The NBA is in trouble. After the most successful NBA season ever, the NBA owners locked out the players, in which the outcome probably means next year is in jeopardy, and I don't mean the late night game show. The players have already agreed to give up millions, something around $900 million, and the owners are demanding an additional $800. So they seem to be at an impasse that is not likely to be resolved anytime this year. Recently someone asked me if I thought there was even going to be a season next year. I gave it some thought. I believe there is a 50% chance we will see a half a season, 35% no season at all or a 15% we will have the entire season.

Recently players and their selective agents have pushed for the union to decertify, which has led to the NBA owners making a preemptive move to sue the players over not negotiating in good faith. Frankly I thought that was exactly what the players were doing and that decertifying was the second best option to solving this crisis altogether.

The best move is one that came to me a few years ago. I believe that the owners are correct in that the current system is broken, however I disagree with their attempts to correct the problems that are at hand. Their solution is to create a hard Team Salary Cap. I believe that the real problem is the Team Salary Cap. The entire concept is wrong, and I think that the owners and the players that have agreed to it for years have been shooting themselves in the foot; or to put it another way, the owners and players are cutting off their noses to spite themselves.

The entire idea of limiting what the team can do to improve itself both competitively and financially by keeping that tension in balance as a means to satisfying your employees (the players) and keeping the teams financially in the profitable margins is backwards.

Having been a part of a union while working for a large company I have come across a couple of simple observations that seemed to be missing in the NBA conversation. Real workers in the real world are not paid for their "potential" but work they have already accomplished, the time they have invested into the company. So using this basic principal I will detail you exactly how the NBA should adjust their entire system. Rather than cap the team, they should cap the players based off their time in the league, with a couple of exceptions. This will allow teams to make the maneuvers that are necessary to make them profitable and competitive and limit the salaries in proportion to their experience verses a players potential.

For starters, NBA rookies should not be paid based off of where they are drafted. They are all rookies, regardless if they are the Number 1 Pick or the Last Pick in the second round, and the lottery picks should not be compensated for their "potential", they should be paid for their experience, just like everyone else in the real world turning in a resume for a job they would like to have.

Rookie Contracts If you are coming straight out of High School with no other experience you start off with a non-guaranteed contract of $500,000 each of the first four years in the league. Each year of college basketball nets a player an additional $500,000 per year, as does Olympic experience and professional experience in selected oversea leagues, with no one ever making more than a total of $4,000,000 as a rookie. This allows quality professionals who have stayed in Europe like Arvydas Sabonis to make the leap into the NBA, but this also pays everyone fairly for their "experience" or lack thereof.

No Experience $500.000 1 Year of College $1,000,000 2 Years of College $1,500,000 3 Years of College $2,000,000 4 Years of College $2,500,000

The Duration of the Rookie deals are four years in length, with each year being a non-guaranteed contract. This would mean a team can have a player for a year or two and decide that during the second or third year they don't want to have that player on their team. The team continues even at that point to hold on to the rights to that player unless they sell the rights, trade the rights or waive the rights to that player.

Arranging the Rookie Cap like this will encourage players who desire to be in the NBA to get additional experience before coming into the NBA because their pay will be larger each year of their first four.

Advantage here: OWNERS

Veterans Mid-Level Contract

After the completion of the Four Year Rookie Contract the players remain Restricted Free Agents, so that the Team is able to retain the player's services, however the pay scale goes up. Players with a minimum of four years in the league now get paid $3,000,000 to a maximum of $5,000,000 per year, whatever in between those numbers that is negotiated. The players have earned that money at that point. These contracts are guaranteed. These deals can be anywhere from 1-5 years. They can include non-trade clauses and whatever is freely negotiated between the two parties. The Second Contract follows the Rookie Contract; the players become unrestricted free agents. This now allows for them to sign with any club they want.

Advantage here: Draw

Franchise Exception

A Franchise Exception salary starts out at $12,000,000 guaranteed money. If the player plays in 50 or more regular season games they make an additional $1,000,000 for the year. If the team makes the playoffs they make an additional $1,000,000 per year. If that player has been with the club their entire career the get an additional $1,000,000 for the year (if they leave via trade, waive or free agency to another club, then they lose that $1,000,000). Each team is given three Franchise Exceptions which c allows for teams to pay a player more than the Veterans Mid-Level Contract. This exception does not count for players on Rookie Contracts, as they have not paid their NBA dues. This allows clubs the freedom to sign three star players like LeBron, Wade, Bosh or Kobe, Gasol, Bynum.

Teams are not forced to use their exceptions, so if Phoenix only wants to have Nash and a bunch of rookies, then they are free to do so, and their financial books will be fairly low. If a team wants to go all out, have three stars, and veterans with no rookies then they are free to do so. Teams are not bound by the salary cap any longer. If a team has three stars and wants another, either that player will have to forfeit the right to be paid like a star, or they will be forced to give one up in a trade. Teams can sell players, picks and maneuver however they see fit.

This would generate all kinds of rumors and speculation which generates more news and buzz for the NBA, which is always good for the league. If a team wants to upgrade it is simple to do so. The GM’s and teams will be at fault for giving their Franchise Player Exception to idots or players not worthy of the exception, not he players.

The Advantage: Both The great things about this is the flexibility this gives teams and players for the long haul, to build competitive and profitable teams, with veterans getting paid what they deserve, and this eliminates players and their agents from blackmailing teams into giving them huge deals they don’t deserve. No longer will the "Market" for a type of player dictate the value, or players potential which might or might not pan out dictate the negotiations, it will have already been decided.

Most teams will have 1-2 players signed to a Franchise Exception; have 7 other vets and 5 rookies which would bring the average team to a payroll of 61,500,000. This is right where the league wants to be their team cap anyway, but this allows teams to add another star if they want to go for glory, or cut one out if they want to save money. This also frees owners of deals that cripple teams.

Ones like the Darius Miles deal the Portland Trail Blazers had a few years ago, or the deal the Orlando Magic has with Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu would at the maximum be given $5,000,000 a year.

This would help balance out salaries across the board for everyone. Now of course there are current players who have signed deals that would be allowed to be grandfathered into the current deal. Kobe Bryant for instance makes around $24,000,000 a year and Lamar Odom’s contract is in between a Veterans Mid-Level Contract and a Franchise Exception, so in grandfathering those in Kobe's contract would count as a Franchise Exception where Lamar Odom's would not, it would be grandfathered in under the Mid-Level, just at a higher pay rate.

If the NBA did as I suggested the league would continue to grow finically even in an unstable world economy and the product on the floor would continue to mature as teams would finally be allowed to make moves to improve the quality of their team without the hindrances of a self-imposed "Team Cap".

In the end the players would vote this deal in because more teams would have the ability to sign more "Franchise Players" to nice size contracts throughout the league, because the salary cap would be gone, and lesser known but still useful veterans would get a minimum of 3 million and a max of 5 million. This would be great if you're Matt Barns (currently making 1.7 million).

The only ones who would not like this deal are the Kobe Bryant’s making 24 million and the future rookies coming into the league. The majority of the players would love this deal and the majority of the owners would as well as it sets everyone on equal footing. Players get paid at a controlled rate, and owners get more control/flexibility. Next year's season plays and the fans are happy. A win-win-win!

During the off season, the lakers should have upgraded their frontcourt as well as adding Blake and Barns.  At the time I thought bringing Shaq back for a year or two would have done the trick.  Many Laker fans were upset that I made the suggestion, many said that we didn't need him.  But what I was really looking to do was fill a large whole we have had all season at center.  The very thing he has done for Boston (look at their record compared to ours and tell me who was right). 

Andrew Bynum has been hurt most of the season, which forced Phil Jackson to move Gasol over to center.  This move as worked for short stretches in the past, but this year it was a total disaster.  Gasol had a great first 10 games of the year, but since maybe 4.  He was forced to play out of position, getting beat up, man-handled, drained mentally and physically and the move has disrupted the entire team chemistry.  Bringing Odom off the bench was great for him, but it created a huge whole on the bench.  Ratlif has not been, nor will he be the answer.  Teams are killing us with their speed, and with the right tough big guy knocking some guys to the floor, we would not have had half of these loses and Gasol would be in much much better shape/confidence. 

Now Bynum has returned, and he has played well in some games, but his play has always shown that some matchups are not for him.  He is still slow and needs someone else that can do the same things as Jackson requires of him to do.  Rebound, block some shots, intimidate, knock some guys on their butts, and to be the enforcer. 

Having that guy on the floor can make a huge difference to the other softer Lakers like Gasol and Odom. 

The Lakers needed to have made this move in the offseason, BEFORE Gasol got himself all tired and wiped out.  Now the team is hurting.  Of course Kobe's knee recovery has not helped.  He cannot be expected to play at the level of play he wants to and practice with the team, which does hurt chemistry, which is why I would like for us to have picked up a better backup for him as well, but the main thing was some frontline help. 

At this point I think the Lakers only have a couple of options.  If the Lakers use the $5 million trade expection we picked up for Sasha, and combine that with Shannon Brown and maybe Character and or Joe Smith, the Lakers could throw in some cash and get a key player.  I heard that the Phoenix Suns Lopez with in the coaches dog house.  Well that would be an ideal pickup, because Lopez is big, athletic and physical.  That would do nicely.  That would actally help the lakers control the pain on every given night, and get their physical toughness back.

I have heard trade rumors that the Lakers have thought about trading Artest for Stephen Jackson.  I believe that has not even truly been discussed, and I know that Michael Jordan doesn't want Artest.  However Stephen Jackson has been a pill for them and has a big contract, so if Michael Jordan could, he would move him.  Stephen Jackson would be a great backup for Kobe, and help the Lakers run the triangle more effeciently because he is big guard and can shoot the three.  Again, we would through in the $5 million trade expection we picked up for Sasha, and combine that with Shannon Brown and maybe Character and or Joe Smith, and the Lakers could throw in some cash and a 2nd round pick to get the deal done... and even then, Jordan might not think its worth it. 

I have heard about Aaron Brooks being on the trade block and he might actually be a good trade for Blake and Character, but the thing the Lakers need the most, is that enforcer that can shift the pain back in our favor.  Even if it costs us Odom.  I like the big guy in Atlanta. 

What do you think we can do to salvage this season that is realistic?

Unfortunately it's true and it is official, Shaquille O'neal has joined the Boston Celtics.  Ten years ago we were jumping out of our seats in pure ecstasy as Kobe Bryant drove past Blazer defenders throwing up a lob to Shaq for a dunk, a Hollywood ending to a seven game series, thrusting the Lakers into a three-peat dynasty.  At the time, Shaq was the most dominant force the game had ever seen, totally destroying teams with thunderous dunks and causing their entire front line to be in foul trouble.  He was the next phase of Laker Legends. 

Then of course we had our divorce, which led O'neal to play with many other teams, while we compiled a team that would again take three straight times to the finals, including winning the last two in a row.  So he makes the move everyone in Lakerland would deem the most wicked, he signs with the Celtics.  The CELTICS!  The evil men of green, with the stupid Lepercon.  What are the Celtics going to call themselves now?  The Lepercon's in the hood?                   

Many of Laker fans couldn't have cared less where Shaq ended up finishing out his career.  But now many of them are just mad as a raging bull.  Others like myself, feel hurt, betrayed.  How can he ruin the Laker legacy that he had spent the prime of his career  establishing.  That is exactly how we will all view it.  Many outside of Lakerland will view him chasing another ring at the end of his playing days, so it's no big deal. 

BUT IT IS A BIG DEAL. 

In the West the Lakers have no real competition, and in the East there was going to be a war between Boston, Orlando, and Miami.  But unless the Celtics are all hurt come playoff time, they won't have any real competion either!  Orlando made no upgrades this offseason, Miami made a huge upgrade with the additions of Lebron James and Chris Bosh, but lets face it, they have NO inside game.  So they are not contenders yet, they will be good, but not champions until they get a rotation that has some players that can play down in the block. 

The Celtics on the other hand are going to go through the motions during the regular season, thanks to Docs brilliant planning.  Funny thing, that's what Shaq tries to do too and is quiet good at it! 

Everyone is talking about Perkins being out, but he will be back around the all-star break, it's not like he is going to be missing the playoffs.  By the time the playoffs come around he will be in full swing, with the additions of Jermaine O'neal and Shaquille O'neal.  They have now added vetran SIZE to a lineup that we dominated in the finals. 

The Laker advantage as been in the paint because our players we taller.  Many people are pointing out that Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum ard Lamar Odom are better on paper; but let's be realistic, those guys are going to play soft compared to a frontline of KG, Shaq, Perkins, Jermaine and Big Baby.  Many of the so called experts are claiming this move will be disruptive to their defensive schemes, but the guy who made those schemes is now coaching the Chicago Bulls.  Doc Rivers only implemented them.  So now they will just do some things differently. 

Shaq may not be as talented and as dominant as he once was, but he is still big, and as good as Gasol is, I can see having Shaq and KG mess with his head.  Of course Gasol could talk with Major Leauge Baseball and get his hands on some good recreational steriods to go along with a Arnold Swartzenager workout to beef him up, but I find that highly unlikely. 

The deal is this, the Lakers just repeated by winning a game seven finals against are evil rivals, and then we upgrade our bench, making it seem nearly impossible for us not to three-peat; and then one of our own gets possessed by green in the middle of the night (I think green aliens did it) and claimed him as their own.  Now we will still have to battle the Celtics in the NBA finals and this time we are going to have to hear about Kobe vs.Shaq and who has the better legacy, and how bad is it that Shaq is on the other side.

Of course the nice thing would be to three-peat and for Kobe to win his third straight Finals MVP, but the truth is if the Celtics win, then we are going to hear a bunch of crap for a LONG time.  This attempt by Shaq to win a title was off limits the minute he signed with the Lakers as a free agent in 1996, every Laker great knows that, heck all Lakers know that.  This is just a move you don't do. 

Free agency is upon us, while most of us are caught up in the drama of where the "BIG THREE" go, the Lakers are looking to put the right role players in place, in their quest for a third straight NBA title. 

The signing of point guard Steve Blake was a savvy move by Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak.  While living in Portland, I have had the opportunity first hand to see him in action, only to leave me wishing he was running the triangle offense for the Lakers.  He has great court vision, and did an exceptional job of getting the ball to Brandon Roy whern and where he wanted it.  Steve Blake will no doubt do the same for Kobe Bryant. 

Blake’s shooting ability from inside the three and from beyond the arch will enable him to get some easy buckets for the Lakers when they rotate the ball.  However, he is still a point guard at heart, and will do the honorable thing, setting up his teammates in the post for alley-opps and easy scores as well as hitting Kobe on the wing, time and time again.