Leaving the NBA Behind

SI Staff | Aug 21, 2008

Leaving the NBA Behind /

Leaving the NBA Behind

Josh Childress

Several players who played in the NBA last season have signed with overseas teams this offseason. While most established themselves with European clubs before coming to the NBA, Childress is the most notable exception. The former lottery pick and Stanford star, a top sixth man with the Hawks last season, signed a three-year deal with Olympiakos reportedly worth $20 million in net pay. Childress can opt out of the contract after each year.

Earl Boykins

The 5-5 point guard will be the highest-paid player in Italy next season after signing a one-year, $3.5 million contract. Boykins didn't even need a productive 2007-08 season to land the deal: He was out of the league the first half of the season, then averaged 5.1 points on only 35.5 percent shooting from the field in 36 games with the Bobcats.

Carlos Arroyo

Arroyo made $4 million last season as Orlando's backup point guard, but he'll be paid more (after taxes) in his new deal with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Arroyo, 29, has career averages of 7.0 points and 3.3 assists in seven NBA seasons. His best season came in 2003-04 when he averaged 12.6 points and 5.0 assists as Utah's starting point guard.

Jannero Pargo (CSKA Moscow

Pargo signed a one-year deal worth nearly $4 million -- about double what he made last season for the Hornets, with whom he averaged 8.1 points in 18.7 minutes off the bench. The 28-year-old guard will team with Bostjan Nachbar for Dynamo Moscow.

Nenad Krstic

The 6-11 center, a restricted free agent with the Nets, signed a two-year deal with the Russian club. Krstic looked to be a big part of the Nets' future when he averaged 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds in 2005-06 and increased those numbers to 16.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg the first 26 games of 2006-07. But he tore his ACL in December 2006 and struggled in his return last season. He's no stranger to overseas play, having spent four seasons in Yugoslavia before joining the Nets in 2004.

Juan Carlos Navarro

Navarro's NBA stint lasted just one season as he decided to rejoin FC Barcelona, the team for which he played from 1997-2007. The 28-year-old guard was a part-time starter last season for Memphis, where he averaged 10.9 points and made the All-Rookie second team. His 156 three-pointers were two short of Kerry Kittles' rookie record, set in 1996-97.

Bostjan Nachbar

The well-traveled Nachbar, who played for three NBA teams in six seasons, is adding Russia to an international career that has included stops in Slovenia and Italy. The 6-9 forward averaged a career-high 9.8 points for the Nets last season.

Carlos Delfino

The 6-6 swingman played the last four seasons in the NBA, the first three with Detroit and 2007-08 with Toronto. Delfino was a regular part of the Raptors' rotation last season, averaging 9.0 points in 23.5 minutes. The 2003 first-round pick previously played in Argentina and Italy.

Gordan Giricek

After playing for three NBA teams last season, Giricek signed a two-year deal with the Turkish champions. Giricek, a career 36.8 percent three-point shooter, has averaged double figures in scoring in three of his six NBA seasons, but last season he was a fringe rotation player with Utah, Philadelphia and Phoenix.

Jorge Garbajosa

Garbajosa came to the NBA in 2006 as a 29-year-old rookie after lengthy stints in the Spanish and Italian leagues. He was enjoying a solid first season with the Raptors when he broke his leg in March 2007. Then, over the Raptors' objections, he played for Spain in the European championships in the summer of 2007. He played only seven games last season before undergoing a second leg surgery, after which the Raptors bought out the final year of his deal. Garbajosa will join Carlos Delfino on BC Khimki.

Dan Dickau

You can't blame the journeyman point guard for being attracted to the relative security of a two-year deal: The former Gonzaga star was traded seven times in his first five NBA seasons. He spent last season playing 15.5 minutes a game for the Clippers.

Earl Barron

Barron will join another former Heat player, Qyntel Woods, with the Serie A team. The undrafted center played sparingly for Miami his first two NBA seasons, but he started 15 games for the woeful Heat in 2007-08. In 46 games overall last season, the 7-footer averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Primoz Brezec

The journeyman center, a seven-year NBA veteran, will be teammates with 18-year-old Brandon Jennings, a highly touted Arizona recruit who will start his professional career overseas.

Published Aug 21, 2008

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