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Lockout next season?

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by micah1j, Jul 30, 2004.

  1. micah1j

    micah1j Member

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    http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...ug=cnnsi-troubleonthehor&prov=cnnsi&type=lgns

    Trouble on the horizon

    Marty Burns, SI.com

    When the NBA players association held a two-day union meeting last month in Las Vegas, it was remarkable for more reasons than Shaquille O'Neal making his debut as one of six vice presidents on the union's executive council. While Shaq provided some levity to the proceedings -- he twice raised his hand during team-by-team roll calls, jokingly claiming to represent the Kings and the Mavs (but not the Lakers) -- the event had a serious main theme. Namely, the NBA and its players could be headed for another lockout. "If the owners are not inclined to retreat from their current proposal," union president Billy Hunter said after the meetings, "there's a high probability there could be another lockout."

    Hunter might be just engaging in rhetoric, but talk around the league is there are serious obstacles to be mounted before a new deal is reached to replace the current Collective Bargaining Agreement that expires after the 2004-05 season. The two sides have met a few times already this year, and the union says the league's initial proposals have been harsh. The league reportedly is seeking to limit new player contracts to a maximum of four years, wants to raise luxury-tax rates for the highest-spending teams and lower the tax threshold. The players want a less restrictive system, with lower taxes and escrow thresholds and loosened trade rules.

    Though still early in the negotiating process, some agents are already gearing up for what they say will be a long fight. "David Stern's taken a [system] that everybody detests, and he's prepared to roll it back and make it worse," longtime agent Steve Kauffman said. "Maybe he thinks that's the way to negotiate, but it might have the reverse effect. I think he's affected the players' pride. These are competitive, proud people. They're going to say, 'We're just not going to take it any more.' That's what I sense."

    Other agents are more optimistic, noting that both sides have strong incentives to get a deal done. They say neither party wants to risk a work stoppage right now, especially in these times with an uncertain economy and a war in Iraq. They point to the looming NHL labor bloodbath as a clear warning sign. "I think we have to watch hockey closely," agent Bill Duffy said. "We don't want to fall into that. The PR is so bad. If hockey gets real ugly from the PR aspect, I think basketball will get lumped in with it. Both sides have to be real careful."

    Neither Stern nor Hunter seems particularly anxious to fan the flames of labor unrest right now. Both say it's still early, and talks will continue, although no new meetings are scheduled. Still, it is expected the two sides will be back at the bargaining table later this summer.

    Whether Shaq will show up again to help represent the players remains to be seen. However, he appears to be serious about his responsibilities. In Las Vegas, he attended a two-and-a-half hour meeting one day and an eight-hour session the next day, according to a source who was in attendance. Shaq's massive presence at the bargaining table surely couldn't hurt the players' cause.

    The Boozer effect

    While the NBA and its players have much to discuss, there is one issue upon which both sides will likely agree. Thanks to the Carlos Boozer fiasco, the 14-day moratorium on signings might soon become part of history. "It opened up a can of worms," Duffy says. "I think the league wants to prevent something like this from happening again."

    The NBA began the moratorium as part of the last CBA in '99. The idea was to give the league's accountants time after the July 1 fiscal year to determine the salary-cap number for the following season. During the time frame, teams are permitted to talk to free agents but not sign them.

    As the Cavs learned the hard way, however, a lot can change in two weeks. After reaching what they believed to be a verbal agreement with Boozer to re-sign, they were stunned when he accepted a more lucrative deal with the Jazz. In the end, Boozer and the Cavs both wound up looking bad.

    Some GMs and agents say the league should either push back the negotiating start date until July 15, thereby eliminating the two-week limbo period, or figure out a way to come up with a salary-cap number by July 1. Either way, few expect the moratorium to be part of the next CBA.

    "I don't know what purpose it serves," Nuggets assistant GM David Fredman said. "I think both sides want to see it go."



    Well, looks like the length of contracts will get shorter and the moratorium is dead at least.
     
  2. thumbs

    thumbs Contributing Member

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    If NBA players miss games at the start of the season, then the playing field is relatively level even in a strike-shortened season. Personally, I can live with that because, unless they strike for the entire year, the playoffs will be played.

    I am still grieved and deprived of my beloved baseball because of an oath I swore when the players struck in the stretch run to the World Series (the Astros had a good shot at the title). I swore that I would not watch a single inning of MLB until every player on every team had retired from active play. I figure that should be around 2015.
     
  3. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    I wonder how people here feel about the CBA right now? I personally like it. The ridiculously $100+ mil contracts are no longer commonplace. I like the way the rookies are slotted. The Birds right is certainly helpful for retaining FA. And there's quite a bit of money for middle-class players(although this year's spending of the MLE might be a bit excessive). The players still have the nice "guaranteed" contracts to ,make them quite secure. Overall, it's a pretty good balance between the terrible MLB's system and the very pro-team system(non-guaranteed contracts) in the NFL.
     
  4. JoeBarelyCares

    JoeBarelyCares Contributing Member

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    If they get rid of the two week moritorium, July traffic on this board will go way down.
     
  5. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Contributing Member

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    i agree, i love the system that's in place. guaranteed money and things like the MLE to help the players, but max contracts, and a cap to keep it all in check for the owners. very reasonable system from both a business and competitive perspective i feel. teams are essentially on an even playing field unlike baseball and can keep a team together for an extended run unlike football.
     
  6. micah1j

    micah1j Member

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    I think maybe there could be a compomise between what the NBA wants in only 4 year contracts and what is currently in place 6-7 years. The players could keep the number of years the same but the 5 year of any contract would be a team option. This gives the players their longterm deal but only guarenteed for 4 years. If the team still wants the player after the 4th year they excerse the option to keep him or trade him to a team that will exercise the option. If they don't he becomes an unrestricted free agent with no bird rights.

    What do you guys think of this? It would eliminate some of the pain from the Moochie, MoT, Cato, etc contracts where the player is not obviously worth it after a couple of years.
     
  7. Sane

    Sane Member

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    I'm all for it. If we play less games, that's better for Yao.
     
  8. withmustard

    withmustard Member
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    woundn't a 50 game season benefit us, due to Yao's conditioning and Jackson's age.
     
  9. count_dough-ku

    count_dough-ku Contributing Member

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    Yeah, but if the Rockets win a title in a lockout-shortened season, won't it be labelled as illegitimate like the '94-'95 championships?

    On a serious note, isn't the NHL in danger of losing an entire season due to labor problems? I would hope that would encourage the NBA to do everything possible to not allow the same thing to happen to them.
     
  10. lggarcia

    lggarcia Contributing Member

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    While I like the idea of the rookie slotted scale.. I think it hurts the sport... while the draft is a crapshoot a lot of the times... I think it .. with the cap helps to build this talent/potential complex.


    If I had to pay a player up to 50 MM if I had one of the top 3 slots... I'd think long and hard... but if I'm locked into what maybe 10 MM in the top 3 slots over 3 years.. that's less than the MPE and other limits that are paid for scrub players so we get people rushing to joing (to get out of the rookie lock) and GM's waging a lot of money on "talent" and if it doesn't pan out.. it is not a cap killer.. because who can judge talent.. everyone loses as much as they win.

    that's my small thought.. I think the rookie cap killed the NBA development
     
  11. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    Actually, the trend of players declaring early for the draft started before the last CBA took effect, so it's not certain that had the old rule been maintained, we'd still see college players stay for 4 years. I do agree that the slotting method made has done nothing but encourage the trend. But it's likely that we'd still see a ton of high schoolers and freshmen entering the draft had the old system been in place.

    The positive of slotting, however, is to prevent the outrageous and annoying contract demands you see in MLB, and to a lesser extent, in the NFL. It's not right that agents like Boras force teams to pick players not based on talent, but signability.
     
  12. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I don't think players would go for that. A 7-year contract with a team option at year 5 is worse for them than a 4-year contract. With the team option, the team gets to decide where he plays and he has no say. With a 4-year deal, he can return or go elsewhere as they mutually agree and might even get a pay raise.
     

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