Josh Childress is leaving the Atlanta Hawks for Greek club Olympiakos, reversing the course of the many international stars who have signed with the NBA.

Heading overseas allows Childress to make more money than he could have as a restricted free agent in the United States. The Hawks had the right to match an offer from another NBA team but not from an international club. Agent Jim Tanner said Wednesday the three-year deal was worth about $20 million after taxes. The money is guaranteed, and Childress can opt out of the contract after each year.

"I've talked to a few guys, and it could become a trend," Childress said on a conference call about other Americans following his lead. "I'm not so sure it won't. It's different. We thought out of the box a little on this one."

The 6-foot-8, 210-pound guard/forward averaged 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds as the Hawks' top reserve last season. He averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in four years with Atlanta after being drafted sixth overall in 2004 out of Stanford.

Childress said he intended to re-sign with the Hawks, who made the playoffs for the first time since 1999 and pushed the eventual champion Celtics to seven games in the first round. But when he thought the team didn't show a sense of urgency in making a deal, he looked elsewhere.

Olympiakos initiated the contact, said Lon Babby, another of Childress' agents. With the strength of the Euro against the dollar, Babby thinks international clubs now have the resources to pursue high-level American players -- and other restricted free agents may reciprocate the interest because it creates leverage they lack within the NBA.

International players have spurned the NBA for lucrative offers back home in the past, but Americans of Childress' caliber have not done so in the prime of their careers.

"I think it's always going to happen when you get a player that's pretty solid over here and then they get offered more money, it's hard to pass up," Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh said.

Phoenix Suns chairman Jerry Colangelo, the managing director for USA Basketball, expected the trend to be limited to players such as Childress, who are solid contributors but not big stars.

"It's an opportunity for players who fall into that kind of a niche or category to have an option available to them," Colangelo said. "So it's a players' market."

The Hawks would retain Childress' NBA rights, and he would remain a restricted free agent, if they make a qualifying offer each year, Babby said. That would count against their salary cap, though. If they don't, he'd become an unrestricted free agent.

FILE/ASSOCIATED PRESS