying it. Deng and Gordon just did stupid things.

What's the solution? Well, I say keep this system the way it is. Give the players and the owners recourse. That's what collective bargaining is for. It shouldn't be one sided, and it was. It takes time and effort to smooth out inequities, and quite frankly, if the league chooses to re-write the CBA because Josh Childress chose to go to Europe at a time where the Euro is outpacing the Dollar by nearly 2 to 1, well then so what? Childress wasn't any major player, but merely a role player who had offers from other teams. Yes he had offers, but those teams knew he was restricted. They didn't want to tie any money up giving him an offer sheet so the Hawks could just match. That's what the Hawks wanted. Childress called the Hawks bluff and went oversea's. Why not end it with that? Why not focus on the fact that the crappy American economy has to do with poor choices, education, and a poor overall outlook at how things are created/effected by overall actions? Nooooooooooo, there's some problem with the CBA because Josh Childress signed with Olympikos. Well with all due respect to Henry Abbott, every Hawks fan angry at management (as they should be), Tom Ziller and ever other person who thinks the CBA is flawed beyond the allowable limit this is my response: You're wrong.

I personally think is a great thing for the NBA as Henry originally stated (or implied that it could be down the road is what he really said). I don't think it's a flaw on the NBA's part, but a flaw in how player's and teams view value. Everyone decried the Warriors opportunity to not be able to re-sign Gilbert Arenas in 2004, but the Spurs had the same problem and set the cap space aside to do so. Nobody threw fits because Detroit lost Mehmet Okur to Utah because they didn't have the cap space to re-sign him. Personally, and I say this because I believe it, Childress walking to Greece says 2 things. One, it shows he's interested in seeing how playing in Greece can change his value after playing in the NBA, and Two, it can make re-entry possible for players in the European League's who may have come to the NBA and returned to Europe, to return back to the NBA. For all the talk of a global NBA, most American's seem pretty xenophobic about it from my view. It's okay to talk about it because it sounds nice & good as long as those players are coming over here to the good ole US of VA. But when an American player openly spurns us to go over there there's a crack in the armor? Nope, sorry, but I just don't think so. Childress' decision could work for him, against him, or end up being a push. I say we wait a couple years, and see how this works for the NBA and FIBA. Does it change how NBA teams draft European's in league's over there, or does it change anything at all? Does it become an overall trend, which I don't think anything has come close to that btw, or does it become a personal decision that was simply out of the box. The truth is Josh Childress is a different cat. He was shown partying in Greece. He wasn't in the US announcing this. He was in Greece partying and having a good time in Athens. He seemed open to a new culture and it's way of presenting itself over there. If nothing else, and I say this, it could be a great way for athletes to come out of their athlete shell of being superhuman. Being human might just start being possible. It's one thing to be superhuman on the court doing things that only a handful of people in the world can do, but off the court it gets a tad old. And athletes, of all people, are more aware of this than anyone.

I like the idea of Childress in Europe, and I like the idea of giving teams every opportunity to re-sign their rookies if they choose. I like the idea that smart teams who handle their players appropriately (anybody around here glad the Kings extended Kevin Martin before he went on the market?) and with respectful fashion get more out of them. This isn't just about money with Childress; after all the guy is already a millionaire before heading to Greece as the 6th overall pick in 2005. What I find irritating is that crybaby millionaires are crying poor because they don't get their way, and because only 4 teams had any real money to spend, and 2 of them the Warriors and Clippers because they had major talent opt out of their contracts unexpectedly to almost everyone, created a totally different market that allowed them to play against everyone else. It created an unlevel playing field because noone expected it. Philly, unlike Memphis who isn't jumping in this aspect of anything, jumped into the Brand sweepstakes because they could. You don't think Chicago would have loved to jump in that boat? What about Detroit? You don't think Seattle Oklahoma City would have loved to have a shot with Brand? What about Atlanta? There just weren't any teams with cap room, and that pretty much screwed Smith and Deng. That's the way the cookie crumbles with free agency. It's about opportunity, and you know what, there's always next year anyway. I think, if anything, that the Childress signing teaches us is that if players are willing to do extraordinary things and change the landscape, or the view of that said landscape even, then as fans and observers we are far better off being aware of that said opportunity rather than acting like it's some overall detriment to the game we love to watch and observe. And that, kiddies, is the only real lesson I've taken from this whole scenario. I would also like to mention now that when 2009 rolls around, how many teams will be lining up to give Childress mega bucks? Or even Mid-Level bucks if Atlanta doesn't renounce Childress admist all this?

As always, and if nothing else, there are actions and equal and opposite reaction's for everything. Some stringy static filled hair guy said that once. He ended up being on a t-shirt for intellectuals. Or as it was put eloquently put it in the movie IQ:

Boris Podolsky: James! How's the rat business?

James Moreland: Well, actually it's mostly students I'm experimenting on now.

Kurt Godel: My God, the mazes must be enormous."

Yeah, that works for me (not the Einstein quote from IQ I wanted but it will do). Good Day suckaz!