 |
| Another lockout this time in the NBA, but don't expect this one to be solved any time soon |
Another day, another lockout seems about now as if every professional sport is either locked out or headed into that direction (the NHL is likely destined for a Lockout), but the NBA Lockout is much different then the NFL Lockout we have now, or the possible NHL Lockout. With the NFL Lockout their biggest issue is revenue, all 30 teams are making money, and everyone just wants a little bigger piece of the pie. The Owners don't want to lose any regular season games because losing games, means losing money and nobody wants that to happen. The NFL Lockout will be solved in July which means fans won't miss out on Pre-Season or most importantly the regular season. The NBA Lockout however, is a much different story.
The NBA Lockout faces a longer, harder road to being fixed, and that fix may only be temporary. As of right now 22 of the 30 NBA franchises are losing money, Owners are prepared to miss a season, and the entire salary rules as we know it are in jeopardy. First we will start out with the news that 22 of 30 NBA teams lost money this year, and a few more broke even. This has alot to do with the facts that bigger salaries are being handed out, more money is being spent on trying to win a championship, and there is less interest in basketball then there was before. Owners are losing money and they believe the best fix to the problem is for them to get more money and for the players to get significantly less.
Another problem the NBA faces for a new CBA is the MLE (Medium Level Exception contract). It gives teams with higher priced salaries (Lakers, Heat, Celtics, Knicks) more of an advantage of smaller teams so they can remain competitive in Free Agency. The MLE has caused problems for lesser teams because although they can beat the offer, the player may leave to play for a contender, and the team will be left with no compensation because of it. The MLE is a small issue, but it is part of the big mess that will take months to solve
One of the bigger issues for Owners are guaranteed contracts and rookie contracts. Owners want guaranteed contracts taken out all together and every contract to be incentive based. This is one of the biggest issues for the players, and one that will be a thorn in both sides for a long time. If the players did give up guaranteed contracts, it will be interesting to see what the owners have to give in return. Another issue involving contracts and guarantees is the guaranteed 3 year contracts for rookies. As of now the first 3 years are guaranteed, and the next two are options. The Owners want an escape clause after the 2nd year, and also would like to have more financial control over the course of the contract. It is a smaller issue, and one that both sides could agree on rather quickly.
Now we arrive at the elephant in the room, the "soft cap" that is in place right now. Several years ago David Stern put in place a "soft cap". The Owners want to put in place a flexible cap set at $65 million per year, with fluctuations depending on team performance, previous salary, and MLE contracts. The players are completely against it, they believe in the soft cap, and right now refuse to budge on the issue. For players a hard cap means contracts are cut down and limited to a certain amount, and that is exactly what they don't want. The Cap is the biggest issue for the Lockout and it will either drag this thing out late into the season if they constantly fight over it, or if resolved quickly could mean a much shorter lockout.
There are other issues going on for the NBA including revenue sharing which both sides agree could be cut down, with the players taking 57% of the income. It will be a pesky issue especially if things like the Hard Cap and guaranteed contracts go towards the Owners favor. There are more issues including sign and trades, and free agency, and the possibility of letting HS graduates into the draft, or raising the eligible age t0 20 years old from 19 years old, which is in place now. There are several of issues that need to be fixed and as of now sides are not budging on any of them, which leads to the debate how long will this lockout last. No one can be sure of what will happen, but as of now, I would expect we will miss at least 1/4 of the season, and that will be disappointing come September.
As for how bad things are right now, and the direction the relationship between the NBA and the NBA Players is going look no further then NBA.com which has removed the face of every player in the NBA
http://www.nba.com/home/players/
No comments:
Post a Comment