The CBA & looming lockout

[JGib23]

With our season all but over and the draft position the only thing really in doubt, i thought it would be a good time to start this thread. I stumbled upon a great site with a lot of links to articles about what has (or has not) happened up until this point in the CBA process.

For those that don't know, the current CBA ends on June 30th and this one will be a no holds barred steel cage match... The owners are looking for a hard cap and and roll back of existing salaries by as much as 1/3...

As a fan of a small market team, a hard cap (coupled with good management) is exactly what we need to have a realistic shot at competing year in and year out with the major market teams that can afford to pay in excess for a winner.

heres a link to some of the articles that can educate you on the ins & outs of the CBA. http://nbaconfidential.wordpress.com/cbalabor-central/

[Marvel]

My hope is that a hard cap is implemented, would be good for a small market team like us.

[murphman]

I fear contraction more than anything else.

[WAM9]

I fear contraction more than anything else.

I've heard Stern on more than 1 occasion say Charlotte isn't in the plans for contraction if that ever happened. I know talk is cheap but why would the commissioner and owners go to all this trouble making the playing field more even for small market teams and then contract the same small market teams?

I don't have an answer but I fear a lockout more than contraction personally.

[polarcat]

As far as contraction, I could see a couple of teams and maybe bumping it back to 28 teams rather than some huge contraction of like 6-8 teams. Maybe New Orleans and either the Clippers or Kings. No need to really explain the Whorenets franchise woes, and for the Clips, oh where to begin. A cheap owner, a lottery team every year and have been to the playoffs twice since 1993, and are the step-sisters at the Staples Center to the Lakers. You throw in the fact that the Maloof's are probably going to land the Kings in Anaheim, and the NBA has 3 teams in the LA-Orange County area, which is an entertainment/tourist area that puts sports on the back burner until the playoffs or only if the team is winning. The Kings have an amazing following in Sacramento and their fans have always been some of the best, very similar to our older Hornets teams. You take them out of Sac-town and they are a young team that has struggled. No way we get contracted after moving our franchise, giving us another franchise within 5 years, and have one of the GOAT running the show. Maybe it's the homer in me, but I think with the Okafor, Chandler, DUST chip, and Wallace moves, we are rounding a curve that is leading to us being the next OKC Thunder of the East. Move Diaw out for a tangible energy/6th man, draft properly this season, and bring in a stud via free agency or trade, and we should be on the right path that should keep any contraction talks mute.

[JGib23]

I'm not worried about contraction.... No way Stern contracts the only Minority- Majority owner in sports, who just happens to be the GOAT!

If there is lost season, we would at least never have to see Diaw in a Bobcats uniform again as his contract will have expired.

[JGib23]

Bump to the top!

More good information posted on nbaconfidential today. They posted a 3 page letter sent to the players by Billy Hunter. Good read for those that are interested

[spectre]

In the game chat last night a discussion started about players being traded THIS offseason (before June 30th...when the current CBA expires), so I decided to email Larry Coon to clarify. My email and his response follows:

Mr. Coon:

On our basketball forum some have said that...because the CBA is expiring this year on midnight June 30th that no players can be traded after the season ends. Is there something written specifically for that time frame in the last year of the CBA?

BTW...I really appreciate your FAQ. I've pulled it up many times to clarify and to help my own knowledge on the NBA.

Thanks

No, players whose contracts are expiring can never be traded after the season, but players whose contracts continue through 2011-12 (without any options) can be traded right up to the deadline.

Larry Coon

It appears he thought I was talking about expiring players instead of the expiring CBA, but it appears he did say "NO" to my question of particular language, and he also said that "players whose contracts continue through 2011-2012 without options can be traded right up to the deadline".

I've sent a follow-up to try and clarify.

[spectre]

Actually...re-reading it again I think HE is just clarifying that expiring players (of course) can't be traded, but that others can.

So yes...we COULD have waited til after our last game and traded Gerald Wallace.

[spectre]

Mr. Coon:

Just to clarify...there is no statement particularly singling out THIS offseason (from the end of a team's very last game until June 30th) as differing from any other season?

Basically the discussion came about in regards to the Bobcats trading Gerald Wallace right at the February trade deadline. It was said that we couldn't wait until after our last game (but before June 30th) because the CBA was set to expire...that there was particular language for this year's offseason, not the other seasons when the CBA wasn't due to expire.

His response:

No, this offseason (through June 30, at least) is no different than any other offseason.