All along, we assumed that the NBA market for restricted free agent Nick Young would not be as great as the Wizards' desire to keep him. Obviously, though, we forgot about a completely different group of competitors for his services. According to ESPN's Marc Stein, Young is strongly considering signing with a team in China for next season.
Young's agent, Aaron Mintz, told ESPN.com on Tuesday night that Nick Young is getting "major interest" from teams in China.
The reason this is significant is because the Chinese Basketball Association recently passed a rule preventing teams from giving NBA players they sign an out to return to the league. This means that if Young signs in China, it means he won't be returning to the Wizards whenever they begin play again. The Wizards would still control his rights if he ever made an NBA return, but they wouldn't be able to ask him to come back without a contract. In other words, it'd be the Josh Childress situation all over again.
The idea of an NBA player going to China gained steam when Wilson Chandler did it last week. It remains to be seen if Young goes that route too.
(Thanks to jasonj for the heads up).