RealGM

I have no problem with the players getting paid astronomical amounts. They earned it, or negotiated it for themselves. If anything blame the owners and GM's for agreeing to the deal. That said, a new structure needs to be created. A salary cap should be tied to a few things, but excluding ticket sales. This could hopefully reduce the burden on fans with ticket prices rising so much. A ratio should be configured where the league has an average ticket price, and the teams can allocate sections and seats to meet this requirement. With the average ticket price about $49 a seat , why not move it to $35 (excluding suite and premium seats). I don’t know how I would deal with the market variations in ticket costs, but obviously LA and NYC should be higher than OKC and Memphis. Owners would be very against this because it cuts out $10 million in revenues. But this will allow more fans to come to games, give them a reason to come, and who knows, maybe they will spend more on concessions.
The salary cap should consist of the following:

-National TV contract
-League average local media contract
-And $10 million

If the league average local TV/radio deal is $5 million, and the national deal $31 million, and $10 million, this $46 million for a salary cap. This is about 20% lower than the current cap. The owners would hold all money from ticket sales, concessions, sponsorships, etc. The fans win because ticket prices would be lower, and it helps cities out because they shouldn’t be forced into such agreements with building new facilities all the time. The cap is also GUARANTEED money. Owners shouldn’t be complaining at all. If the average ticket price is $35, and an average of 17,000 fans attend games, this is over $24 million during a 41 game season. And the average fan spends $7 per game on concessions, this would become nearly $5 million in revenues. Since merchandise and such is part of the NBAPA, that should be separate than the salary cap and CBA deal. As for the $10 million figure, it should increase on average of $1.5 million annually. If owners can’t make ends meet on this scenario, they either shouldn’t be running the team, or in a real bad market.

The player age limit should remain as is. When it was 18 there were numerous mistakes for every star. There will always be busts, that’s part of the game. But this gives teams a better chance at putting together a quality product.

Maximum contract length should be 4 years with current team, 3 signing elsewhere. All contracts are GUARANTEED. By reducing from 6/5 to 4/3, teams save 2 years on long term deals.

Let's say the owners agree to lower ticket prices. They won't, even if they are excluded from BRE, but let's say they will, because it isn't the biggest obstacle.

Why do the players agree to any of this?

Also, those numbers you are throwing around of $24 million for tickets and $5 million for concessions? Those would be revenues, not profit. Don't forget that teams need to pay to rent and operate an arena, and that most of them outsource their concessions. It's not just money in their pocket.

The players know they will have to make some significant drops in the next CBA. It will be worse for them if they get locked out. Yes I realize the revenues vs. profits deal, I was just throwing numbers out there. If you take the $24 million and $5 million, thats $29 million. Say you have $2 million in costs from concessions (which is being generous), the $24 million is still a great deal because many franchises don't pay whole lot in arena costs, and those that do is still well below this number.