More on why a hard cap may backfire on the owners:
ttp://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/NBA-Labor-Dispute-Why-a-Hard-Cap-is-a-Bad-Idea-for-Both-Sides-91631387
Also, for the 5-7 seven teams way over the current cap (Lakers, Mavericks, Trailblazers, Spurs, and Magic, ...., and possibly Heat and Hawks) will they be forced to waive players currently under contract? Or be grand-fathered in a manner which is uncompetitive for other teams?
Everyone is acting as though this is just players vs. owners, but the reality is that there has to be a war between the owners going on outside the media spotlight.....
That article hit it right on the head. The first thing I thought of when I read someone talk about a $45 million hard cap was the fact that many NBA players would probably head for Europe. If you're Landry Fields, and you're making less than a million dollars as it is, and your salary is going to get slashed probably to 750,000 if they roll back the contracts that far, why would you stick around? Go to Turkey, play with a washed-up Allen Iverson, and make four times as much money as you do playing in the States, and get treated like a KING.
The NBA has to realize that while its stars are going to make a good amount of money, many mid-level players are going to leave and thus the quality of roleplayers around the league is going to decrease. The big market teams will still be the only ones with the stars, and the small-market owners who now have NO stars and NO roleplayers cause they're too cheap to pay players more than European teams will are the ones who will see themselves get ****ed in the ass the hardest.
And here is the bluntest reality of all - if the league institutes a hard salary cap, the Miami Heat are going to dominate the NBA for the next five years. Period. Dallas won't be able to re-sign its roleplayers cause they'll all head for Europe, Lakers players such as Shannon Brown and Ron Artest will head for Europe where teams will pay them tons more just because of who they area, and the Knicks will not be able to add a 3rd max contract or any decent veteran roleplayers that could give them a chance to topple Miami.
Most screwed of all would be the Thunder, probably.