Free Agency Rule Change?

[BballTim]

The teams that hold the players bird rights already have enough advantages with the sixth season + larger annual raises.

  One thing that occurred to me is to go with a 3-tier max scale. Maybe something like 4 years and 8% raises if they just leave, 5 years and 10% in a sign and trade, and 6 years and 12% if they stay with their own team, with a lengthy waiting time to trade the player if he signs for the max with his own team. That way the team still has the sign and trade option but the player definitely leaves some money on the table when he switches teams.

[Mr October]

I think the free agency system is fine as is. If Boston had pulled this off no one here would complain. Miami took a big risk in completely gutting its roster.

A free agency class like this may never happen again.

[rkls134]

The teams that hold the players bird rights already have enough advantages with the sixth season + larger annual raises.

  One thing that occurred to me is to go with a 3-tier max scale. Maybe something like 4 years and 8% raises if they just leave, 5 years and 10% in a sign and trade, and 6 years and 12% if they stay with their own team, with a lengthy waiting time to trade the player if he signs for the max with his own team. That way the team still has the sign and trade option but the player definitely leaves some money on the table when he switches teams.

That's basically what the system is now. I'm not in favor of a punitive system for either side, players or owners, except in cases of outright abandonment from a player or in pure salary dumps from an owner.

Maybe a larger difference in they money that can be made or a draft pick compensation if a player flat out leaves, but that would basically make everyone a restricted free agent and eliminate unrestricted free agency. I don't think the players would go for that.

[Moranis]

Cleveland should have done what Miami did.  It had the ability, but then it kept on taking on bad contracts of players that were being elevated to roles they couldn't handle.  Mo Williams bad contract not a #2. Jamison's contract was awful for what he brings.  Gibson was Scalabrineesque over paid.  Parker, Moon, Telfair, come on.  The only guy you can make a case for is Varejao and even he is overpaid.  If the Cavs had entered this offseason with just Varejao and Hickson under contract, they would have been looking at James, Ray Allen or Joe Johnson (you send Atlanta Varejao back if necessary), and Amare or Boozer (I still don't think Bosh goes there).  They could even re-sign guys like Big Z prior to the free agency to eliminate the cap hold.  

If Cleveland wasn't terribly managed the last three seasons it would have been the A+ winners this off season.

[bdm860]

To Moranis's comments I definitely don't think Cleveland was mismanaged.  Taking on those contracts and winning 60+ games every year was the only way they had a shot to keep James at all.

If they didn't take on any contracts, they would performed just like Miami, enough star power in James to make the first round, and that's it.  Even though they didn't succeed in the playoffs the last couple of years, they were still considered a major contender, nobody thought Miami was a contender.

Cleveland had no chance of selling LeBron on the future the past couple of years, they had to show James they were trying to compete now.  It worked, but they still lost out, they had to take that chance though.