Smart's free agency shines a light on an ugly truth in today's NBA. Max and non-max FA's. Generally, the current team building philosophy in the NBA, is the Big 3 approach (most recent incarnation started by our very own Danny Ainge).
Most would agree that the Big 3 approach means that a team dedicates tremendous amounts of its salary cap to signing homegrown, but more often free agents from other teams, to max or super max contracts. It is how the Miami Heat won, the current Warriors, and the Cavaliers.
The remaining roster of a team employing the Big 3 approach is generally filled with young in expensive players and veteran playing for the minimum cycling through roster year after year.
Teams using this approach have generally, been unable to sustain long-term or even medium term roster stability as they find it difficult to resign their younger players when they come off their rookie scale deals.
This approach has led to teams trying to get those max worthy all-star free-agents, or trying to keep the cap space unencumbered in hopes of singing one "next year". An generally offering MLE or other exception based amounts to non-all-star free agents.
However, there are teams for whatever reason (to meet the cap floor, or sell some tickets,) sign a middling or even above average players to a cap-unwise contract. But I would argue for the most part its become the Max salaries on the one hand, and the rookie scale, cap exceptions and vet mins on the other.
How does this effects Smart? A wise team should not (will not) allocate any substantial amount of its cap space to Smart unless it believes Smart is the difference maker. Meaning Smart can get them over the hump to the Conference Finals. So Smart is most likely looking at cap exception money. The Celtics are in the same boat, they should not allocate significant cap space to Smart, to the extent it will hinder them from signing their young budding all-stars.
The pay scale in the league needs to be flatter. There should be limit on how many max players a team can sign in FA. I think the game has been diminished by stars getting together in the off-season to sign in City X because that team has cap room and become a super team.
Additionally, the NBA should consider an exemption from the tax for salaries paid to a team's own draft picks. Lower the soft cap for the teams non-drafted players and allow a higher hard when considering the draft players. This will allow teams that invested in their draft picks to keep their investment and not have to choose between "winning" and losing on their investments.
For example, if the cap is $120 million dollars under the current system with a hard cap of $135 and then you have to start paying tax.
Lower the $120 amount to $65, meaning no more that $65 million of your cap can be on players that you did not draft. But raise the soft cap to 140, so that you can keep the players you invested in.
Topic: Smart's FA and the NBA's two-tier class system (Read 1041 times)