Is Europe a Threat to the NBA and the Magic?
There is a fascinating article on Yahoo Sports that mentions that Josh Childress is seriously considering a contract from a Greek team Olympiakos because he is so upset with the way he's been treated by the Hawks. Childress is a restricted free agent, so any offer he gets from another team can be matched by the Hawks. Because of this, no offers are coming. The Hawks are waiting for him to sign a lowball offer so the can resign him for cheap.
Enter Europe. Seven years ago the Euro was about 80 cents. Now it's $1.58. Plus the European leagues pay foreigners taxes, so the players salaries are tax free. Childress has been offered a 3 year 12.5 million Euro contract. That's the equivalent of $20 million for three years. However, factor in a top tax bracket of 35% currently (which is likely to increase with whoever the next government is run by) and the contract is worth the equivalent of $10.25 million a year, or about $31 million and could not be matched by the Hawks.
Why am I writing about the miserable Atlanta Hawks on this Magic blog? Well besides the point that the Hawks continue to be poorly run and are working at missing the playoffs after last years good fortune... Turkoglu is likely in the last year of his contract this season. Next year, according to Hoopshype, is a player option. If he opts out he will demand big bucks that the Magic may not have. Gortat will be in the same boat. Both could be heading to Europe for BIGGER salaries than would be offered by the NBA after this year. Not to mention that the falling dollar makes it less likely that Fran Vasquez will ever show up in Orlando.
David Stern's goal as commissioner was to grow the NBA game internationally. But I'll bet he never saw this one coming, where better players start choosing European teams over the NBA.
This could become a real problem for the Magic as early as next year.
Enter Europe. Seven years ago the Euro was about 80 cents. Now it's $1.58. Plus the European leagues pay foreigners taxes, so the players salaries are tax free. Childress has been offered a 3 year 12.5 million Euro contract. That's the equivalent of $20 million for three years. However, factor in a top tax bracket of 35% currently (which is likely to increase with whoever the next government is run by) and the contract is worth the equivalent of $10.25 million a year, or about $31 million and could not be matched by the Hawks.
Why am I writing about the miserable Atlanta Hawks on this Magic blog? Well besides the point that the Hawks continue to be poorly run and are working at missing the playoffs after last years good fortune... Turkoglu is likely in the last year of his contract this season. Next year, according to Hoopshype, is a player option. If he opts out he will demand big bucks that the Magic may not have. Gortat will be in the same boat. Both could be heading to Europe for BIGGER salaries than would be offered by the NBA after this year. Not to mention that the falling dollar makes it less likely that Fran Vasquez will ever show up in Orlando.
David Stern's goal as commissioner was to grow the NBA game internationally. But I'll bet he never saw this one coming, where better players start choosing European teams over the NBA.
This could become a real problem for the Magic as early as next year.
posted by WeRDevos @ 2:48 PM
3 Comments:
At 1:51 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
We learn something new every day... I had no idea that the European Leagues pay the foreign players' taxes, so the players' salaries are tax-free. That's quite a deal for any foreign player!
I think most people, though, would consider the NBA the premier basketball league in the world with the best players; which is an intangible that other leagues can't offer.
It'll be interesting to see what eventually happens with the Josh Childress situation.
At 4:40 PM,
WeRDevos said…
They frequently throw in a rent-free house or apartment plus a lease-free car as well. Sometimes even meals.
It will be fun to laugh at the ongoing stupidity of the Hawks if this happens. But it can bite the Magic pretty hard next year when they need to resign Turk and are hoping Vasquez would finally show up.
At 7:48 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Childress agreed to the contract, and will be playing overseas with that Greek team.
Post a Comment
<< Home