The Official S2 NBA Lockout Thread!

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by THE HCP, Apr 4, 2011.

  1. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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  2. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Owners Offer 'Flex Cap' In CBA Meeting
    Jun 21, 2011 11:00 PM EDT

    Owners and players met for four hours in Manhattan on Tuesday to discuss parameters of a new collective bargaining agreement.

    The league offered more details about their proposal, which would set a $62 million salary limit for all teams that could be exceeded by teams re-signing their own players to contracts (Larry Bird Rule) and mid-level exception contracts.

    This plan would set a median for salaries for all 30 teams at $62 million, and if the total aggregrate salaries exceeds that amount, the players would financially be obligated to make up the difference. The plan is similar to what is currently used by the NHL.

    The players did not respond to the owners' proposal and requested another meeting for Friday in New York. The current collective bargaining agreement expires June 30 and the owners have threatened to lockout the players, similar to the current NFL situation.

    "The owners believe that the system modifications that we have requested make a lot of sense to make sure that our teams are both competitive and profitable," David Stern said. "We have modified our proposal to a 'flex cap' where there is a targeted salary but teams can go above it and a minimum below, which is more flexible than our last offer. The (owners) committee met for a long time alone and decided to make what we think is a very significant offer to the players in order to avoid a work stoppage."

    Via Boston Globe


    Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/news/wiretap/tags/52/NBA_CBA#ixzz1Q35s29sw
     
  3. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Owners want to keep $160M, union says
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    By Chris Sheridan
    ESPN.com
    Archive
    NEW YORK -- It is not just about future money. It's about past money, too.

    The union for NBA players spoke out Wednesday about how livid they are that owners are not only asking for $7 to $8 billion in concessions in a proposed new collective bargaining agreement, but also are asking players to give back $160 million that was withheld from their paychecks last season.

    The $160 million was collected under the so-called "escrow tax" system to ensure that players received no more than 57 percent of basketball-related income. That money is scheduled to be disbursed to players in August.


    We haven't been partners in this venture from day one. We've been employees, the talent that has grown the game. It's difficult to be partners in recovery when we haven't been partners in generating those losses.

    -- Union president Derek Fisher
    "To me, it speaks to the arrogance they have in approaching us," union president Derek Fisher said. "Trust and loyalty pretty much go out the window when it comes to business.

    "We haven't been partners in this venture from day one. We've been employees, the talent that has grown the game. It's difficult to be partners in recovery when we haven't been partners in generating those losses."

    Commissioner David Stern issued a statement later Wednesday.

    "Players have benefited from the current system more than the teams," Stern said. "For them it has been a much better partnership. We are sorry that the players' union feels that way since it doesn't seem designed to get us to the agreement that is so important to the teams, and we had hoped, the players."

    In calling the meeting Wednesday on the eve of a meeting of player representatives from all 30 teams, the union sought to gain some measure of control over the public discourse surrounding the negotiations.

    Owners made a substantial move off their previous financial position Tuesday in a three-hour bargaining session, offering a guaranteed $2 billion per year in salaries over the life of a 10-year agreement. But the union Wednesday sought to hammer home the point that players are already earning $2.17 billion in salary and benefits under the current system, and they would not surpass that figure under the owners' proposed terms until the 10th year of the proposed 10-year deal.

    They also questioned why the owners have not been forthcoming on details of a revenue sharing plan for local television revenues, saying it was fundamentally at odds with the "partnership" ethic the sides have tried to cultivate.

    Collective bargaining negotiations will resume Friday in New York, and owners will meet Tuesday in Dallas and could vote to authorize a lockout if a new labor agreement is not reached to replace the one expiring June 30.

    Players made a half-billion dollar concession in Tuesday's meeting in proposing a five-year agreement that would keep the current salary cap system but would reduce their share of basketball-related income from 57 percent to 54.6 percent in the first several years of a new labor deal.

    According to the union, if the players agreed to the owners' request to return the $160 million in escrow funds, it would have the effect of retroactively reducing their share of basketball-related income for the 2010-11 season from 57 percent to 52.8 percent.

    "If we were inclined to do that deal, we would be giving up $8.2 billion over 10 years," union director Billy Hunter said, adding that he has told team owners in the past that the only way the players would agree to a hard salary cap would be if they were guaranteed 60 to 65 percent of basketball-related income. It was the first time Hunter publicly disclosed that he would accept a "hard" cap under any terms.

    In one of his bolder comments, Hunter also declared that when Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert promised his fans their team would win a championship before the Miami Heat would, he said those words with the underlying motivation that the rules of the new collective bargaining agreement would preclude the Heat from keeping their core of three superstars together.

    "Gilbert's ambition, when speaking post-LeBron, was to split the Heat up in the new system," Hunter said.

    In total, the union's actions Wednesday were meant to placate the growing notion that a settlement is near, while also calling attention to the size of the financial concessions the owners are seeking.

    "A lot of players are calling thinking we've gotten beyond the flex-cap issue, and that's just not true," Fisher said, adding that when the sides' respective positions are spelled out in greater detail to players, the tone of the conversations shift.

    "Guys are in total disbelief and are asking 'Why are we even meeting?'" Fisher said.

    Hunter added that the sides still have a litany of issues still to discuss, and it could take a month or more to resolve those differences. He and Fisher also said the owners are seeking a 10-year deal in order to reap windfall profits after a new television rights deal is negotiated following the 2015-16 season.

    "It makes no sense to do a 10-year deal. We haven't signed off on that. It doesn't make sense on any level," Fisher said.

    Follow Chris Sheridan on Twitter: @csheridanespn
     
  4. jlprk

    jlprk The ESPN mod is insane.

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    Sportsline's Ken Berger gives the leanings of 14 owners.

    Hawks
    Mark Cuban (Mavericks)
    Robert Sarver (Suns)
    Dan Gilbert (Cavaliers)
    Wyc Grousbeck (Celtics)
    Clay Bennett (Thunder)
    Ted Leonsis (Wizards)

    Moderates
    David Stern (Commissioner)
    Peter Holt (Spurs) (Board of Governors Chairman)
    Glen Taylor (Timberwolves)
    Micky Arison (Heat)
    Jeanie Buss (Lakers)
    James Dolan (Knicks)

    Unknown or undecided
    Jerry Reinsdorf (Bulls)
    Herb Simon (Pacers)
    Michael Jordan (Bobcats)

    http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/15249908/biggest-event-for-nba-this-week-is-tuesday-not-draft-day
     
  5. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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  6. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

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    Dude I'm sorry for you. I know this shit has a direct financial impact for you if it doesn't get resolved. Hopefully they'll get it ironed out before too many games are missed.
     
  7. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Think about it every night! I will admit this will have a serious impact on my family.
     
  8. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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  9. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/214454/Source_Owners_Will_Push_For_$45_Million_Hard_Cap_Once_Lockout_Begins


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk..... Cause I'm a balla'!
     
  10. maxiep

    maxiep RIP Dr. Jack

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    I'm completely serious: Are you financially prepared for a lost season? If not, you really need to do so. It's like the old saying, "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst".
     
  11. maxiep

    maxiep RIP Dr. Jack

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    The really shitty things is the players will likely be made whole for a lost season, but the vendors and people like HCP suffer.
     
  12. Draco

    Draco Well-Known Member

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    I thought Barrett and Rice said they still get paid if theres a lockout? Is that only for the guys in front of the camera?
     
  13. Draco

    Draco Well-Known Member

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    Hmmm I'm not so sure, I think in the 1998 lockout players were only paid 50/82 of their normal salary.

    Owners/players are all so ridicuously wealthy it may not have an impact us regular folk can relate to, but I think they will still lose huge amounts of income if games are lost.
     
  14. 3RA1N1AC

    3RA1N1AC 00110110 00111001

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    in other news, how is the donkey show cba coming along hcp? i hear the owners are pushing for 60% of the net tequila sales, i say strike!
     
  15. Nate Dogg

    Nate Dogg Active Member

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  16. BoBoBREWSKI

    BoBoBREWSKI BURP!

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    I may be wrong, but Rice, Barrett, Wheels and Tone are probably regular full time salary employees. I think guys like HCP are hired on a game by game basis.
     
  17. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    Associated Press
    NEW YORK -- The NBA is headed to deadline day, with perhaps one last chance to avoid a lockout.

    Negotiators for owners and players will meet Thursday, about 12 hours before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and seemingly nowhere close to a deal.

    The sides remain far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing.

    After meeting twice a week for most of the month, this is the only session scheduled this week. The two sides could continue bargaining past the deadline, but that probably requires owners to see evidence of the gap narrowing Thursday.

    Otherwise, they could lock out the players for the first time since the 1998-99 season was reduced to 50 games, though commissioner David Stern has refused to say what would happen if a deal is not done Thursday.

    "We're not going to negotiate in the media," he said Tuesday after meeting with owners. "We haven't before, we're not going to do it now. We're looking forward to having our discussion with the players."

    There may not be much to discuss. Players declined to offer a new economic proposal in the most recent meeting Friday, and they may still feel their previous offer to reduce their salaries by $500 million over five years is going far enough.

    Deputy commissioner Adam Silver said the league didn't know if the players would make another proposal.

    Both sides have moved, but not nearly far enough for the other.

    Players still consider the owners' proposal for a "flex" cap, where each team would be targeted to spend $62 million, a hard cap because there is an eventual unspecified level that can't be exceeded. And though the league said total player compensation would never dip below $2 billion over the life of its proposed 10-year deal, that would amount to a pay cut for the players, who were paid more than $2.1 billion this season in salaries and benefits.

    Owners have dropped their insistence that no contracts could be fully guaranteed, an issue the players strongly opposed.

    "In this league, teams can easily just say, 'We don't want this guy on our team anymore.' I think the security of having that contract goes a long way because you're taking care of your family, you've got a lot of things you're doing and this is your way of living," All-Star Kevin Durant said.

    "I think that's the biggest thing with us, having that security as a player, knowing coming in that you're guaranteed and you're straight. Hopefully we keep that," he said.

    Owners still want a reduction in the players' guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenues. Players said their latest proposal would have taken them down to 54.3 but say the league's offer would have them down to around 40 percent.

    The meeting Thursday will include just small groups from each side, after many players attended the last session. Without a deal, there will be no free agency starting Friday, and the summer league in Las Vegas has already been canceled.

    Real games could be next to go. Stern has said the offers only get worse once a lockout has started, though there is still plenty of time even if nothing gets done Thursday.

    "I don't see us missing any games. But I see it coming down to the wire, though," Stephen Jackson said.
     
  18. THE HCP

    THE HCP NorthEastPortland'sFinest

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    I sign a yearly contract that pays me per game, I think those guys' contracts are salaried.
     
  19. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    Isn't this the guy who begged for his release from the Jazz to care for his daughter and not focus on baskeball, only to sign with the Lakers later that summer?

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2924068

     
  20. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Can someone help me out here? On one hand, the players have made an offer to reduce salaries by $500M over 5 years. Yet on the other hand, they have a problem with the owners' proposal which reduces salaries by about $100M per year? ISN'T IT BASICALLY THE SAME THING?! How can their proposals supposedly differ by almost 15% of total basketball revenues, if they both include about $100M/year in salary reductions?

    What am I missing here?
     

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