Fixing the NBA

[RaisingArizona]

This season and playoffs have become so predictable. There's no competitive balance or any parody and pretty much everyone knows what two teams are going to meet up in the finals next season barring something crazy happening. So what can the NBA do to turn the tide?

A new clause that states a team with 3 NBA all first team players cannot sign another player on an NBA all first team. The only exception to this rule would be for teams to retain their own all NBA players. For instance, GSW would be able to keep KD, Curry, D Green and Klay this year however wouldn't have been allowed to sign KD last year. The result is a more competitive balance ensuring these Superteams are at least a little less dominating than what we're witnessing right now.

Sorry, Warriors fan 33, you may not like this.

Thoughts? What's your idea on fixing the competitive balance in the NBA?

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think the best solution would be to do away with max contracts and have a hard cap. This would allow the stars to get huge contracts but make it much harder to assemble super teams because you wouldn't be able to spend over the cap. This should spread the talent out around the league.

But unfortunately I don't think the players association would ever go for this idea because it would benefit a small number of stars while suppressing the salaries of the middle class that would make up the majority. I just can't see the majority of players voting against their own self interest.

[bwgood77]

I think the best solution would be to do away with max contracts and have a hard cap. This would allow the stars to get huge contracts but make it much harder to assemble super teams because you wouldn't be able to spend over the cap. This should spread the talent out around the league.

But unfortunately I don't think the players association would ever go for this idea because it would benefit a small number of stars while suppressing the salaries of the middle class that would make up the majority. I just can't see the majority of players voting against their own self interest.

Yes, these threads pop up on the General Board a lot and I always mention hard cap.

I also think non guaranteed contracts would fix a lot of things, but not specifically in regard to the star teams, but more in regard to getting rid of dead weight and players who got paid and don't care or are not that good, which basically hamper a lot of the avg to bad teams from doing anything because they have all these large contracts on their books.

[Villalobos]

Call it the "Kevin Durant is a bitch" rule.

"An MVP is not allowed to join the best team in the league that beat him."

or less specific

"An MVP (who won it in the last 4 or whatever years) is disqualified from joining a team that was a 1 or 2 seed the previous year. (in a top 16 playoff team context, not just the 1 or 2 seed in one conference; so the best or second best team in the entire league)"

or/and

"An MVP (who won it in the last 4 or whatever years) is disqualified from joining a team that already has an MVP (who won it in the last 4 or whatever years)."

or/and

"An MVP (who won it in the last 4 or whatever years) is disqualified from joining a team with 3 other all-stars (who all won it in the last 2 or whatever years)

There would still be superteams. They just won't be a complete and utter joke like the KD Warriors. And MVPs could still join other MVPs when they're older and more likely out of their prime with the "won MVP in last x amount of years" clause, like with old Nash and old Kobe. Of course, this would never ever happen.

[Qwigglez]

Maybe at the very least raise the max salary a player can receive since I doubt they go away with it entirely. Wouldn't necessarily need a hard cap.
Non-guaranteed contracts should definitely be a thing, the NFL has been able to get away with it. Too often players only play well in their contract year. I actually thought Beal would be injured more this year because he just received his huge pay raise but surprisingly he has turned into a top 5-7 SG in the league. On the flip side, Drummond just received his pay raise and he appears to have regressed, or at least not care as much anymore.

I'm wondering is there anything Durant can do this offseason to gain some respect? He's clearly been a villain since joining the Warriors.

[Villalobos]

I'm wondering is there anything Durant can do this offseason to gain some respect? He's clearly been a villain since joining the Warriors.

Just keep winning, put up big stats, and people will stop caring. America loves winners, no matter how they did it. People are already calling KD the best player in the league because he's playing really well in low-pressure, almost-impossible-to-lose games.

[sunsbum]

I haven't watched a single playoff game this year. Mostly because the suns arent in it but also because I absolutely hate super teams. Adam cucklord silver sees no issues so nothing's going to change unfortunately.

[Zelaznyrules]

I haven't watched a single playoff game this year. Mostly because the suns arent in it but also because I absolutely hate super teams. Adam cucklord silver sees no issues so nothing's going to change unfortunately.

He sees no issue because the TV ratings say there is no issue, quite the contrary given it's the most watched finals since 98. And this isn't the first time we've seen super teams dominate the league. You guys (and gals) don't think we were saying the same things when the Lakers and the Celtics looked like they were the only teams that mattered? And then a Coach figures out how to negate skill with increased physicality followed by the coming of age of the next great player (Jordan, obviously). Things change, winning streaks end.

I really don't get all the fuss? In the 10 year period from 80 through the 89 playoffs, the league was represented in the finals 8 times by the Lakers, 5 times by the Celtics, 3 times by Philadelphia, and 2 times each by Detroit and Houston. The Warriors have a lot of work in front of them to even approach the level of dominance we've seen by all the other great teams.

[Zelaznyrules]

I'm wondering is there anything Durant can do this offseason to gain some respect? He's clearly been a villain since joining the Warriors.

Just keep winning, put up big stats, and people will stop caring. America loves winners, no matter how they did it. People are already calling KD the best player in the league because he's playing really well in low-pressure, almost-impossible-to-lose games.

It wouldn't be very "low pressure, almost-impossible-to-lose" if Durant wasn't playing extremely well. And everybody loves winners (and underdogs, go figure) but not just America. They love them until they can find a way to tear them down, then they love to hate them. And some people just like to beat the crowd so they start hating them a little early.

[kennydorglas]

Hard Cap. Get rid of the lottery system.
Done.

[DRK]

As mentioned earlier, hard cap and no max contracts. I like what Silver has done to make more use of the D-League, but I feel salaries should be higher and make it a viable alternative to college.

Also, raise the salaries of rookies and get rid of the age minimum. If a kid wants to join the NBA at 17, let him. The less money for the NCAA the better. Make rookies complete a short financial advisory course which lasts the entire rookie season and can be done through an online university through E-Learning. That way they learn to budget, taxation principles and most importantly leave them less vulnerable to exploitation from agents and greedy family members.

I also think it should be compulsory that a small percentage of a players earnings during their rookie contract must be put into a trust fund, which cannot be accessed until a player has either reached an age of 34, or retire from the NBA.

[asudevil]

I think the best solution would be to do away with max contracts and have a hard cap. This would allow the stars to get huge contracts but make it much harder to assemble super teams because you wouldn't be able to spend over the cap. This should spread the talent out around the league.

But unfortunately I don't think the players association would ever go for this idea because it would benefit a small number of stars while suppressing the salaries of the middle class that would make up the majority. I just can't see the majority of players voting against their own self interest.

Yes, these threads pop up on the General Board a lot and I always mention hard cap.

I also think non guaranteed contracts would fix a lot of things, but not specifically in regard to the star teams, but more in regard to getting rid of dead weight and players who got paid and don't care or are not that good, which basically hamper a lot of the avg to bad teams from doing anything because they have all these large contracts on their books.

Yeah, the whole argument of doing away with max contracts and having a hard cap is extremely shortsighted....and the PA would see its flaws and never allow it.

I like the idea of non guaranteed contracts, but it would be something that the PA would never agree to either.

[bwgood77]

I think the best solution would be to do away with max contracts and have a hard cap. This would allow the stars to get huge contracts but make it much harder to assemble super teams because you wouldn't be able to spend over the cap. This should spread the talent out around the league.

But unfortunately I don't think the players association would ever go for this idea because it would benefit a small number of stars while suppressing the salaries of the middle class that would make up the majority. I just can't see the majority of players voting against their own self interest.

Yes, these threads pop up on the General Board a lot and I always mention hard cap.

I also think non guaranteed contracts would fix a lot of things, but not specifically in regard to the star teams, but more in regard to getting rid of dead weight and players who got paid and don't care or are not that good, which basically hamper a lot of the avg to bad teams from doing anything because they have all these large contracts on their books.

Yeah, the whole argument of doing away with max contracts and having a hard cap is extremely shortsighted....and the PA would see its flaws and never allow it.

I like the idea of non guaranteed contracts, but it would be something that the PA would never agree to either.

Oh yeah, I know why these things will never happen because of the PA. It would be interesting if the owners locked them out for so log that the mid tier players who lived pay check to pay check blowing through their money quickly needed an agreement...how much time it would take for the majority of players to cave in and accept.

If I was a rich owner, I'd advocate playing hardball like that IF I cared a lot about making the NBA a lot better (which I would) but I don't know if most are just happy getting their share of he dough and don't want to do that. And of course, with an extended lockout everyone loses money for a while, so it would never happen.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think the best solution would be to do away with max contracts and have a hard cap. This would allow the stars to get huge contracts but make it much harder to assemble super teams because you wouldn't be able to spend over the cap. This should spread the talent out around the league.

But unfortunately I don't think the players association would ever go for this idea because it would benefit a small number of stars while suppressing the salaries of the middle class that would make up the majority. I just can't see the majority of players voting against their own self interest.

Yes, these threads pop up on the General Board a lot and I always mention hard cap.

I also think non guaranteed contracts would fix a lot of things, but not specifically in regard to the star teams, but more in regard to getting rid of dead weight and players who got paid and don't care or are not that good, which basically hamper a lot of the avg to bad teams from doing anything because they have all these large contracts on their books.

Yeah, the whole argument of doing away with max contracts and having a hard cap is extremely shortsighted....and the PA would see its flaws and never allow it.

I like the idea of non guaranteed contracts, but it would be something that the PA would never agree to either.

There's no rule in the nba that says contracts have to be guaranteed its just kind of the norm. Just like in the NFL its not a rule they are unguaranteed.

Sent from my SM-G930V using RealGM mobile app

[bigfoot]

Teams should be able to declare two franchise players and retain them for max contracts. Only franchise players can receive max contracts. All free agent signings would have to be less than max.

[ATTL]

1. Hard cap
2. Limit the dnp rest ****
3. Even out the lottery odds
4. Expand the lottery to include the bottom 2 playoff teams by record, give those "treadmill" teams a chance to add top shelf talent without needing to bottom out.
5. Change one and done to be like the mlb with straight out of high school or 2 years.
6. Expand the G-league, if kids choose to come out of high school maybe require them to spend one year in the g league. Have Gatorade market the **** out of it.
7. Increase gleague salaries even more, you can make it a real minor league and draw more talent
8. Have each team own the rights to the g league player and be able to call them up or trade them

[Zelaznyrules]

I know it's been said already here but a hard cap and non-guaranteed contracts won't happen unless the bottom falls out for the NBA and even then, I doubt it would happen. Most of the owners would love those two changes but no way the players and agents would stand still for either of them. IMO the only way it could possibly happen is after a multi-season shutdown and nobody is going to shut down until the money stops rolling in. And the current golden goose TV contract runs through the 2024-2025 season.

They need to solve the unscheduled resting, that's a real problem for the people that are paying huge bucks for TV rights but other than that, I think we're trying to fix a problem that doesn't yet exist. The league is doing very well even with the lowered local ratings and the players and owners are making money at an unprecedented rate. Until that changes, I can't see anything more than minor fixes at best.

[jcsunsfan]

Hard cap helps big market owners and hurts small market owners. The present system encourages big market owners to overspend and small market owners get to pocket the dough.

I think many smaller market teams would not survive. Unintended consequences of a hard cap. If there is a hard cap there has to be more revenue sharing somewhere else.

A franchise player tag and compensatory picks for lost free agents might help. For instance, if a free agent goes to another team, the new team has to compensate the old team somehow. Maybe there should be a rating system for every player and then picks based upon the way that player is rated. One way to do it would be to compensate the old team based upon the size of the new contract. Give the old team the chance to match the deal or get compensatory picks if the player declines. Max deal, three picks etc.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[King4Day]

Maybe something where, even if you are willing to take a pay cut, you still count against the cap as a max player. How to determine what a player is worth is tbd, but I think it can work.

[RaisingArizona]

Maybe something where, even if you are willing to take a pay cut, you still count against the cap as a max player. How to determine what a player is worth is tbd, but I think it can work.

Do you think something all NBA team, Team USA spot, or all star appearances could determine that?