We’re BACKKKK!!!

Ruffle My Feathers, a weekly sports blog by Justin Lewis

The NBA is back (tentatively of course). I am very excited that we may finally have a Professional basketball season. Through all of the speculation and bickering from both sides, like football we have come to a tentative agreement. Players now have something to do besides destroy unpaid amateurs in their tournaments, have twitter battles, whine and cry on reality shows, and/or get married and divorced faster than a 60-second waltz. Now the Owners and the Commissioner can light up their cigars and celebrate the money they obtained by holding the players and their association at financial gunpoint; very exciting stuff. In light of that I have compiled a list titled Things I am grateful for now that the NBA has returned as well as a list of Pros and Cons regarding the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Pros and Cons of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (I’m definitely siding with the players):

Pros
NBA players will retain the title of highest-paid athletes in professional team sports (Good and bad depending on player(s) involved).

Players have the chance to get back on the courts this year and avoid being a media headline due to them having nothing to do besides play in tournaments and destroying the “unpaid amateurs”, get caught up in “reality” series, or go to court for child support and/or other illegal activities.

No reductions in rookie contracts or minimum salaries (Good and bad depending on player(s) involved).

No reductions in maximum contract lengths or maximum salary increases (Good & Bad depending on player(s) involved).

Teams can still utilize “sign and trade” deals throughout the new agreement, however their ability to do so will be hindered in year 3 of the agreement (owners wanted to eliminate this completely for teams over the luxury tax threshold).

For example:
If a team is about to lose a player to free agency and they wish to get something in return, they can re-sign the player and then trade their rights to another team.

That following scenario benefits the player because players re-signed by their existing teams can earn higher pay increases under NBA rules, and it benefits the team because now they can get more trade value in exchange for the traded player.

A good example of this would be Carmelo Anthony who had his contract “extended” last season by his current team at the time (Denver Nuggets), and then he was traded to the NY Knicks for numerous players who in turn propelled the Nuggets into the playoffs.

The owners wanted an unlimited escrow system, but the players were able to keep the system at just 10% of their salary. This basically helps the owners retain more money and if the escrow percentage is fixed at 10% of the salaries and benefits throughout the duration of the new CBA, they(The Owners) will have actually GAINED ADDED financial protection. The owners said they conceded to the amount of 10%. That’s funny because in 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 they “conceded” 8-10%. Why not go back to 8%?

Teams can still utilize “mid-level exceptions” to sign players even if it puts them over the luxury tax threshold (owners had wanted to eliminate this option);

Mid-level exceptions allow teams to sign any free agent up to the league’s average salary.

Agents took the biggest hit due to them not having “negotiation” time. Most of them come from legal backgrounds which is why they wanted to take the “long” road which was litigation. This can be a pro and con depending on the “integrity” of the agent, but as I have heard many jokes about lawyers/agents two of my favorites are(You can tell what side I’m on):

What’s the difference between a poisonous snake and a lawyer/agent? Answer: You can make a pet out of the snake.

What’s the difference between a lawyer/agent and a leech? Answer: The leech will let go and drop off after its victim dies.

Cons

NBA players will retain the title of highest-paid athletes in professional team sports (Good and bad depending on player(s) involved).

No reductions in rookie contracts or minimum salaries (Good and bad depending on player(s) involved).

No reductions in maximum contract lengths or maximum salary increases (Good & Bad depending on player(s) involved).

Owners will now get between 49-51% of basketball related income (BRI), whereas before they only received 43%. Based on 2010-11 BRI of $3.8 billion, that’s a revenue transfer of roughly $270 million from players to owners.

Players allegedly will receive 51% of BRI in 2011-12, but the players overall take will be cut by one-fifth in 2011-12 since a 66-game schedule means that one-fifth of the season will be missed…or one-fifth of players’ salaries. Last year, players received approximately $2.2 billion in salaries and benefits but that was based on a 51% revenue share. So due to a 20% reduction in games played, that amount falls to $1.6 billion for the abridged 2011-12 season. Therefore with average salaries estimated at slightly over $5 million and median salaries roughly $2.5 million, transferring $270 million away from approximately 450 players’ amounts to an average reduction of roughly $610,000 per season per player. That’s a lot of money no matter how you look at it!

Big spending organizations will be required to have more accountability now. Meaning the teams who can “outspend” other teams (due to them being in a bigger more marketable location and/or due to the legacy’s of their current and former teams) will be required to play on a level playing field with “less fortunate” teams else they will be severely penalized. Even though small-market teams do not benefit by the continued existence of “sign and trade” deals, these new rules regarding higher luxury tax rates will clearly make teams think twice before making certain financial decisions. For example in 2010-11, 3 teams (Orlando, Los Angeles, and Dallas) paid $20.1 M, $19.9 M, and $18.9 M respectively in luxury taxes. This was when the luxury tax rate was merely dollar-for-dollar (or a 100% tax rate). The new CBA is proposing that such teams that exceed the luxury tax threshold by over $15 million pay taxes more than threefold the overage (or a tax rate over 300%). This would imply that these (3) teams would have owed more than $60 million each in luxury taxes. This situation is the exact opposite of baseball’s luxury tax system which isn’t so strict when you overspend (see the New York Yankees payroll information). The NBA’s tax system will put red flags all over the place to make teams think twice before attempting to outspend their competitors. Bottom line each team deserves a chance to win no matter how much money they have. This could break up the current NBA champions the Dallas Mavericks who FINALLY got over the hump and trumped the notion that they were “Soft”.
I am also having a problem with the possibility of teams playing back-to-back-to back games. That is very unfair to the players because:

If a player tweaks an ankle or sprains a wrist they wont have enough time to recover for the next two games or they could put themselves and their team in jeopardy by “toughing it out”.

The quality of play will go down due to jet-lag and/or lack of sleep and lack of practice/preparation (Transitioning from playing a fast-paced team like the OKC Thunder and then playing the Celtics). It doesn’t matter how old you are when your body says No the answer most likely wont change, but it if it does you could be putting it at risk.

Things I am grateful for now that the NBA has returned
I am excited to have the opportunity to see if announcers and writers will actually recognize Ron Artest as Metta World Peace. I know it wont happen, because what horrible person would want a thing like WORLD PEACE being publicized? As I said it probably won’t happen because it was hard enough getting the announcers in football to call Chad Johnson, Chad Ochocinco and that had nothing to do with WORLD PEACE. (Catch all the subliminal messaging (WORLD PEACE) I put out there?) WORLD PEACE!
Stormin Mormon Jimmer Fredette my dark horse for the Rookie of the Year IF he can play some darn defense!

The possibility of Lamar Odom defending his sister-in-law’s honor by slipping up and saying “Kris, Kim’s butt IS real I touched it when Khloe wasn’t looking” during a half-time on-court interview.
Hearing all the new jokes about LeBron disappearing in the fourth quarter.
Watching Dwayne Wade flop and roll all over the floor thus giving him more endorsement deals and commercials glorifying his second occupation which is a DUST BUNNY.

(INSERT SARCASM HERE) Twitter battles between grown men DURING a game after they are both ejected and then sent to their respective locker rooms.

Shaq and Barkley possibly arguing (mumbling in a very loud fashion) every night on TNT.
The opportunity to show owners how smart they are for giving Gilbert Arenas and Rashard Lewis so much money for playing so little. This shorter season may help us see Gilbert Arenas and Rashard Lewis become the first players in NBA history to play in more than half of their team’s games and make more than a million dollars for every minute of playing time they average.

Dan Gilbert (owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers) who will be given the opportunity to force his franchises NEW “savior” Kyrie Irving (who he drafted #1 overall in the 2011 NBA draft) into hitting the gym extra hard, putting on platform shoes (so he can be closer to 6’8) and making him wear the number 23 just so he can say “Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, we don’t need you” to LeBron. In certified letter format of course.
(In light of the last situation which is inevitable by the way) The Cavs winning the exact same number of games they would’ve won had there been a full season.

Watching LeBron, “Tebow” after every win against the Celtics and then vanish in the championship series.

Those are my thoughts about the possibility of the NBA coming back. I am excited because I will have lots to write about in the near future and because I love the game of basketball. With that being said let’s GO CELTICS!