Before Josh Childress left the NBA in the summer of 2008 and signed a three-year, $20 million contract with Greek club Olympiacos (the biggest deal in Euroleague history), he was a swingman who could start or come off the bench and give you 30 minutes, 15 points and five or six rebounds. He wasn’t putting you over the top, and he wasn’t winning any individual awards. But there were plenty of teams that could’ve used that, even if it seemed like none of them wanted to pay him. Since returning, Childress has played in 88 games with Phoenix and averaged a pedestrian 4.2 points a night. Because of his drop in production, even at 29 years old, he’s still a free agent searching for a team. He could have one soon.
Michael Lee of The Washington Post tweeted recently the Wizards were interested in bringing the former Stanford standout aboard. The Suns waived the underachieving Childress with their amnesty provision last month, and ever since then he’s been trying to find a deal. So far, nothing’s worked.
Even though Lee believes it’s a long shot that Washington signs him, ESPN reports other teams interested in the 6-8 swingman are Charlotte, Chicago, Indiana, New Orleans and Toronto.
At this point, Childress might have to resort to playing for the veteran minimum. He made $6 million last year, but because he was so disappointing on the court, and was still owed $13 million over the next two years, Phoenix quickly dropped him. Now, he has to hope he can catch on somewhere with a one or two-year deal, and then get enough minutes to showcase himself again.
The Wizards had perhaps the worst assortment of small forwards in the league last year, but they traded for Trevor Ariza earlier this summer, so Childress would likely come off the bench. And while the range on his jumper is extremely limited – he’s made only 98 triples in 373 career NBA games – if the Wizards are serious about getting serious, Childress would be a nice veteran to bring in off the bench.
Where should Childress play next year?
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