We hear it every damn summer. Portland isn't as attractive as a Texas team. We have an income tax. Our weather sucks. We don't have the right kind of culture. We're a smaller market. Blah blah blah blah. There's not much we can do about the weather (although climate change seems to be warming things up). There's not much we can do about the culture (other than move a bunch of soul food style foodcarts over by the practice facility.) Our market is growing rapidly.... but we're obviously a ways off from being one of the biggest markets. So what does that leave us? Income tax. I'm so tired of hearing this bullshit every fucking time we go up against Dallas, or Houston, or San Antonio. The actual monetary difference is fairly negligible, but it's still listed as a primary reason why someone would choose a Texas team or a Florida team over Portland. I want this advantage eliminated. The NBA should allow teams that reside in a state with an income tax offer a salary that would match what a player would net from a state without an income tax. They won't make anything more or less than they would in any city in the country. Normalize the contracts. Remove that bullshit advantage. This is why I'm running for President of the United States of America. God bless America! Thank you and good night!
Dallas has been shut out partially because they just aren't as good anymore and anyone that comes there is doing so just to try and prop up their aging franchise star. It's like what happened in LA the last few years with Kobe...no one wanted to be a part of that circus when they weren't any good. Back when Kobe had the Lakers as a contender, they had no issue getting players to come there and that will be the case again as when they return to contender status now that Kobe is gone. It's similar in Houston where players aren't anxious to go play with Harden who is a pain in the @ss. But put a big market, warm weather city with no income tax up against a smaller market, colder weather city with income tax and see which the player picks almost every time.
Good be a factor but it shouldn't be. Players these days get insane contracts, kinda greedy and odd to me that they would rather play elsewhere just to get their extra few million when these dudes are getting 30-100 million dollar deals. How many millions do you need in life? I look at chandler parsons and I'm not sure if it was because of tax or what but Portland was the better option for him. Unfortunately a lot of NBA players have ego issues and obviously parsons is one of them. Probably a good thing we didn't get him anyway, along with his knee issues which aren't clear. David west took a massive pay cut last year to try and win a title with the Spurs. I don't think it's a tax issue at the end of the day. These guys are living fine, they just have a lot of ego and want to be THE MAN. It's ridiculous.
The state should just make pro athletes exempt. The last has shown most athletes will blow their money anyway so it will enter the economy of the state one way or the other.
And to people who think it shouldn't be a factor, what if a player narrows his choice down to two teams? He can't decide so he makes a list and gets to income tax...oops.
Where does Portland rank tax wise compared to the rest of the league? Is it a case of "I heard the taxes are horrible" like how people think our country is over taxed but in reality they're not? Or is it a case of stereotypes of cities are just too difficult to over come, especially in the spoiled rotten era of athletes today?
Some of those states have sales taxes too though. That map only tells part of the overall story. And certain cities have sales taxes too. Also oregon isnt only 9.9%. Its 9% up to 125k for single, 250k for married filing jointly, then 9.9% above that.
Kevin Durant was just "blown away" by a Clippers pitch where they have the highest state income tax, one of the highest sales taxes and a government that's not reversing those anytime soon. Tax may be one factor, and I disagree that these guys shouldn't care about a few million here or there, but I think relationships, access to a winning culture and straight-up rumors/anecdotes from their friends and agents mean a lot. Especially when you're talking about the top-tier guys. The ONLY reason LeBron's in CLE right now is because he was born there. He has an existential pull to "Northeast Ohio". If he was from Denver CLE would never have been on his radar. Melo stayed in NYC over going with his buddies to CHI. Wade took less to stay in MIA, even though CHI is his hometown. No one but Dwight Howard wanted to go to LA in the last few years of the K*be reign. Different guys have different motivations. Cash is high among them, but at this tier, when you could go down as one of the greatest in history if you manage to get some rings vs. Evan Turner trying to get a paycheck, it's not the only one.
Great thread...one correction..Steve Nash also went to play with Kobe when Dwight Howard did at the end of the Kobe era
Exactly. Parsons went to the Grizzlies for a lot of reasons. He has a relationship with the coaches. He's friends with, and wants to play with, Conley. He likes the experience level of his teammates. He's from Florida and Memphis is a lot closer to friends and family. Those things have to do with what Memphis has going for it, not what's wrong with Portland. Changing our tax system because it sucks is one thing. Changing it with hopes it's going to entice NBA players to come here is not likely to accomplish anything. Dame and CJ growing as stars and improving on last year's winning will accomplish way more, IMO.
Hah I just posted a similar thought in another thread, without having seen this one. Overcoming the taxes thing is complicated. I'd settle for adjusting each team's salary cap based on local taxes. Maybe you are saying the same thing?
