Official 2011-2012 NBA Season Thread

[coolbreeze]

How is this OK? Then they should disband the Heat, otherwise how is it fair this year? They can stack their team but no one else can?

Lebron signed as a freeagent, you can't do anything to stop that.

 

[arydolphin]

Owners don't want another star to join a big market and star-studded team. They complain to Stern. He can veto trades, so he did.

It also looks bad in "some" eyes when the NBA controls a team (as they now own the Hornets) and trade their best player to one of the marquee teams in the league. What REALLY stinks for New Orleans is that they were going to get 3 good starters (Martin, Scola, Odom) in exchange for a guy that wasn't going to stay there after this year. You could argue that the Lakers were going to come out on the worst end of the deal by giving up so much size.

It looked bad for the NBA to have CP3 go to LA, but it looks even worse that some owners whined about it and Stern killed the deal because of it.

 

[Jank]

Owners don't want another star to join a big market and star-studded team. They complain to Stern. He can veto trades, so he did.

As mentioned earlier, I think it is sort of the point of the new CBA (to make the NBA more competitive as a whole). And since the NBA owns the Hornets, other owners must contribute if NO is over the luxury tax, if I understood that correctly. Regardless, Paul is still going to leave New Orleans. The NBA can't force him to stay there, and he clearly wishes to be elsewhere. I'm also sure that NO would rather trade him for something than let his contract expire. I still cannot believe that the trade got vetoed... I did not see that actually happening.

 

[ripper]

Lebron signed as a freeagent, you can't do anything to stop that.

But they also let Bosh go through a sign and trade I thought.. forming the "dream team", they should have stopped that too then. This just feels wrong.

 

[Redman]

I believe the NBA player's union will be going back to court.

Isn't this the definition of collusion by the owners?

 

[Damaikis]

Lebron signed as a freeagent, you can't do anything to stop that.

Yep. And obviously so did D-Wade. Only Bosh was a sign-and-trade. I believe.

 

[Damaikis]

But they also let Bosh go through a sign and trade I thought.. forming the "dream team", they should have stopped that too then. This just feels wrong.

It was before the lockout (which was caused by this debate). So nobody cared as much.

 

[JB]

But they also let Bosh go through a sign and trade I thought.. forming the "dream team", they should have stopped that too then. This just feels wrong.

Previous CBA.

 

[ripper]

Previous CBA.

As a fan, this still feels wrong and unfair.

 

[Damaikis]

As a fan, this still feels wrong and unfair.

The owners have a lot of power. It sucks, but at least the NBA is back.

 

[coolbreeze]

ESPN is reporting that the deal is off because the lakers are pulling the plug.

 

[ripper]

The owners have a lot of power. It sucks, but at least the NBA is back.

I guess but as a casual fan, this makes me lose a lot of interest in the NBA.

 

[JB]

I am a big fan of a level playing field. Not necessarily done through the media and/or this way, but a level playing field works and works well. its the reason the one sports league that actually has one is the biggest in this country and their top teams right now are not from major markets.

 

[Damaikis]

I am a big fan of a level playing field. Not necessarily done through the media and/or this way, but a level playing field works and works well. its the reason the one sports league that actually has one is the biggest in this country and their top teams right now are not from major markets.

While I agree in part, I don't mind stuff like this if it's done within a cap like it is in this case. Whereas in the MLB, I hate it because some teams can just spend money as much as they want. Here, if the Heat want to waste most of their cap space on 3 players, so be it. All teams have the same amount of money. Though I agree that in this case the market is incredibly important.

 

[ripper]

I agree parity is good.. but this seems to artificial and unethical for some reason. Again, as a fan who doesnt really care about the CBA, where is the interest in watching Miami dominate, add more components like Battier and win a title? We will know there could have been a team to stop them but it was not allowed to happen. Just my thoughts..

 

[coolbreeze]

While I agree in part, I don't mind stuff like this if it's done within a cap like it is in this case. Whereas in the MLB, I hate it because some teams can just spend money as much as they want. Here, if the Heat want to waste most of their cap space on 3 players, so be it. All teams have the same amount of money. Though I agree that in this case the market is incredibly important.

But there isnt' a cap here either, just a luxury tax, similar to baseball.

 

[JB]

While I agree in part, I don't mind stuff like this if it's done within a cap like it is in this case. Whereas in the MLB, I hate it because some teams can just spend money as much as they want. Here, if the Heat want to waste most of their cap space on 3 players, so be it. All teams have the same amount of money. Though I agree that in this case the market is incredibly important.

This is not true. Check out the MLB and NBA caps a little further.

 

[Jank]

While I agree in part, I don't mind stuff like this if it's done within a cap like it is in this case. Whereas in the MLB, I hate it because some teams can just spend money as much as they want. Here, if the Heat want to waste most of their cap space on 3 players, so be it. All teams have the same amount of money. Though I agree that in this case the market is incredibly important.

I strongly agree with this. Even though the luxury tax gives you a bit of leeway (but big markets do not mind paying the LT), I believe that if a team can work within the cap, they should be able to get who they want. Like it or not, the NBA is much more profitable with big stars in big basketball markets. All of the stars are aligning in Chicago, Miami, New York, Boston and what looked like LA. David Stern may not be a great commissioner from the fans' POV, but he is a great businessman and is very successful in his advances for the NBA during his tenure.

 

[Damaikis]

This is not true. Check out the MLB and NBA caps a little further.

I thought there was a cap, but not a hard cap. I can't help but remember how everyone was wondering about how the Heat would fill out their rosters and stay under $63.5 mil or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong (I very well may be), but I thought there was some sort of cap in place.

 

[JB]

I thought there was a cap, but not a hard cap. I can't help but remember how everyone was wondering about how the Heat would fill out their rosters and stay under $63.5 mil or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong (I very well may be), but I thought there was some sort of cap in place.

Both MLB and NBA have a soft cap. In fact the NBA has actually more rules in place to assist teams in breaking the cap than that of MLB.

 

[Jank]

Both MLB and NBA have a soft cap. In fact the NBA has actually more rules in place to assist teams in breaking the cap than that of MLB.

Yeah, the million clauses that the NBA has sounds ridiculous. Almost as if a team can get away with anything: amnesty, mid-level, low-level, etc. And the structured rookie contracts helps out teams tremendously.

 

[Damaikis]

Both MLB and NBA have a soft cap. In fact the NBA has actually more rules in place to assist teams in breaking the cap than that of MLB.

Really? That surprises me because of teams like the Yankees and Sox and Angels vs Royals, Mariners, etc. There isn't that big of a payroll difference in the NBA is there?

 

[Jank]

Really? That surprises me because of teams like the Yankees and Sox and Angels vs Royals, Mariners, etc. There isn't that big of a payroll difference in the NBA is there?

The NBA cap is more difficult to be over than the MLB tax level, but there are still many ways around the cap unlike the NFL. Most of the contenders in the NBA will be over the soft cap, but the Heat can't go out and sign any one they want in that sense. There are many clauses with going over the soft cap, and you cannot go over whenever you want.

 

[JB]

Really? That surprises me because of teams like the Yankees and Sox and Angels vs Royals, Mariners, etc. There isn't that big of a payroll difference in the NBA is there?

HUGE differences between teams. With the Lakers spending the most which is roughly 3 times the amount of the lowest team's salary. And WAY over the salary cap. They are not the only team over the cap of course, but they are the biggest offenders right now. Its no different than MLB in that regard.

 

[JB]

The NBA cap is more difficult to be over than the MLB tax level, but there are still many ways around the cap unlike the NFL. Most of the contenders in the NBA will be over the soft cap, but the Heat can't go out and sign any one they want in that sense. There are many clauses with going over the soft cap, and you cannot go over whenever you want.

Well yes and no. While you cannot just sign a player if you are at the cap, we have yet to see a team not be able to sign a player based on the number of exceptions that are available.

The entire idea of the salary cap in the NBA is to keep larger market teams from buying up all of the talent which was collectively bargained. The problem is that the exceptions (even more in the past) let them do it anyway.