Penny pinching? This is the power of the 2011 CBA reaching out and grabbing teams by the throat and shaking the last nickel out of their pockets because they DIDN'T pinch pennies. Miami is in the repeater luxury tax, roslolian. Not just the luxury tax but the repeater luxury tax. And the problem with the repeater tax is if you don't get out of it at least 2 years out of 4, then it is sitting there waiting to extract all sorts of filthy lucre from you when you step across the luxury tax line the next season. Which is precisely where Miami finds itself. If Miami doesn't step completely out of the luxury tax this season then not only do they pay the repeater luxury tax this season but the same repeater tax is standing there waiting for them next season and the season after that. Miami is the only team in the Association currently in this predicament and it's a direct result of them overspending on high-priced vets to satisfy Lebron's and Riley's thirst for "not one, not two, not three" but a whole string of championships in a row. Riley spent like a mad man to make it happen. And both of them ultimately failed at their goal. They got 50%. And lost to two other teams who were being more fiscally conservative than they were. So Miami is desperate to get out of the luxury tax this season because of all their overspending during the Lebron era. They're so desperate they risked pissing off their true franchise player trying to convince him to take another haircut for another season so they wouldn't have to be doing this dance they're doing right now. I hope that in exchange for any concessions the owners give in BRI in the next CBA, that they get back in terms of further stiffening the repeater tax and possibly make it apply to teams that are in the luxury tax 2 years out of the last 4. That would really crimp teams from overspending every year and would move us another step away from players being de facto general managers. The repeater luxury tax has been a key tool to level the monetary playing field in the NBA and making the league more interesting than just watching LA and the Knicks. Every team really has a chance to win a championship right now and championships are more of a true reflection of which team did the best job overall of producing a winner by drafting right, trading right, operating free agency and managing the cap right, developing young players right, and coaching right. All of those things have to come together now more than at any other time in the history of the NBA to make a great team. Miami is feeling the HEAT of the 2011 CBA.
