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The NBA, it is a’changin’.

This has been a summer of change for the best basketball league in the world, and I’m not talking about the team formerly known as the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City.

Watch my latest video commentary or continue reading below:

Half a dozen players or so have decided to leave the NBA to play ball overseas. They are chasing bigger salaries and better deals than the NBA offered them.

Boki Nachbar, who played here in the Hornets’ first year, was among the first to make the move. Even though a few other role players like him followed, the news didn’t register with most until Josh Childress spurned the NBA.

Now, in his four years with Atlanta, Childress has never been a star. But he’s not a stiff either. He averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in those four seasons with the Hawks.

But when Childress became a free agent, the Hawks thought they held all the cards. They offered him a five-year, $33 million deal.

Olympiakos, a powerhouse in Greece, offered him a three-year, $20 million deal.

It’s worth only about $100,000 more per year than the Hawks’ offer, but the difference is, the Greek team is paying his taxes. That means Childress will clear pretty much his entire salary. Add in the fact that the value of the dollar is historically low against the euro, and he’ll be making some serious coin.

Listen, I’m not ready to sound the alarm on this. I’m not even sure it’s a trend yet. But I will say this: I’m not sure I like the NBA’s attitude about it.

Joel Litvin, the NBA president of league and basketball operations, was asked about these moves by Newsday. He said, “I think that the NBA is going to remain for a very long time the place where the best players in the world play.” He also said that the league has no long-range plan addressing the movement of players to Europe.

Uh, the NBA might want to get one.

Limitations on restricted free agents along with salary caps and luxury taxes are bound to frustrate more and more players. Heck, Sasha Vujacic, a key reserve for the Lakers, mulled a move to Russia last weekend before re-signing with the team.

The NBA needs to make sure its arrogance doesn’t keep it from addressing what seems to be a simmering issue. At the very least, it needs to keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t boil over.

Boki Nachbar and Josh Childress might be the ones making the move now. But what if it’s Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce in a couple years?

That’s a change in the NBA no one wants.