Dynamo Moscow of Euroleague Offering Delonte West 2 yr/$10M contract

[Mr Bottomtooth]

West ponders going east
By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

LeBron James could crush the world for an Olympic gold medal this summer, but the evolving power of the euro could cost him his Cleveland Cavaliers point guard.

This time, the overseas revolution of outbidding NBA teams for restricted free agents advances with Dynamo Moscow discussing a two-year, $10 million offer with Delonte West, a source close to West said on Thursday.
Clearly, Dynamo is a franchise with the resources to be taken seriously. Just a week ago, it lured New Jersey Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar with a three-year, $14.3 million contract.

Nachbar’s contract turned into a prelude to Atlanta Hawks free agent Josh Childress signing a groundbreaking three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos of Greece. So far this summer, four international players with NBA résumés – Jorge Garbajosa, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Delfino and Pops Mensah-Bonsu – have taken substantial offers in Europe.

As with most restricted free agents, West has few options right now. He could sign a $2.76 million qualifying offer for the 2008-09 season and become an unrestricted free agent next year. General manager Danny Ferry has considered sign-and-trade possibilities for West but ultimately has wanted to keep West.

Last summer, Cleveland’s two restricted free agents, Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic, held out with contract disputes that extended into the regular season.

After his trade from the Seattle SuperSonics at the February deadline, West won the Cavaliers’ starting point guard job, averaging 10.5 points and four assists per game. In pushing the Boston Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, West averaged 14.5 points – including two 21-point performances – over the final five games. James had wanted the Cavaliers to acquire an available point guard such as Jason Kidd or Mike Bibby, but he developed a fondness for West.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...c5nYcB?slug=aw-west072408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[dodie53]

do the players that went from the NBA to the Euroleague have a shot at coming back to the NBA again?

 

[Mainstreet]

do the players that went from the NBA to the Euroleague have a shot at coming back to the NBA again?

It's all in how the contract is written. I believe Josh Childress has a player option after each season with the Greek team to return to the NBA.

 

[simply_amare]

wow, i wonder how much would a euro team offer amare when his contract expires?

 

[Irish]

wow, i wonder how much would a euro team offer amare when his contract expires?

Take a look at an article in DX about this. The Euro teams do not make enough money. Some of them have tiny arenas and there is TV to speak of. The money comes from Mark Cuban deep pockets and a very strong exchange rate. Right now they are taking advantage of the way restricted free agency works.

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Thoughts-on-the-Euro-Fever-2971/

 

[JCSunsfan]

If this continues, it will blow the NBA collective bargaining agreement to pieces. NBA teams will have crippled themselves in their ability to compete against foreign teams for players.

 

[Rab]

It sounds like most of these players are getting 3 year deals with player option after every season so they player can explore an NBA return.

I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that like 1% of the league has money to spend, and others aren't willing to pay double for some of these players, which is understandable, but looks bad as more players defect.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Are these figures being thrown around dollars or euros?

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Theyre converted to dollars

 

[Splinters81]

You know, they are gonna have to stop calling the NBA champions "world champions". I would not be surprised if somehow one way or another it will be a world sport where the best of each country will play each other to earn that title.

I hope I am crazy, but this is getting crazy.

 

[HooverDam]

If this continues, it will blow the NBA collective bargaining agreement to pieces. NBA teams will have crippled themselves in their ability to compete against foreign teams for players.

Doubtful. People are over-blowing this trend in my estimation. The teams that are bringing over NBA players are generally owned by billionaires who run their teams at a huge loss but do it to create a sense of civic pride in having the best team (this is especially true in Russia). So most European teams aren't going to have the funds to compete with NBA teams for players, even lower level guys like Childress and West.

The NBA will need to worry when European teams start playing in 20K seat arenas and are making large profits, then they may be able to compete with the NBA for players, but thats a ways off.

 

[Irish]

Doubtful. People are over-blowing this trend in my estimation. The teams that are bringing over NBA players are generally owned by billionaires who run their teams at a huge loss but do it to create a sense of civic pride in having the best team (this is especially true in Russia). So most European teams aren't going to have the funds to compete with NBA teams for players, even lower level guys like Childress and West.

The NBA will need to worry when European teams start playing in 20K seat arenas and are making large profits, then they may be able to compete with the NBA for players, but thats a ways off.

I agree. I think this trend will level off as teams find that NBA stars are not going to be enough and some of these guys will flop under FIBA rules.