NBA Insider with Ken Berger

In a blow to restricted free agency and another sign that some NBA players are willing to go overseas to get more valuable contracts, the Hawks' Josh Childress is about to announce his decision to sign a three-year deal with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos.

Childress was frustrated with the Hawks' reluctance to move him in a sign-and-trade. Atlanta had matching rights for the restricted free agent, but those rights don't apply to international teams. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is placing the deal north of $20 million.

"It's official, I just signed," Childress told the AJC by phone from Athens.

Childress joins the Nets' Boki Nachbar, Tiago Splitter, and Goran Dragic among players who have opted for more money overseas this summer. The devalued dollar and lower/nonexistent taxes overseas made the international deals far more lucrative than what NBA teams could offer. Carlos Delfino, Jorge Garbajosa, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Juan Carlos Navarro also have spurned NBA teams for more lucrative offers overseas.

"The NBA had better be careful," Nachbar told ESPN last week after signing a three-year, $14.3 million deal with Dynamo Moscow. "European teams are offering a lot of money. It's much more, considering there are no taxes, than what I could make signing for the mid-level exception."

In another sign of the Euro shift, Brandon Jennings relinquished his college eligibility after committing to play at Arizona and signed a three-year deal to play in the Italian League. That's a different situation, as Jennings had eligibility issues anyway. But it's nonetheless a sign that David Stern needs to make it a priority to hammer out a compromise with FIBA on rules governing the movement of players to Europe.

I can't imagine those discussions with NBA Players Association chief Billy Hunter will go well.

Here's an explanation of the issue, including a link to a Marc Stein item on the challenge Stern is facing.