Looks like HCP will be working at Taco Bell

That was a pretty lousy article. Even his speculation was dumb.

 

Decertification won't really matter. The players are going to have to give

I think the agents are the ones ruining the sport, and If the owners void contracts, making all the players free agents, it is gonna get fun. Someone remind D-Wade that he could end up in OKC or Detroit. Remind K*be and Blake Griffin they could end up in Milwaukee or Memphis. Remind Lebron that he could end up in Portland. Also at a much lower salary.


it certainly could work the way they want it to, but I think there is more risk than reward for the players

 

The real issue with the NBA is that it appears a certain sense of entitlement seems to have overtaken the players, no longer are they required to sustain their level of play. For too long they've been paid on what they used to do instead of what they are likely to continue to do. Just look at the NFL model, players can be cut at any time if their production dips and the league is as competitive and popular as anything in the world. If the NBA adopted a similar approach, no longer would teams be held hostage to the contracts doled out guys like Baron Davis, Brandon Roy and Corey Maggette -- underperforming for health, motivation, fatness or whatever reason.

Ultimately though the league's health is going to hinge on the owners also working out some kind of revenue sharing system that enables smaller market teams with smaller revenue opportunities to share in the largess. So while I tend to agree with the owners' stance, that salaries are out of control and that a cap is needed, if the league is going to get really and truly fix its financial structure, some of the deeper pocketed guys in markets like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles are going to need to learn to split up some of that league money more equitably. I haven't heard a whole lot of people talking about this angle in the media.

 

I don't really agree with you on the revenue sharing. If the owners get a hard cap, there will be no need for revenue sharing. The players are trying to get revenue sharing so they can keep their soft cap

 

Very astute post.

 

Revenue sharing would simply improve competitive balance across the league, making more teams viable competitors and theoretically a more competitive league would generate more fan interest which in turn would boost league revenue. You're probably right that a revenue sharing system would remove the need for an absolute hard cap, but the owners seem pretty committed to lowering their operating costs by slashing payroll instead of betting on a system that could grow revenue and interest for all teams.

Ideally, I wish they'd keep the soft cap, but have only partially guaranteed salaries (or shorter contracts) and implement a revenue sharing system to get to a place where teams aren't borrowing money or operating in the red to field teams ... I'm sure some people around here don't care about this because we have Paul "Money Bags" Allen running the Blazers, but he isn't going to live forever and when he's gone then what for the Blazers?

 

Bingo. Guess not too much different from modern day society.

As a fan, as the consumer, shouldn't we get a vote/say in all this?!? Another Vote for for soft cap, and non fully guaranteed salaries. It shouldn't be too much to ask that players get paid for how they play, this is the only issue I side with the Owners. And it shouldn't be too much to ask of the owners to share the damn money for the betterment of the league!

 

My impression from listening to the talk shows here in LA is that this is not a stumbling block. Now maybe they are wrong, but it sounds to me like Stern has the owners in agreement on this issue. (At least around 24 of them)

I believe the Cap will be the big issue for reason's stated above (Hard Cap=lower salaries) Hopefully they will ease into it and give teams about 3 years to adapt. They will lower the length of contracts, but they will still be guaranteed. That is my guess.

 

Didn't the whole decertification thing blow up in the NFLPA's face over the spring and summer? Maybe it's an apples to oranges comparison, but wouldn't that kind of precedent hurt the NBAPA?

 

I pick non-guaranteed salaries. A hard cap it is!

 

You have a say in it. You can stop attending games, stop watching on TV, and stop buying merchandise. The role of the fan is a voluntary role, and all we can really do is speak with our interest and our wallets.

 

Since players are bound by the rookie contracts for quite awhile and most are underpaid, I think they should keep the current rules for them with maybe 75% guaranteed. However, once the six year mega-contract ends, three year unguaranteed contracts would then be the best a team could offer.

 

It's be nice if we had a say. I don't think the issue is revenue sharing. It's the cap & guaranteed contracts. One of those has to fall the owners way. Simply put, the players were given too much and now have to give some back in order to make it fair. They don't want to, and I get that as well. But 'no tickee, no laundry'- if they refuse, the NBA may cease to exist as we know it.

 

A very good point. I'd like to see the owners make some fundamental changes in rookie contracts. If nothing else, make them 100% guaranteed or allow for more money in them.

 

I'm down with that.

 

If it was purely about basketball, and people like HCP wouldn't be financially hurt, I actually wouldn't mind the season starting late. I'd be perfectly happy with a 58 game schedule - every team plays twice. 82 games really is too much. And I think the owners and players need to realize that plenty of people will come to realize that if some games are missed.

 

^ I was actually hoping they would start playing year round! 164 games would be perfect!

 

If we cut the pay of everyone connected to basketball teams, the nation will be more competitive with China, and it will reduce growth of the national debt.

 

our company will miss one day of work, at least for now, the celtics always played one preseason game in NH