Lockout 99% Certain According to Billy Hunter

[plainballing]

Does that mean I have to start learning and tuning into Euro ball now?

[Ponchos]

How often is an impending lockout ever actually avoided? If the league is reporting annual losses there's absolutely no way to avoid it with a players union as stubborn as this one. The $ is the bottom line and with stupid contracts still being handed out by GMs employed by franchises who can't remain financially viable paying the cheques in the long-term, there is plenty of blame to go around.

Well the last lockout lasted about one day or so. No games were lost.

[Indiana Jones]

i personally think that players make too much, the nba makes too much, the owners make too much, the cable providers make too much, and the fans pay waaaaaaaaay too much. pretty much have to be rich for a good seat against a good team. kinda sucks....

[Ponchos]

i personally think that players make too much, the nba makes too much, the owners make too much, the cable providers make too much, and the fans pay waaaaaaaaay too much. pretty much have to be rich for a good seat against a good team. kinda sucks....

Then stop going to games, watching them on TV and buying merchandise. The players and owners will make less.

[Scott Carefoot]

The owners are crying poverty, then the lowliest of their group claiming the most dire economic hardship, the Grizzlies, give Rudy Gay an $82 million contract.

**** them and their whining.

I hope the players get together, stand strong, and put these billionaire crybabies in their place.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the owners use their teams as their primary source of income. The owners can absolutely outlast the players. To paraphrase the Chris Rock joke, if one of the NBA owners woke up with the money of the average NBA player, he would jump out a window. NBA players are rich. NBA owners are wealthy.

[MEDIC]

These guys are millionaires, not machinists at the steel factory. They can be without work a bit longer than the average joe.

Don't be so sure of that. Sure, guys like LBJ are probably in great shape, but:

- Many NBA players live at or beyond their means
- Not every NBA player is a millionaire. There are lots of guys on minimum contracts

I'm not suggesting that it will work. I am simply suggesting that this is the best direction for the league to take if they want any kind of advantage. It's not like these guys can just jump ship & go work down the road.

I do hope the owners are able to implement a hard cap with some kind of scaling salary structure for each team.

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

[DonYon]

this could be devastating for our draft pick...

[Ponchos]

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

How do you suggest they change that? Teams that draft their players can already keep them for 7 years.

[LeBrick James]

this could be devastating for our draft pick...

You mean our championship parade won't be as exciting.

[roundhead0]

I wonder if a lot of players will jump to Europe. No, they won't make as much money, but it will lessen the financial hit.

However, the players who can't get jobs over there may not be happy about it, and it could divide the union. Interesting times ahead.

Anyway, for those blaming the owners, I think a lot of the teams feel obligated to overspend simply to be competitive. For example, look at Memphis playing hardball on a contract where the norm is the give the max. Why should that be the norm? It's things like that which drives up the costs.

[WhatsaTDot]

These guys are millionaires, not machinists at the steel factory. They can be without work a bit longer than the average joe.

Don't be so sure of that. Sure, guys like LBJ are probably in great shape, but:

- Many NBA players live at or beyond their means
- Not every NBA player is a millionaire. There are lots of guys on minimum contracts

I'm not suggesting that it will work. I am simply suggesting that this is the best direction for the league to take if they want any kind of advantage. It's not like these guys can just jump ship & go work down the road.

I do hope the owners are able to implement a hard cap with some kind of scaling salary structure for each team.

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

After one year's service, the minimum salary is 750k. The wizards have one player making less than 750k. Atlanta has one guy. Boston has two. Charlotte has one. Thats per roster of 15. I could go on and on. The median salary is well above 1million dollars.

How do you know most players live beyond their means? Are you their accountant? Does Antoine Walker mean everybody?

Who 'all these guys forcing their way out''? Do you understand what free agency means? Like Ponchos mentioned, teams can retain rights to players for up to 7 years. How long exactly would you like them to commit to?

[bumbleboy]

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

How do you suggest they change that? Teams that draft their players can already keep them for 7 years.

Well parity is the issue here. Bad contracts are going to happen under the current system simply as a consequence of the fact that teams like the Raptors have to overpay if they want any talent.It isn't merely a consequence of owners being stupid. Under the present arrangement, teams in less desirable markets are forced into gambling on players who are higher risk (and in the case of the Cavs and Raps last year, surrounding their superior talent paid with high priced overpaid help in order to keep the better places in fold). So one can see why the owners want concessions and a system in which they aren't forced to take these kinds of risks. But along with this, there needs to be a much better revenue sharing program and checks in place to ensure that teams like the Clippers don't try to make profits merely by keeping their total salary costs low. That is, you' want a system in place in which winning teams make the most money and in which the profit sharing system with players ensures that if the league prospers, the players prosper. The NFL is the best model for professional sports.Everyone wins. It is too bad that those - like the Knicks ownership - are more attached to their Cablevision revenue stream then they are the good of the league.

[Ponchos]

Ok I get what you're saying bumbleboy and I do not disagree, but do you have any suggestions to address the issue of parity?

[sisibilio]

How often is an impending lockout ever actually avoided? If the league is reporting annual losses there's absolutely no way to avoid it with a players union as stubborn as this one. The $ is the bottom line and with stupid contracts still being handed out by GMs employed by franchises who can't remain financially viable paying the cheques in the long-term, there is plenty of blame to go around.

There are only a handful of teams that are losing money, the league as a whole has been very profitable and the value of the teams increases year after year.
Don't buy the BS Stern spread, there's no objective reason for a lockout.

[sisibilio]

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

Easy, implement a revenue sharing.

[Ponchos]

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

Easy, implement a revenue sharing.

Revenue sharing has little to do with free agency.

[Mr. Natural]

The key is public relations. Will the fans blame the players for the lockout or the owners/commish?

It might be hard to get the fans on the player's side considering the amount of money they make but their argument should be that someone has to take home the profit. And if it's not them, then it's the owners. The owners already make enough money through their revenue sharing therefore the players are entitled to make what the market dictates as their worth.

[J-Roc]

This is the equivalent of Stern saying all his teams are bleeding money. Starting the argument from opposite ends of the spectrum.

[MEDIC]

I really could care less about how much each player makes, but I do care about having a competitive league. I can't stand what's going on with all of these guys forcing their way out so that 3-4 allstars can team up on one team. It's a really bad trend.

How do you suggest they change that? Teams that draft their players can already keep them for 7 years.

Any given team can only pay one player max dollars, then it scales down from there.

Example:

- One elite roster spot (Max 20 million per season)
- Secondary premium roster spot (Max 15 million per)
- Third most valuable roster spot (Max 12 million per)
- Three roster spots for 8 million dollar players
- Five roster spots at 5 million per
- The remaining roster spots max out at 3 million.

This is just a rough example, but you can see where I am going.

Are you really going to be able to sign LBJ, D-Wade & CB4 on the same team? Probably not. One of those guy is going to have to take a major pay cut (make 8 million less than the top guy) to play with the other. The 3rd guy is going to want to sign somewhere else so that he can cash in.

That even's out the talent in the league. If you wanna make top dog money, you're gonna have to go to a team that has a top dog roster spot available.

[dirtybird]

If there's a lockout, the owners will win hands down. Like someone else mentionned, a lot of these guys live beyond their means and will poorly prepared for the lockout (just like they were last time). That's why a lot of them go broke after they retire.