sp6r=underrated wrote:Under the current rules teams can keep the player they drafted for seven to eight years before they reach free agency. It is very hard for me to accept the idea that a player can’t become an unrestricted free agents after that long of a period of service. Finally, I don’t think the franchise tag can work in the NBA effectively. Basketball players have a lot more power over if their team wins or loses than football players. Hold outs in football are generally annoyances. Hold outs in basketball would be devastating.
Under the present NBA CBA, a player can become an unrestricted free agent 5 seasons after being drafted.
The present system of allowing the "home" team to offer (slightly) more money worked "OK" for a while in keeping superstars with the team that drafted them. But, with LeBron James and Chris Bosh, signing with Miami for (slightly) less money than they could have gotten by staying with the team that drafted them, that strategy is no longer working. Also, other superstars (Anthony, Stoudamire, Deron Williams) have pretty much controlled where they want to play - on "superteams".
The courts have already ruled that no free agency is illegal, so, greatly increasing (say, to ten years or more) the time required for a player to attain free agency probably would not withstand a legal challenge. IMO, the players would never agree to it, anyway.
My suggestion is to allow the "home" team to offer significantly more money to their own player.
After 4 years with the team that drafted them, the player becomes a restricted free agent. The player can then accept the qualifying offer for one year, and then would become an unrestricted FA. Say, for example, the maximum salary for the player would then be $16 million (for the first year).
Other teams could offer the player the maximum ($16 million) for the first year with 8% raises for a maximum contract length of 5 years total.
The "home" team, however, could offer the player double or $32 million for the first year with 10% raises for a maximum contract length of 6 years. The "home" team could offer this contract after 4 years.
Also, the "home" team salary cap hit would be only half of their actual payout.
IMO, most players would take the (about) $200 million from the home team rather than the (about) $80 million from another team.
I am also in favor of limiting the maximum cap space allowable for any team in any given year, say, to 30% (or so) of the salary cap for that year. If the salary cap was %60 million, the maximum cap space would then be $18 million. This would reduce the chance of any one team signing multiple superstars in an offseason.
