It is pretty unusual for a team in the playoff picture to make wholesale changes at the trade deadline. While it is common to add a piece or two, trading featured stars or half the roster is not common for teams in the hunt. This season it was surprising that so many impactful trades were made at the trade deadline, the busiest one in NBA history. With Phoenix and Oklahoma City fighting for the last playoff spot, team instability is something
The NBA has again taken a monumental step forward in its business. In 2016 the league will enter into a new television contract that will more than double in size from the previous one. And since the TV revenue is the largest component of revenue that is counted as the total pot shared with the players (Basketball Related Income, or BRI) the effect on the salary cap is obvious. It’s going up. Up is actually an understatement. The cap will be going
I started on this mission to dig into One and Done with two main goals in mind. The first was to shed light on the issues in a fact-based way, free from rhetoric and bias. For years the entire policy has been discussed in a way that obscures the facts, not clarifies them. The second is to have the policy viewed as more than an argument over what age to draw the line restricting players from entering the league. While I
I get pretty tired of all of the complaining about One and Done. It’s time to do something about it. The current rule is a prime example of what happens when two sides are negotiating several major issues simultaneously and a point that deserves a fully thought-out plan becomes something to compromise over. A rule gets made that doesn’t address the actual issues very well, causing distress on all sides. So what’s the plan? How does one actually come up with a
“A good compromise is one where both sides are unhappy.” If you believe that quote, then you must be a fan of the current NBA early entry policy, one of the best compromises in sports history. The policy, informally known as “One and Done,” was reached as a “split the baby” compromise between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association in 2005. As the flow of high school players entering the NBA grew, the league pushed hard for an age limit
FUBAR, Excruciating, Manipulated. These were all terms that I used to describe the search for the new Executive Director of the NBPA. The process that was used to replace Billy Hunter was full of twists and turns, intrigue, and uncertainty. It lasted way too long and was managed clumsily. There was a vote that wasn’t, then a do-over when word circulated about a seemingly forced outcome. At the end of the day the final vote was done hastily amid protest. Then, against
Today the NBA announced that the earth has shifted on its axis. The long-awaited new TV deal has been disclosed. Although it has been anticipated for a long time, it still makes the eyes water to think about a $24 billion dollar deal. It makes deep-pocketed people all over America think one thing today: Why didn’t I buy a team 5 years ago when I could have paid only $200 million? With the disclosure of the details of the contracts, many things
The short answer is $600 million “plus.” The $600 million represents economic value of the team based on fundamentals, while the “plus” represents intangible value that is specific to the buyer’s view of the Hawks opportunity. What is the “plus” worth? Keep reading. Pro sports franchises are one of a kind, extremely desirable and rarely available. While that accounts for some of the eye-popping NBA team sales prices lately, it doesn’t make pricing the next one much easier. Each team has its