Former Stanford star Josh Childress, who left the Farm after a stellar junior campaign in 2003-04 to pursue a career in the NBA, is heading overseas for the surprisingly greener pastures of European basketball.

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Former Cardinal phenom Josh Childress made an untraditional move in free agency yesterday, signing with the Greek club Olympiacos for a reported $20 million over three years. Childress, formerly the Atlanta Hawks sixth man, had the opportunity to remain in the NBA but chose Europe instead. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/9367
Stanford Daily File Photo

Former Cardinal phenom Josh Childress made an untraditional move in free agency yesterday, signing with the Greek club Olympiacos for a reported $20 million over three years. Childress, formerly the Atlanta Hawks sixth man, had the opportunity to remain in the NBA but chose Europe instead.

Childress, drafted sixth overall, landed with the Hawks, where he eventually developed into a solid sixth man for Atlanta, averaging double-digit points per game in each of his first four seasons in the Association. As a restricted free agent, Childress was expected to receive plenty of offers but eventually remain with the Hawks, who had the right under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement to match any contract offered to him by another team.

Well . . . by another NBA team at least.

Childress’s signing with the Greek club Olympiacos for a cool, three-year, $20 million deal, as reported by ESPN.com yesterday, neatly circumvented the Hawks’ rights under the NBA salary cap, freeing him to earn more money overseas than he could have as a pro in America. The signing is noteworthy for going against the grain of the traditional flow of talent, as Europe’s best players have been poached for years by the NBA.

Now, perhaps, a trickling flow of talent could begin heading the other way across the Atlantic.

The contract is reported to be the biggest in Euroleague history by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and shortly follows top prep recruit Brandon Jennings’s decision to sign with an Italian team rather than play for a year at Arizona to earn his NBA draft eligibility.

Childress keyed the Cardinal’s magical 30-2 2003-04 season that saw the team nearly go undefeated for the regular season, scoring 360 points and averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game.