Owners vs. GMs?

[damekmo@teleport.com]

Two items which I thought were interesting. The first from:

http://www.sjmercury.com/sports/warriors/docs/nbareport.htm

Dated Nov. 2

>"THE PLAYERS aren't the only ones leery of owners' proposals. NBA general
>managers are worried new rules designed to keep salaries in check would
>restrict their ability to make trades, which would hurt the popularity of
>the game. ">
>Owners' proposal could handcuff general managers.
>``You've got to give your fans a reason to hope things will get better,''
>one general manager said. ``You've got to give them a chance to make up
>for past mistakes. Those guys in New York, they don't understand what we
>do for a living.''<P>
>   The concerns stem from provisions in the NBA's Sept.24 proposal, a
>17-page document that was the last formal offer by the owners.<P>
>   The league wants to eliminate ``sign-and-trade'' transactions, in which
>a club can re-sign its free agent then ship him to another team. It also
>wants to eliminate 3-for-1 and 4-for-2 trades.<P>
>In perhaps the most stifling restriction, the league wants to ``prohibit
>the trade of any player subsequent to the trade deadline in the
>next-to-last season of his contract unless the player and acquiring team
>agree that the player will not be a Bird or Early Bird player at the
>conclusion of his contract.''<P>
>That means a player will have to renounce his free-agent status (the
>so-called Larry Bird exception) to OK a deal, and that would never
>happen.<P>
>In other words, the lower-echelon franchises would be forced to either pay
>their free agents what they want or let them leave without
>compensation.<P>
>Part of the allure of sports is that fans can play general manager and
>talk about trades they would like to see. Some of these proposals make it
>hard for the real general managers to get on the phone with their
>colleagues.<P>
>Why would NBA negotiators sabotage the game? Money, of course. NBA bean
>counters are trying to do everything within their power to prevent
>salaries from escalating, and a major ticket to higher salaries is for a
>cash-strapped team to trade a player it doesn't think it can afford to a
>team that clearly can afford him.<P>
>It might make sense in terms of crunching the numbers, but ultimately it's
>bad business.<P>

And this from: espnet.sportszone.com/nba/news/1998/981106/00920580.html

Billy Hunter speaking about management talking to the players:

>Hunter said he intends to turn management's tactic around on the
>owners.<p>
>"I am going to send our proposal with a full explanation to
>every GM and we'll send their proposal along so they can compare
>the two," he said.<p>

Paul M.