Team stacking in the NBA

[Phishfan]

I'm not going to keep a back and forth going. I really don't care how teams build themselves but Cleveland would never consider that trade with James under contract. NBA draft picks can be counted on less than NFL picks. That is my only point here. Those guys made their intentions known and worked the system to maximize their contract and still go to their free agency choice.

[Spider-Dan]

So do the trades of Kevin Garnett, Paul George, Melo, and (soon to be) Kawhi "count"?  All of them demanded to be traded, greatly depressing their value (why trade away assets for someone when you can wait and get them for free), and Melo specifically has a no-trade clause that literally allowed him to pick which teams he could be traded to.

[Fau Teixeira]

If you want to play the game that way fine. Bosch and James came in on sign and trade deals, after they announced their free agent intentions to join Miami. That makes little difference in the fact the had already announced.

technically right is the best kind of right

[BuccaneerBrad]

This is why I don't watch the NBA anymore.  The players themselves are GMs and you might as well pencil in the two NBA Finals candidates before the season even starts.

[Fau Teixeira]

i don't have a problem with free agency in sports. Go sign a contract with whichever team you want when you're a free agent, for whatever reasons you want.
If teams don't like that .. they should make themselves more appealing to free agents.

[BuccaneerBrad]

Apologies by me (Dave Gray).

I was trying to quote this post to say that it was an interesting point.  Instead, I accidentally deleted it.

My bad, Buc.

[masterfins]

I don't have a problem with stacked teams, there have always been dynasties in professional sports.  Injuries, age, and salary caps eventually put an end to dynasties.  However, from the fan perspective, unless my team occasional is able to win a championship then I am put off (with the exception of football where I inexplicably still follow the Dolphins).  Basketball is the easiest sport to stack a team, since there are only 5 players on the court at any one time; and the current system allows unfair collusion.  Although teams are not supposed to contact free agents and players under contract until certain dates, the players themselves collude to join a team and play together, this is wrong IMO.  The main thing that turns me off as a fan is when a Lebron James type player leaves his team, which has gone to consecutive finals, not for money, but for some unknown selfish reason.  Sure it's his right to do it, but I'm not going to be a fan of his for this reason, and that's my right.  And ultimately there will be other fans like myself that will stop watching, and that will hurt their product.

[Sunstroke]

The main thing that turns me off as a fan is when a Lebron James type player leaves his team, which has gone to consecutive finals, not for money, but for some unknown selfish reason.

The unknown selfish reason is probably the fact that Cleveland hasn't done shit to build anything around LeBron in Cleveland, and LeBron wants to at least challenge for another title before he hangs em up.

[Dave Gray]

While we're on the subject, can someone explain to me why Miami had to trade for Lebron?  Couldn't he have just let his contract lapse entirely and then signed with the HEAT so that they didn't lose picks?

[Spider-Dan]

The main thing that turns me off as a fan is when a Lebron James type player leaves his team, which has gone to consecutive finals, not for money, but for some unknown selfish reason.

I find this puzzling, because when players elect to take more money instead of sacrificing pay for a roster that can win, they are also heavily criticized.

While we're on the subject, can someone explain to me why Miami had to trade for Lebron?  Couldn't he have just let his contract lapse entirely and then signed with the HEAT so that they didn't lose picks?

Miami didn't have to trade for LeBron or Bosh, but by doing so, they acquired the original teams' player rights, which means they are eligible to exceed the cap to re-sign them, offer them super-max deals, etc.

[BigDaddyFin]

Not to hijack but maybe we should just stop giving a shit about LeBron? 

[BuccaneerBrad]

i don't have a problem with free agency in sports. Go sign a contract with whichever team you want when you're a free agent, for whatever reasons you want.
If teams don't like that .. they should make themselves more appealing to free agents.

It's the way that free agency is handled in the NBA.   Setting "max contracts" for players was the worst thing they could've possibly done.  Now players themselves act as GMs and collude to go to a team with the most cap room.  That team then wins titles for the next 4-5 years while the rest of the league rots in hell.   

They need to re-make free agency in the NBA.  No max contracts, no "mid level exceptions" no nothing.  Just a hard salary cap that you cannot exceed.  You can designate one player on your roster as the "marquee" player and his contract doesn't count against the cap.

[Spider-Dan]

A hard salary cap would do literally nothing to prevent players from teaming up, as 1) they already take less money to team up, and 2) under a hard salary cap all players would make less money than under the current soft cap.  The only thing a hard cap would do is make superteams cheaper for the owners.

[Sunstroke]

Not to hijack but maybe we should just stop giving a shit about LeBron? 

Do you not like athletes who reach the pinnacle of their profession? Or is it just the media's infatuation that has ya grumpy?

[Tenshot13]

If people stopped caring about LeBron, people would stop caring about the NBA.