Adding some depth and athleticism on the wing — something they already had but can you ever have enough? — the Nets have reached a one-year deal with Josh Childress.
Childress himself confirmed this on twitter. Howard Beck of the New York Times broke the story.
This is a non-guaranteed deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network. Which means the Nets can cut him in camp and just pay a small buyout, but if he pans out he would get the veteran minimum.
Childress has a career average of 9.5 points per game, but it was never higher than 5 with the Suns.
This is one of a couple smart gambles by the Nets on athletic players amnestied by other team — Childress was amnestied by the Suns, Andray Blatche by the Wizards. What it really means is other executives saw enough potential in these guys to offer fairly big contracts, but ones they did not live up to. However, those are the kinds of guys that are steals and can have value with a minimum contract.
Childress was an up-and-coming star with the Hawks but felt he was lowballed when it came time for his first big post-rookie contract, so he jumped to Greece to play for a couple seasons. The Suns got him via trade when he returned and it seemed a good fit on paper — the athletic Childress paired with Steve Nash — but it never worked out.
For the Nets, this is another smart gamble.
