Great article by Zach Lowe discussing the double standard of "sacrifice".

[Snakehead]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

First, the Miami Heat declined to build the supportive cast for this team instead opting for a 2014 free of contract obligations with the illusion of manufacturing cap space.

How so? They've been a capped out team and then a taxpayer. They haven't had salary slots to sign a supporting cast they could have built.

They've also had few draft picks due to the Bosh/LBJ sign and trades.

I don't think anyone should be blamed, but it's funny blaming Miami and not say San Antonio, who has consistently done the same thing, just not with splashy free agents (just their same core players0.

The system is set up for this to happen.

[RyNye]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

Huh? Are you blaming Miami for the lockout and the resultant new CBA? Care to back this assertion up? Because everything that Zach Lowe talks about in this article is directly with respect to the ramifications of the CBA in-and-of-itself. There's no intelligent way to claim that the Heat are responsible for that.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

Huh? Are you blaming Miami for the lockout and the resultant new CBA? Care to back this assertion up? Because everything that Zach Lowe talks about in this article is directly with respect to the ramifications of the CBA in-and-of-itself. There's no intelligent way to claim that the Heat are responsible for that.

Deleting the rest of the post removes the context of the post... so there's no point arguing a point I'm not making.

[Fafnir]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

First, the Miami Heat declined to build the supportive cast for this team instead opting for a 2014 free of contract obligations with the illusion of manufacturing cap space.

How so? They've been a capped out team and then a taxpayer. They haven't had salary slots to sign a supporting cast they could have built.

They've also had few draft picks due to the Bosh/LBJ sign and trades.

I don't buy that as the sole-reason they couldn't put something more worthwhile together. It's no coincidence that all the roster contracts on that team had been concocted to not go beyond the year in which the player options for the big 3 were set to go into effect.

Manufacturing enough space, at least last year, to have enough to offer a full mid-level to someone worthwhile shouldn't have been that hard to accomplish.

But you had a lot of money tied up on players like Battier, Haslem, Chalmers, and Ray Allen. Three of them old, but in expiring deals. This shouldn't have been hard to move, particularly during the off-season after a Championship year.

You're just flat out wrong about this. Cutting down to below 70 million dollars to use the full MLE wasn't doable. Dumping a bunch of salary like that costs picks and the Heat don't have many to give.

They amnestied Mike Miller and traded Joel Anthony cutting a lot of their books and they were still at 80.5 million dollars.

They had 56.5ish tied up in Wade/Bosh/LeBron, virtually impossible to get to full MLE level if you don't gut the team entirely. Being a taxpayer also meant that they cannot receive players in sign and trades so that avenue was also closed to them.

The new CBA hamstrung the Heat far more than you're allowing in your argument.

[Fafnir]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

Huh? Are you blaming Miami for the lockout and the resultant new CBA? Care to back this assertion up? Because everything that Zach Lowe talks about in this article is directly with respect to the ramifications of the CBA in-and-of-itself. There's no intelligent way to claim that the Heat are responsible for that.

Deleting the rest of the post removes the context of the post... so there's no point arguing a point I'm not making.

I fail to see how his response doesn't deal with your entire post. The idea that you have to quote an entire post to reply to it seems, strange.

[LooseCannon]

Well said. I really don't understand what the author is upset about in this article. The salary cap is forcing playing to make hard choices.... aka, it's working as intended.

The salary cap rules allow teams to be able to demand sacrifice that is allegedly for the good of the team, but is more for the good of the owners' wallets.  The problem is that fans don't seem to demand that owners make hard choices.

[D.o.s.]

Well said. I really don't understand what the author is upset about in this article. The salary cap is forcing playing to make hard choices.... aka, it's working as intended.

The salary cap rules allow teams to be able to demand sacrifice that is allegedly for the good of the team, but is more for the good of the owners' wallets.  The problem is that fans don't seem to demand that owners make hard choices.

The owners aren't nearly as uppity as the players.

[Fafnir]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

First, the Miami Heat declined to build the supportive cast for this team instead opting for a 2014 free of contract obligations with the illusion of manufacturing cap space.

How so? They've been a capped out team and then a taxpayer. They haven't had salary slots to sign a supporting cast they could have built.

They've also had few draft picks due to the Bosh/LBJ sign and trades.

I don't think anyone should be blamed, but it's funny blaming Miami and not say San Antonio, who has consistently done the same thing, just not with splashy free agents (just their same core players0.

The system is set up for this to happen.

Yup, the CBA targeted how the Heat came together to make that sort of salary structure incredibly difficult to maintain. Very hard to make roster additions when you're a taxpayer now.

[LooseCannon]

This is exactly why the Bradley contract made no sense. AB was an RFA, why dint Ainge just let the market play out & see if anyone offers AB 11 mil per?  If s,o have a nice career Avery, that contract could have been handed out much later in FA. And if he gets no offers you play it out & make him play for the money, epically after we just drafted Smart & Young.  Deal made zero sense to me.  Just because other morons offer Channing Frye 32 mil doesn't mean we have to, at least not now.  I'm slightly worried now, well not worried but confused.

It makes perfect sense to me.  Perhaps he waits if he doesn't plan on matching, but I think that Ainge was willing to match a contract bigger than the one he handed out and was predicting it was more likely than not that Bradley would get offered that bigger deal.  I also think that drafting Smart and Young while re-signing Bradley would not deter Ainge from locking up Rondo to an extension if they could agree on a dollar amount.

[guava_wrench]

While I enjoyed the article, there is no problem in Miami. They went to 4 straight finals and won 2. Winning is supposed to be difficult to sustain.

I find it absurd that people talk about Miami as if they are some train wreck after 4 straight finals and 2 titles.

The biggest problem is Miami is that Wade aged poorly and quickly. The second biggest problem is that their main 3 guys all came into the league the same year, so they are all at the point where a max contract is well above $20m a year. There is also the fact that 2 guys who came to town to bring a change to win have few loyalties to the team.

People talk about San Antonio as if Miami could learn something from them. When has San Antonio gone to 4 straight finals?

[Fred Roberts]

It was a good article. I really hope Bosh takes the max from Houston. Not that I should really care, but it would be more interesting than seeing this Heat thing rebuilt.

[guava_wrench]

Both the Miami Heat's strategy and three stars themselves manufactured this problem.

First, the Miami Heat declined to build the supportive cast for this team instead opting for a 2014 free of contract obligations with the illusion of manufacturing cap space.

How so? They've been a capped out team and then a taxpayer. They haven't had salary slots to sign a supporting cast they could have built.

They've also had few draft picks due to the Bosh/LBJ sign and trades.

I don't think anyone should be blamed, but it's funny blaming Miami and not say San Antonio, who has consistently done the same thing, just not with splashy free agents (just their same core players0.

The system is set up for this to happen.

Yup, the CBA targeted how the Heat came together to make that sort of salary structure incredibly difficult to maintain. Very hard to make roster additions when you're a taxpayer now.

Rich teams can afford to pay the taxes when they are on the cusp. A team like Milwaukee will never be able to bite the bullet for a year to get the final pieces they need if they have a team that is close.

The real way to get balance is getting rid of max deals. If someone is offering Bosh 30m a year to be a star in Orlando, he goes there. This would probably squeeze the middle quite a bit, but it would lead to a lot more parity. It would also make signing a star a difficult decision. As of now, top talent is often underpaid due to max contracts. Deciding if Lebron is worth $35m is a difficult decision. $24m is a no-brainer.

[Greenbean]

While I enjoyed the article, there is no problem in Miami. They went to 4 straight finals and won 2. Winning is supposed to be difficult to sustain.

I find it absurd that people talk about Miami as if they are some train wreck after 4 straight finals and 2 titles.

The biggest problem is Miami is that Wade aged poorly and quickly. The second biggest problem is that their main 3 guys all came into the league the same year, so they are all at the point where a max contract is well above $20m a year. There is also the fact that 2 guys who came to town to bring a change to win have few loyalties to the team.

People talk about San Antonio as if Miami could learn something from them. When has San Antonio gone to 4 straight finals?

Amen!

Aside from Miami though, is it good for the league that it is so tough to build a sustained championship contender?

This is what I wrestle with...I think longterm success of the league will be built on rivalries IN ADDITION to parity. It is tough to create and maintain storylines and rivalries if teams only have 3-4 year windows.

Im no capologist, so someone help me! Does it make sense for guys like Lebron and Durant to be paid more as they pass their prime? Shouldnt guys get paid more in their prime years? 

[D.o.s.]

Right, but the owners want to be able to pay players the least amount of money for as long as possible. It's why they got rid of the old Chris Webber/Kenny Anderson rookie mega contracts.

[Greenbean]

Right, but the owners want to be able to pay players the least amount of money for as long as possible. It's why they got rid of the old Chris Webber/Kenny Anderson rookie mega contracts.

Gotcha...

I try to keep an arms length from knowing too much about the salary cap structure in the NBA. Not that I wouldn't understand it, I just get frustrated because the players and owners never seem to be on the same page in terms of doing what is best for basketball. Very shortsighted.

Actually I am starting to question the marketability of the NBA since there are less and less so called "likable" players in the league due to overexposure from social media.


There might finally be incentive for owners to agree to a CBA that promotes real team building and sustained success.