Owners' CBA proposal detailed: $45 million hard cap

[nickagneta]

I like a ton of what is in that proposal but if they started at $55 million and settled in the $60-62 million area, that would be cool by me.

I would also make drug, steroid and HGH testing mandatory via blood test monthly. Of course I would not include marijuana as a drug to be enforced against which would probably cause a major ruckus if it was.

[greenhead85]

hard cap is all fun and games until you're a fan of a winning team who can't re-sign one of its stars.  The bird rights were created for a reason... had there been a hard cap in the 80s, The Celtics wouldn't have been able to keep Larry Bird in Celtic green.

I don't see how the hard cap does anything other than increase player turnover.  

You ever try to build a dynasty with a hard cap?  I've been playing "Out of the Park Baseball 2011" and trying to win the World Series as the Pittsburgh Pirates despite the fact my cheap owner only gives me 40 million budgeted for player contracts.  Here's what ends up happening... every few years I have to trade my superstar players for young prospects before they hit free agency... then the young players develop into superstars and I have to trade them for young prospects before they hit free agency... and then those young prospects develop and I have to trade them for young prospects.   It's a vicious cycle.  I've won 5 World Series in 10 years, but my fanbase is pretty apathetic towards the team... they are disgusted that I keep trading their favorite players.  5 World Series in 10 years and fan interest is at "average".  Lol.  It'd be like if the Celtics won the title with KG and Pierce.. and then immediately traded them for Kevin Durant and Kevin Love on rookie contracts... then a few years later won another title, but prior to them hitting free agency had to trade Durant and Love for Blake Griffin and John Wall on rookie contracts... then a few years later had to trade Wall and Griffin for two new players on rookie contracts... etc

They deal with it in the NFL, hasn't hurt the Pats one bit.  If anything, it allows teams with smart management to prosper from other team's screwups.  I trust Danny not to screw things up; I mean, seriously, what's the worst free agent contract he signed anyone to?  Scal's 3/$15M?  He's made his mistakes, bit very rarely has he screwed up by giving someone too big of a contract.

I agree with you. There are more than 50% of NBA teams not getting their fair share in limelight and unfortunately just relegated to being spectators to popular teams like Boston, LAL, Chicago, NY, Miami, Orlando and a few more. Due to this trend, owners of not so popular teams and their fanbase lose desire on the league and over and beyond that to the sport itself. I am fine with watching different teams winning the title (like in the NFL) over the established ones because it widens the sport's fanbase and makes the sport more fun to watch. Yet, dynasties can still happen especially if teams are assembled by good GMs and their teams really perform well with only a few of star players representing them. Furthermore, Boston's record number of titles will be more safe once different teams start winning on the title.

The 45 mil hard cap is I think just the threshold of a probable bargaining. My guess is it will go higher up to the present 56 mil. The hard cap will make all teams getting on a level playing field. I guess it will be beneficial to the sport in long term and increase the fanbase especially to the teams that had been lagging behind for the past 30 years.

[dlpin]

I refuse to believe that the NBA is losing so much money. Just look at how unwilling the owners of even small market teams are to sell their teams and you get an idea of how profitable it is. If they are losing so much money, why did the Russian guy have to spend over 700 million to get controlling share of the nets just 5 years after a guy bought them for 300?





As for the hard cap, it helps the owners but does NOTHING for competitive balance. People point to the nfl, but football is different in that one superstart can't dominate football the way they can basketball. If you look at the most dominating teams for the past decade, the 00-02 lakers and the 99-07 Spurs, they were always middle of the pack in spending. The 01-02 lakers were 12th in the league in spending.

[winsomme]

I like a ton of what is in that proposal but if they started at $55 million and settled in the $60-62 million area, that would be cool by me.

I would also make drug, steroid and HGH testing mandatory via blood test monthly. Of course I would not include marijuana as a drug to be enforced against which would probably cause a major ruckus if it was.

these numbers seem arbitrary. The cap needs to be based on a percentage of revenue.

a hard cap seems to be an answer for sports leagues now to make teams competitive across the board but the figure needs to be based on the money coming in...not just what the owners want to set it at.

[RebusRankin]

60 million hard cap, one franchise player, 3 year implementation phase, testing for steroids and HGH.

Lower ticket pricing from the owners, have the owners donate more tickets to charity.

But hey I think players are lucky to make so much to play a game.

[nickagneta]

I like a ton of what is in that proposal but if they started at $55 million and settled in the $60-62 million area, that would be cool by me.

I would also make drug, steroid and HGH testing mandatory via blood test monthly. Of course I would not include marijuana as a drug to be enforced against which would probably cause a major ruckus if it was.

these numbers seem arbitrary. The cap needs to be based on a percentage of revenue.

a hard cap seems to be an answer for sports leagues now to make teams competitive across the board but the figure needs to be based on the money coming in...not just what the owners want to set it at.

Sorry maybe I should have explained that the hard cap would have been based on a percentage of the overall revenue like the current soft cap is. I chose these numbers for now because I feel that about 10-15% of the current soft cap is about right figuring for a soft cap.

[wdleehi]

I refuse to believe that the NBA is losing so much money. Just look at how unwilling the owners of even small market teams are to sell their teams and you get an idea of how profitable it is. If they are losing so much money, why did the Russian guy have to spend over 700 million to get controlling share of the nets just 5 years after a guy bought them for 300?





As for the hard cap, it helps the owners but does NOTHING for competitive balance. People point to the nfl, but football is different in that one superstart can't dominate football the way they can basketball. If you look at the most dominating teams for the past decade, the 00-02 lakers and the 99-07 Spurs, they were always middle of the pack in spending. The 01-02 lakers were 12th in the league in spending.

Who is buying?


The NBA had to buy the Hornets. 




I am hoping for a hard cap and non-guaranteed contracts.  I am against give the home team so many advantages in resigning a player. 


When your team is good in the NBA, current rules can be great.  Your team can keep players and still add impact players. 

When you team is terrible in the NBA, current rules kill.  You are stuck watching the same ineffective players.  There is little impact FA movement.  Draft is a lotto. 

[wdleehi]

The NFL owners win today in court is going to strengthen the NBA owners position.

[dlpin]

Who is buying?


The NBA had to buy the Hornets. 




I am hoping for a hard cap and non-guaranteed contracts.  I am against give the home team so many advantages in resigning a player. 


When your team is good in the NBA, current rules can be great.  Your team can keep players and still add impact players. 

When you team is terrible in the NBA, current rules kill.  You are stuck watching the same ineffective players.  There is little impact FA movement.  Draft is a lotto. 

The Hornets had to be bought by the NBA because the purchase by Chouest fell through since his business is mainly supplying ships to off shore drilling in the gulf, which as you may have guessed took a pretty big hit last year.


Still, Shinn sold the team he bought for 32 million for 300 million.

Not to mention that Larry Ellison actually tried to buy the Hornets but was outbid by the NBA.

Ronald Burkle tried to buy the Kings, but the Maloofs rejected him. If the kings were losing so much money you'd figure they sell.

Again, the guy who bought the nets in 04 sold it for 400 million more in 09.

There were 4 groups bidding for the Warriors last year, and the guy who bought it for 119 million in 1995 sold it for 450 million. Adjust it for inflation and that is still about 200% profit on original investment for a franchise that only went to the playoffs once in recent memory.


So the question is, if they are losing so much money, why are franchise values going up so fast?

[RebusRankin]

Sports teams often are overvalued despite owners losing money. The Phoenix Coyotes have been on the block for 170 million, yet they have lost 350 million in the past 15 years.

[LooseCannon]

The Hornets probably could be sold if Stern wasn't desperate to avoid the PR hit of the team moving and abandoning New Orleans.

[jgod213]

The Euroleague is about to blow up.

Interesting... never thought of that...Not an option for NFL players because it's not worth the risk.  Basketball on the other hand is a different story, especially since many of the Euro teams seem to be VERY accomodating in both salary and conditions.

Just a few questions for those of you more in tune with this stuff:

-Is G. William Hunter a name we're going to soon be familiar with? I know he's the NBPA exec director, but that's about it.

-Is a hard cap a definite? i actually really like the 'soft cap' approach.  Why was this not working?

-what does this mean for college basketball over the next handful of years? are we going to see a dramatic decrease in underclassmen declaring for the draft due to this uncertainty and the drop in financial insentive to leave school early?

[Arok325]

I think people all over are speaking to the owners' profitability without any knowledge on the subject. Obviously, the teams are losing money. The players union and the fans can dispute this but it's a very realistic scenario.

There are in all likelihood only a few franchises that make money on the way the NBA is currently structured(the Clippers come to mind). Player salaries are the easiest costs to manage and that's why the owners are going after them. Player salaries have skyrocketed over the past decade for no reason! It's not like players these days are any better than they used to be. player agents and unions just have the flexibility to hold teams by the cajones and demand more money. This does not foster a successful business environment.

I'm not even going to mention the ongoing macroeconomic events that I'm sure have put a number of sports franchises under pressure.

Let's face it. If anything is broken its the players union and player contracts. There's absolutely no reason that teams should be at the mercy of a Carmelo Anthony or a LeBron James who get whatever they want. In the end, they're not the ones who have a say in what goes on. They're simply performers, they're a product, they're employees. The people who cut their paychecks are and should be in charge.  

[Roy H.]

i actually really like the 'soft cap' approach.  Why was this not working?

Here's the problem (at least in theory) with a soft cap:  there will always be "rich" franchises and "poor" franchises.  Some teams can afford to greatly exceed the luxury tax.  Others can't.  When one team can spend $50 million more than another team can, it leads to competitive imbalance.

A "hard cap" theoretically evens the playing field, making sure that both big and small franchises can compete.

[kw10]

Without reading the whole thread, I remember a few years ago, there was a Russian billionaire that said he considered offering LBJ 50M euro a year if he goes play in europe....of course this is an extreme case, but if a 45M hard cap is implemented, we can expect to see a mass exile from the NBA from good quality players.