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• One item discussed openly and explicitly: frustration that family members of players were almost acting as agents and asking for benefits outside the scope of the collective bargaining agreement. Vague reports in the local Toronto media that Leonard's uncle and adviser, Dennis Robertson, asked for such benefits clearly sparked the discussion, but it was pointed out that he would not have been the first family member to do so -- and would not be the last.

Silver appeared to reference this in his remarks to the media after the meeting when he mentioned that "frankly, things are being discussed that don't fall squarely within the collective bargaining agreement."

Some suggested that any family member acting as a player's de facto representative should have to pass through the union's certification process for player agents, sources said

Buchanan, sources say, distinguished any situation in which a team were to circumvent the salary cap to provide star players with extra benefits: The league would use all investigative tools at its disposal and use its immense power to punish any team caught doing that. He reminded the governors of this, even though there are no credible allegations of circumvention at this time, sources say.

Among the specific issues discussed during the Las Vegas meetings and since:

• The possibility of allowing teams to talk to free agents and their representatives immediately after the end of the Finals or a few days later, even if there is still some moratorium on striking official deals until some set time after the draft.

Team executives and agents report that free agency now unofficially begins at the draft combine in May, when those days of meetings with agents over draft picks often expand to their coming free-agent clients, despite the rules.

So if some teams are talking to players days or weeks before June 30, then just let everyone do that openly, the thinking goes. Of course, some teams might then be tempted to start even earlier than the end of the Finals.

• A more extreme version of this same general change: conduct free agency, signings and all, before the NBA draft. But this change, while practical, may not be in the immediate offing.

The Houston Rockets formally proposed this change last year. When the league polled the 30 teams on Houston's proposal this month, only 10 supported it, though several responded that they did not care either way, sources familiar with the poll results say.

J-Roc wrote:After reading all that, I can hear Windhorst basically explaining why nothing can change. Those ESPN guys love the way it is.

Raptorfan2012 wrote:"The possibility of allowing teams to talk to free agents and their representatives immediately after the end of the Finals or a few days later, even if there is still some moratorium on striking official deals until some set time after the draft."

Never understood why they have that moratorirum when it is clear negotiations have already begun well before June 30th; how do you have some players agree to a contract already like 1 minute into the official negotiation period.

6ixSideSniper wrote:The easiest way to approach it is let FAs become FAs the day after their last end-of-season media obligations.

Talks and negotiations obviously happen even before this, but this is more realistic than setting up these waiting periods where players aren't technically allowed to negotiate new deals but do it anyways with no repercussion.

Make the rules more lenient, and make the punishments harder for those caught cheating the rules when they are already so lenient.

dTox wrote:TBH, I don't see a situation out of this loophole, unless players, team's are willing to forfeit their privacy and allow their communication to be monitored by the league

Johnny Bball wrote:And people still debating that it's just sour grapes.... this is 100% a real huge issue.

Johnny Bball wrote:And people still debating that it's just sour grapes.... this is 100% a real huge issue.

And this was my question yesterday. How did Dennis not have to have to be certified by the union. And how did he not lose that certification.