Childress was “very very close” to signing with Milwaukee

Paul Imig Posted: July 17, 2009

GIS

Josh Childress was almost a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Childress visited Milwaukee during the opening week of free agency, with a July 15 deadline looming for him to decide whether or not he would return to the National Basketball Association this season.

That deadline passed Wednesday, and Childress is headed back overseas for his sophomore campaign with Greek team Olympiakos.

But how close was he to not only being back in the NBA, but to joining the Milwaukee Bucks?

“Very close,” Childress said when contacted via his Twitter account. “Very very close.”

Last summer Childress made the unprecedented jump from the NBA to playing overseas, signing a three-year, $20 million deal with Olympiakos. The contract has an opt-out clause after each season, which allowed Childress to explore his NBA options after one year in Greece.

After landing one NBA player last summer, Olympiakos has now reportedly set its sights on New York Knicks restricted free agent Nate Robinson, who, like Childress a year ago, has had his restricted free agent status hinder his ability to land a quality offer from a NBA team.

Teams tend to be wary of signing restricted free agents to offer sheets, as it ties up the team’s money for a week while the player’s current team decides whether or not to match the offer and retain the player.

This very scenario cost the Dallas Mavericks an opportunity to sign a quality player during the opening week of free agency, as the Mavs had their money committed to Marcin Gortat’s offer sheet. Unexpectedly, Orlando matched the five-year, $34 million deal for Gortat, and in the meantime, a lot of free agents that Dallas may have otherwise been interested in signed with other teams.

Fortunately for the Bucks, Ramon Sessions is a restricted free agent, and it’s likely that other teams have not offered him a contract believing that Milwaukee will match and that their money will be tied up for a week.

With the Ersan Ilyasova situation now settled after reportedly agreeing to a three-year, $7 million deal on Thursday with the Bucks, Milwaukee now waits to see how real the interest is for Sessions from teams rumored to be seriously considering him, such as New York, Indiana, Oklahoma City, and perhaps even the Los Angeles Clippers.

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Childress was “very very close” to signing with Milwaukee

GIS