Re: New era

[DJessen33@aol.com]

This may be true for a majority of the players. However, I don't think people 
in Detroit or Toronto would agree. Therefore, because of the possibility of 
losing someone for nothing in return is real, players still have considerable 
power....

DJessen33

<< I think the new CBA is really a stroke of genius on David Stern's part. I
 really don't agree with the way it's structured(i.e. a non free
 market) but in terms of what David Stern wanted it's a masterpiece. The
 new CBA has not only saved owners from themselves in terms of contracts,
 it destroyed free agency. If the structure of teams follows the current
 trend, every team other than the clippers will find themselves stuck to
 long term contracts until new CBA negotiations. This will destroy
 the leverage any players were going to have contractwise in the
 future(since they won't be able use teams like Chicago or Orlando as
 threats). I'm sure the owners thought they had scored a major coup by
 keeping costs down by having maximum contracts limited but now they find
 themselves hoist on their own petard because they can't raid each other's
 talent like they could before.
    As far as the league is concerned that's wonderful, what the new
 contract rules mean is that players like Vince Carter will remain
 mainstays in Toronto for the duration of their careers. That
 sort of fan loyalty and brand identification means $$$$ for the league
 office and the corporate side of things. It also means a more competitive
 product. For instance if the clippers current crop of talent plays out,
 you won't have the normal exodus of talent that you normally have every
 few years. They won't have anywhere to go, unless they want to sign for
 the exception somewhere else.
    But that's just the structure of the current system. The battle
 lines are being redrawn in the background. Just look at the purchase of
 the CBA(the league). If there's anything the NBA player's union learned
 from the lockout debacle, it's that what they really are is personalities
 in sports entertainment a la the WWF. The players are setting up their own
 WCW to continue the metaphor. The NBA has responded by trying to come up
 with their own scab league to oust the CBA from contention.
    The league could very well be another soap opera sooner than we
 think. 
 
 Tangents aside I think the new state of the NBA could really help the
 celtics. I'm betting that the best way to return to prominance is by
 bombing the season. A high draft pick coupled with another not so high
 draft pick from Denver could really bring us into contention once our
 talent pans out. We really don't have to worry about talent escaping like
 we did before. There won't be anything like the Walker debacle, which
 ended up hurting both Walker(in terms of fan support) and the
 franchise(in terms of cap room). Watching Mercer and Taylor fail has
 undercut any sort of leverage any of our players could have through free
 agency. So now our objectives should really be to shore up our weaknesses
 in talent through the draft. I'm thinking a young point guard and enforcer
 type front court player would probably be our best choices. I'm
 stating the obvious in terms of our talent gaps though.
 
 Thoughts? Rebuttals?
 
 Noah >>