SBNation.com - 2011 NBA Lockout: Full Coverage Of League's Labor Disputehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46737/sbn-fave.png2011-12-08T21:05:19-05:00http://www.sbnation.com/rss/stream/13839432011-12-08T21:05:19-05:002011-12-08T21:05:19-05:00NBA Lockout Ends As Players, Owners Ratify
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<p>The NBA Board of Governors on Thursday ratified a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, clearing the way for the official end of the 2011 lockout. Commissioner David Stern told reporters that the owners voted 25-5 to approve the deal.</p>
<p>Earlier on Thursday, players had ratified the deal by a wide margin, though fewer than half of the union membership elected to vote.</p>
<p>The ratification clears the way for free agency to officially begin at 2 p.m. ET on Friday. Chortles are encouraged, given that half the league has been reported to have handshake deals with specific dollar amounts attached with free agents already, and trades -- including one for a certain <span>Chris Paul</span> -- have already been agreed to.</p>
<p>Training camps will also open on Friday. Preseason games begin in a little over a week. Basketball is back, everybody. Embrace a fan near you and enjoy. (Enjoy it a little more if you're a fan of the L.A. <a href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Lakers</a>.)</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/12/8/2622360/nba-lockout-over-ratificationTom Ziller2011-12-08T17:23:24-05:002011-12-08T17:23:24-05:00NBA Lockout: Players Vote To Approve New CBA, Owners Expected To Do Same
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<p>We are just baby steps away from the NBA lockout officially ending and a new collective bargaining agreement being approved by both sides. The NBA players have reformed as a union and have voted to approve the new CBA, <a href="http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/33758482">according to a report by CBS Sports' Ken Berger</a>.</p>
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<p>NBA players on Thursday approved a new collective bargaining agreement in electronic voting, paving the way for owners to formally ratify the deal and open training camps and the free-agency period, two people familiar with the results told CBSSports.com.</p>
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<p>The owners are also expected to finalize a new revenue-sharing plan shortly, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/KBergCBS/status/144900759882960896">according to Berger</a>. The major parts of the new CBA had been approved a while ago, with only a few procedural and B-list items left to resolve this week. Evidently, they have been resolved.</p>
<p>NBA training camps will open on Friday, and the official date for the start of free agency is Friday as well, though teams <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2011-nba-free-agency/2011/12/5/2612326/nba-rumors-free-agents-trades-2011">have been making offers to players already</a>.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/2011/12/8/2621814/nba-lockout-over-cbs-players-associationMike Prada2011-12-07T13:09:08-05:002011-12-07T13:09:08-05:00NBA Lockout Deal Keeps Age Minimum Static, Increasing D-League Assignment Flexibility
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<p>The minimum age for players seeking to enter the NBA Draft will not rise as a result of the NBA lockout deal crafted by negotiators from the players' union and league over the last two weeks, <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/KBergCBS">reports CBS Sports' Ken Berger</a>. The age minimum will remain at 19 years old and one year removed from high school, as it has been since 2006.</p>
<p>Berger also reports that teams can now assign their own players with three or fewer years in the NBA to their D-League affiliate; assignment had been to players in the first two seasons previously. In addition, veterans will have the opportunity to be assigned to the D-League for injury rehab, though it must be a mutual decision between the team and player.</p>
<p>The age minimum decision is good news for fans of bad teams, as the 2012 draft could be absolutely loaded if a few top freshmen and the best sophomores declare.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/12/7/2618291/nba-lockout-2011-age-minimum-dleagueTom Ziller2011-11-30T07:22:44-05:002011-11-30T07:22:44-05:00NBA Free Agents, Teams Can Talk Beginning Wednesday
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<p>In a surprise move, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nba.com/2011/news/11/29/nba-facilities-opening.ap/index.html">the NBA announced on Tuesday that </a>while free agency won't begin until December 9, teams can begin talks with agents about free agent players beginning on Wednesday. The league that no deals can be offered or accepted -- even verbally -- until December 9, but that communication can begin.</p>
<p>It's unorthodox by NBA standards. In a normal NBA offseason, teams cannot have conversations with agents of free agent players from other teams until the stroke of midnight on July 1, the traditional start of free agency. By the time that the sun rises on July 1, there are usually a couple of verbal deals wrapped up.</p>
<p>How strictly the NBA will monitor its "no verbal offer or deal" rule remains to be seen. In practice, it might really just end up as a gag order on team execs and agents who reach quiet deals that will surely leak out, as all deals do.</p>
<p>The NBA also announced that team facilities will be opened on Thursday for voluntary camps.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/30/2599846/nba-free-agents-2011-talks-playersTom Ziller2011-11-29T08:07:34-05:002011-11-29T08:07:34-05:00NBA Lockout: Billy Hunter Sends Memo To Players Outlining Good Points Of Deal
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<p>Billy Hunter sent a memo to players on Monday outlining the good points of the NBA lockout deal reached Saturday, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/11/28/settlement.memo/index.html" target="_blank">reports SI.com's Sam Amick</a>. (The memo was, in fact, longer than two paragraphs.) In the memo, which <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_JqVMjKAfLYYjJiZmE4YTMtM2JhNy00ZjdlLTgzNGYtZTkyOTFlODI4ZWY0" target="_blank">Amick made available online</a>, Hunter outlines the path toward ratification of the deal, which includes finalization of the lawsuit settlement agreement, re-authorization for the union to represent players in collective bargaining and negotiation of the smaller CBA issues like the age minimum and drug testing. Hunter said that ratification could come next week.</p>
<p>With free agency and the start of training camps scheduled for December 9, time is of the essence.</p>
<p>Hunter notes that players' aggregate salary will grow by $100 million per season beginning next year, and says that projections have the luxury tax threshold rising to $90 million by 2016-17. (I'm sure the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brewhoop.com/">Milwaukee Bucks</a> are thrilled to hear it.) Hunter also says that the league's revenue sharing plan will be memorialized in an agreement with players for the first time.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/29/2595689/nba-lockout-2011-billy-hunter-players-memoTom Ziller2011-11-28T12:49:19-05:002011-11-28T12:49:19-05:00Why The NBA Lockout Is Over: We Ran Out Of Bullets And Stubborn
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<p>The NBA lockout rumbled in like a cataclysm and ended with the soft purring of a contented cat. We will never ever ever ever miss it, but why did it end when it did?</p> <p>After all of that -- two years of precursor scares and five months of head-numbing stick-waving -- the NBA lockout ended quietly at 3 a.m. during Thanksgiving weekend with the celebratory press conference held in a law firm's nondescript meeting room. The lockout was like a bad thriller: it built to a crescendo with increasingly wild threats, fevered drama and the promise of more blood. Then, suddenly: roll credits.</p>
<p>No one is complaining. <i>I'm</i> surely not complaining. But the abrupt, sober end of the lockout begs the question: why now? What happened? Here's a reading from someone who has read too much about the labor struggle over the past couple years.</p>
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<center> <b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/22/2581655/nba-lockout-2011-david-stern-players-union-disclaimer">Full NBA Lockout Coverage</a> From SBNation.com | Free Agent Rumors: </b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/10/7/2475014/nba-rumors-free-agents-trades-2011"><b>Lakers After Baron Davis?</b></a> </center>
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<p><img style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v5e9d7f1.jpg"></p>
<h3>PLAYERS USED UP ALL OF THEIR AMMO</h3>
<p>Do you know when a pheasant-hunting trip is over? It's over when you run out of bullets and, if you're from certain parts of the country, throwable projectiles. The players' union ran out of bullets when it dissolved itself to clear the way for anti-trust litigation against the league.</p>
<p>The players clearly did not have the stomach for a lengthy court battle, no less than the league did. If the players were eager to school the owners in court, they would have disclaimed interest in July and hit the circuits ASAP. Instead, the players waited until November, and nakedly used anti-trust litigation as a point of leverage, not an actual avenue worth exploring.</p>
<p>The union held off on disclaiming interest and taking the battle to court because it needed that bullet in reserve to get past the final hump. It worked.</p>
<p><img style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v5e9d7f1.jpg"></p>
<h3>OWNERS RAN OUT OF THINGS TO TAKE</h3>
<p>In the end, owners got most of what they had been pushing for since late September. No, the league didn't get the hard salary cap ... but David Stern had begun abandoning that back in June. He knew it wasn't happening if he wanted any sort of 2011-12 season. The same goes for a revenue split of less than 50 percent for players: Stern found his way there by late September, and knew he couldn't put that snake back in the fake can of peanut butter.</p>
<p><iframe style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:250px; height:258px;" vspace="8" src="//www.facebook.com/plugins/likebox.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsbnationnba&width=250&height=258&colorscheme=light&show_faces=true&border_color&stream=false&header=false" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" align="right" hspace="8"></iframe>He knew this, which is why he used the threat of a lower split as a constant threat. It would only get worse for players if they stretched it out; Stern threatened to lower the players' split in the owners' proposal no less than three times. (He never went through with it.)</p>
<p>But the threats worked: players eventually signed off on a deal with a 50 percent split and serious limits on top-level payrolls.</p>
<p>The owners couldn't reasonably demand a whole lot more. They gave on some cap issues in the end, particularly the freedom of teams to go $4 million over the luxury tax line without losing access to any transaction types. But the big ticket stuff had been resolved. There was no reason to hold out any longer. The lockout ran out of wick.</p>
<p><img style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v5e9d7f1.jpg"></p>
<h3>BOTH SIDES RAN OUT OF STUBBORN</h3>
<p>Cutting into the season never made sense for either side. The economics have been widely reported: losing two weeks of paychecks would be more painful to players than taking 50 percent for this season, and losing games through mid-December would be as painful as the lower revenue split teased over six or seven seasons. The same applies to owners: it wasn't actually financially worth it to set games -- tickets, concessions, parking, jersey sales, ratings built into future TV deals -- on fire for the concessions they were seeking.</p>
<p>Both sides still held out well beyond the sensible due dates, because that's what people do in negotiations: they entrench, they fight for every scrap, they fall in love with their preferred result and reject any compromised version of that vision. Eventually, reason won over stubbornness. </p>
<p>We can likely thank new blood for that particular victory; Jim Quinn, a former union lawyer and the dealmaker in 1999, entered the picture before Thanksgiving, and voila! Everyone in the room liked and trusted Quinn, and sometimes you need an outside perspective to cut through the baloney to find common ground and a solution. (This also speaks to how much the two sides trusted federal mediator George Cohen, who twice failed to find a solution. Alas, progress was made on key issues while Cohen was involved. He just couldn't get them over the hump.) </p>
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<h3>LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE</h3>
<p>How can the NBA and players' union apply the lessons of the end of the 2011 lockout to the next stoppage? (Don't be naive. We have 12, 13 years <i>max</i> before the hard cap strikes back.) They can't, really. All told, once you cut through the weirdness and hilarity and wretching pain of the lockout, it went exactly as planned, exactly as all successful negotiations do: two sides who argued with each other, threatened each other, compromised with each other. It's like a prelude to <span>Kobe Bryant</span> vs. <span>Andrew Bynum</span>, only without the visceral joy that comes from the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/">Lakers</a> imploding. The lockout was a success!</p>
<p>A really, <i>really</i> annoying success.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/28/2591692/why-nba-lockout-over-2011Tom Ziller2011-11-28T10:01:00-05:002011-11-28T10:01:00-05:00How Your Team Is Affected By NBA Lockout Deal
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<p>Not all teams will see the same results from the NBA lockout deal reached on Saturday. To help ascertain what the future holds, we have broken it down team by team. Spoiler alert: the Clippers will probably still suck.</p> <p>The most important question facing fans in the wake of the NBA lockout deal reached Saturday morning is pretty basic: how does the deal affect my team? As it turns out, given that clubs have similarities with others based on top-level considerations, we can boil the impacts of the deal down based on the class of teams we're looking at. </p>
<p>We've broken the 30 NBA teams into seven groups of varying membership levels to assess the deal's impact on the clubs' futures. Then we note any specific considerations facing each team, the "I am a special snowflake" impacts that will affect, say, the Pacers but not the Bucks.</p>
<p>The groups are laid out in the following chart and explained below that. I apologize in advance for any insult felt by <i>Sex in the City</i> fans and Satan worshippers.</p>
<p><a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/804649/Owners-Chart-tz-v2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Owners-chart-tz-v2_medium" class="photo" src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/804649/Owners-Chart-tz-v2.jpg"></a> <br id="1322411945892"></p>
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<p style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px;"><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v777cf8a.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial;"></p>
<h3>THE MONEYBAGS CREW: <span class="sbn-auto-link">Lakers</span>, Heat, Knicks, Mavericks, Celtics, Warriors, Nets and Magic</h3>
<p>There are eight current teams that make a lot of money and spend a lot of money. Well, there are seven, but there's one team that makes no money that will soon start to make a lot of money. We'll deal with them shortly.</p>
<p>These teams are the ones who will feel the wrath of the new luxury tax rules. Luckily for these teams, that pain is largely delayed until 2013. There is some intermediate pain -- the priciest of these teams will be limited to the mini mid-level exception worth $9 million over three seasons instead of the full mid-level, worth more than $20 million over four seasons. But more punitive tax penalties and sign-and-trade restrictions, as well as the repeater tax, are delayed until 2013. </p>
<p>Eventually, payrolls must come down. Even Mark Cuban won't be able to stomach persistent $40 million tax bills. These owners still want an advantage, so expect them to (when they are contending for a title) however around $80 million, assuming a $70 million tax line.</p>
<p>Here are some special considerations.</p>
<p>* The<b> L.A. Lakers</b> will absolutely chase one of the two massive free agents to be (<span>Dwight Howard</span> and <span>Chris Paul</span>) now that the Melo Rule has been killed. But it won't have to be by the 2012 in-season trade deadline: since sign-and-trades are permitted for high tax teams until 2013, the Lakers could wait until next July and work out a sign-and-trade with Orlando or New Orleans. The delay on the punitive tax and continuance of the soft salary cap means that those doomsday scenarios in which <span>Kobe Bryant</span> would need to be waived via amnesty to allow the team to fill a roster will not materialize. The 2013-14 season may be tough, but that's a long way away.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.postingandtoasting.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New York Knicks</a></b> are in a similar position: they'll chase the big names now and later, and they'll get away with it. The timeline for the new rules fits the Knicks' team-building schedule <i>perfectly</i>. Almost too perfectly.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Dallas Mavericks</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.celticsblog.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Celtics</a></b> can continue to spend big over the next two seasons with little danger of extra penalties in the future. When Dirk Nowitzki and Boston's Big Three hang up the boots, the teams can either rebuild traditionally or retool on the fly, dropping below the tax line and restocking the cupboards for another run. The two-year delay is huge for Dallas' free agent plans (<span>Tyson Chandler</span>, J.J. Barea) and Boston's salary cap sheet.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.hothothoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Miami Heat</a></b> will be able to use the full mid-level exception without waiving <span>Mike Miller</span>, and keeping <span>Mario Chalmers</span> shouldn't be a problem either, as <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7283642/nba-owners-concessions-benefit-miami-heat-mike-miller">Brian Windhorst detailed over the weekend</a>. An NBA Finals team getting better and losing no one of value? Sounds good to Mickey Arison!</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Golden State Warriors</a></b> are a high-revenue club expected to soon start spending like crazy. But the team isn't ready to go nuts just yet -- the Warriors weren't close to <i>playoff</i> contention last season -- so when Golden State rises it will be in the new environment where spending well over the cap comes with a price. I'd expect the Warriors to follow the Boston model: spend as much as you can bear when the window is open, fall back to reasonable levels otherwise.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.orlandopinstripedpost.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Orlando Magic</a></b> could be dropping back down to the ranks of the cheap quite soon, depending on what happens with Howard. Owner Rich DeVos is filthy rich and the new Amway Center is a huge revenue driver for the club. But the roster is painfully thin behind Howard, and there's no sense in paying the tax for a fully rebuilding club. Let's hope Howard sticks in O-Town and Otis Smith conjures some magic to fix that mess of a roster.</p>
<p>* And finally, the <b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/new-jersey-nets" class="sbn-auto-link">New Jersey Nets</a></b>. We know Mikhail Prokhorov will spend. We know the team will be a huge moneymaker in Brooklyn, beginning in 2012-13. That creates a carbon copy of the Knicks. The only difference: unless the Nets make a big splash in free agency or trades in the next month, the Nets won't be a top contender in the East until 2013 at the earliest ... and that would require keeping <span>Deron Williams</span> locked up. Unless the Nets can pull Howard or get really creative, it's unclear they'll be able to firm up the roster before restrictions kick in two years from now. It'll be really interesting to see what the club does between December 9 and the trade deadline.</p>
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<h3>THE CARRIE BRADSHAW: Blazers</h3>
<p>There's one more team intent on spending as much as possible seemingly every season: the <b><a href="https://www.blazersedge.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Portland Trail Blazers</a></b>. Paul Allen is among the richest men in the world. But Portland is a small market with limited revenue streams (despite a rabid fan base), and nothing can change that. How revenue sharing shakes out could determine how feasible the long-term commitment to spending big remains. Will Portland get money from the high-revenue clubs, bankrolling Allen's desire to grease every deal with cash and swallow bad contracts like medicine? That seems like a dangerous relationship. We'll see. We remain in the dark about revenue sharing.</p>
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<p><img alt="Star-divide" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/images/blog/star-divide.v777cf8a.jpg" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial;"></p>
<h3>THE SOBER WAFFLES: Pistons, Sixers, Rockets, Suns, Wizards and Raptors</h3>
<p>These six teams are in the NBA's middle markets. (Toronto is actually the No. 4 market, but because of a weird yet persistent distaste for Canada among NBA free agents, it manifests as a mid-rung market.) Their owners are either unproven as big spenders or not exactly rolling in excess dough. These teams will likely spend when necessary, but were never going to be Mark Cubans or Paul Allens anyway. The new rules hurts the Sober Waffles' competition's ability to spend insane amount, and that necessarily helps these teams.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.detroitbadboys.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Pistons</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.libertyballers.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Philadelphia 76ers</a></b> could rise up the spender ranks -- we haven't seen enough yet -- but the teams are firmly in the "slightly above average" ranks in terms of revenue creation. They'd be comparable to the current Magic or future Warriors if they do begin to regularly exceed the tax line.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.thedreamshake.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Houston Rockets</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a></b> have been quite similar in terms of willingness to spend. Robert Sarver has the misfortune of having overseen the destruction of everyone's favorite team to watch, while Leslie Alexander presides over a team that was during its heyday a bit painful to watch. (Thanks, JVG!) With these two owners in place, we likely won't ever see the teams flirt with the repeater tax, and we might not even see them exceed the stiffer tax at all.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Wizards</a></b> are in full-on rebuilding mode, so much so that using the amnesty clause on <span>Rashard Lewis</span> this year <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2011/11/26/2587953/nba-lockout-rashard-lewis-the-amnesty-clause-and-the-new-salary-floor">would force the team to add too much in new salary</a> in a bad free agent class. But Ted Leonsis is wealthy, and the Wizards are a fairly strong squad in terms of revenue streams, so in the future the team should climb the salary ranks. In the meantime, Leonsis will appreciate the lower leaguewide salary levels.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.raptorshq.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Toronto Raptors</a></b> are among the favorites to be the worst team in the NBA this season. That's probably a good thing: Jonas Valanciunas will join the club in 2012, and another high draft pick can't hurt. (Harrison Barnes would be a beautiful fit.) The Raptors won't need to spend for another three seasons or so (assuming everyone is comfortably rebuilding through the draft), and unless Maple Leaf Sports spins the club off, the Raptors won't be spending big enough even then for the new tax rules to matter.</p>
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<h3>THE BLACK SHEEP: Bulls</h3>
<p>The <b><a href="https://www.blogabull.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Chicago Bulls</a></b> rank right up there with the Lakers and Knicks in terms of income, and Jerry Reinsdorf is no pauper. But the Bulls appear to be set to remain a reluctant taxpayer, a team that will go over the threshold only when it appears to be the difference between a championship and no championship. The stiffer tax doesn't give Reinsdorf any extra incentive to loosen the purse strings, and we've already covered that the new bonus pool for young players <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/26/2588303/nba-lockout-2011-maximum-salary-young-players/in/2345696">only affects Derrick Rose as of now</a>. This deal does not really help the Bulls in the near-term.</p>
<p>In the long-term, if it drops teams like the Heat and Knicks to payroll levels that Reinsdorf refuses to exceed, it will help on the margins. But that's an "if."</p>
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<h3>THE DONALD: <a href="https://www.clipsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Clippers</a>
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<p>The <b>L.A. Clippers</b> are actually pretty lucrative, despite being perennially awful. It doesn't matter. Donald Sterling has never been interested in spending at anything close to the tax line. He opened up the pocketbook for <span>Baron Davis</span>, and look where <i>that</i> got him. The brightest hope for Clippers fans: that which the team snags in the draft (<span>Blake Griffin</span>, <span>Eric Gordon</span>, <span>Eric Bledsoe</span>, <span>Al-Farouq Aminu</span>, <span>DeAndre Jordan</span>, the Wolves' 2012 unconditional pick that the Clips own) is good enough to carry the club to the promised land of ... above .500.</p>
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<h3>THE MOUSY SPENDERS: Spurs, Thunder, Nuggets, Jazz and Cavaliers</h3>
<p>The efficacy of the stiffer luxury tax all depends on these teams, the small market clubs who traditionally spend big when a deep playoff run or (gasp!) championship is in sight. Will the stiffer tax prevent these teams from keeping up with the high-revenue, big market teams? Or will it bring down the payrolls of those high-revenue clubs to create a sort of payroll parity? That's the essential question of this lockout deal.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">San Antonio Spurs</a></b> benefit from this deal in the immediate, because the delayed punitive tax structure doesn't force the team to waive Richard Jefferson. Instead, the Spurs can look for a deal to either improve the club for one last run with <span>Tim Duncan</span>, or to kick-start the rebuilding process. (If you think a completely tanked 2012-13 season for the Spurs is out of the realm of possibilities, you are ignoring history.) The long-term impact of the deal relies on the answer to the question above: will the tax structure create salary parity or create a wall for low-revenue teams?</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Oklahoma City Thunder</a></b> remain in good shape; that roster is basically set, and barring regression by <span>Kevin Durant</span>, <span>Russell Westbrook</span>, <span>Serge Ibaka</span> or <span>James Harden</span>, the team should have little trouble contending for the foreseeable future. All that's left to fear is a Kobe-Shaq episode, and I think that's about as remote as Neptune.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.denverstiffs.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Denver Nuggets</a></b> have regularly nudged up against the tax threshold; that shouldn't change, so long as the club remains competitive. As such, the key parity-vs.-wall question applies here.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.slcdunk.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Utah Jazz</a> </b>will almost assuredly fall into true rebuilding now that Deron Williams has been traded. That said, the team went well over the tax line last season, and it's not going to be easy to get great value for the team's veterans while blowing up the roster. Kevin O'Connor is among the best GMs in the NBA. Don't rule out his opportunity to rebuild on the fly and get the Jazz back into playoff contention in a year or two. If that happens, read the Nuggets' blurb and apply.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.fearthesword.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Cleveland Cavaliers</a></b> should be quite awful again, despite the additions of Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. But Dan Gilbert has proved he'll spend when the time is right. We'll see if the new tax rules temper that enthusiasm when the Cavs rise again.</p>
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<h3>THE INSTITUTIONAL LAGGARDS: Hawks, Grizzlies, Bucks, Pacers, Hornets, Bobcats, Wolves and Kings</h3>
<p>These are the poor unfortunate souls of the NBA, the <i>raison d'etre</i> of the 2011 NBA lockout. Blame them!</p>
<p>No, don't blame them. Blame the 1999 deal, riddled with unintended consequences, that created them. These teams are not luxury tax spenders, in some cases because their owners actually cannot afford it and in some cases because their owners don't have the stomach to spend it. These teams are in small markets or Atlanta, which is the littlest big market in the professional sports world. These teams either currently suck or have recently sucked, and the recent past was an awful time for NBA teams to suck, given rising salaries, shrinking attendance and ever-growing revenue imbalance due to local TV deals.</p>
<p>These are the poor unfortunate souls. Can they be saved?</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Hawks</a></b> need very rich owners. Then this team can be normal, and that's all it needs. Where is Atlanta's Josh Harris or Tom Gores? Someone get Gucci Mane on the phone <i>now</i>.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Memphis Grizzlies</a></b> have reached springtime, thank the heavens! Michael Heisley is finally spending like he means it because it finally matters what he spends. But it'd be a shock if he went over the tax line at any point -- this is a low-revenue team through and through -- and the questions we asked of the Nuggets apply here.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.brewhoop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Milwaukee Bucks</a></b> are perpetually in a really sticky spot. They needed this deal two years ago. As it is, John Hammond has been spendthrift but unwilling to exceed the tax; owner Herb Kohl doesn't have the stomach to exceed it for a sub-.500 team. That's understandable. When players argued that bad decisions got a number of small market teams into trouble, they were talking about the Bucks. The specifics of the deal -- amnesty, the stretch provision -- should allow the Bucks to snake out of salary cap Hell quickly while preserving the young core. But it's not exactly going to help the team add needed talent outside of the draft. Without really strong revenue sharing, this deal is no salvation.</p>
<p>We're going to repeat that a few times. Sorry.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.indycornrows.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Indiana Pacers</a></b> have hemorrhaged money, but now have a clean cap sheet. But how are they going to add talent? It's going to take deft moves by Larry Bird and Kevin Pritchard to rebuild this team without the benefit of a drafted star. If this free agent class were better, I'd be brighter on the new deal's ability to fix the Pacers. But until the Pacers truly contend, the revenue stream will be too shallow to finance high payrolls without Herb Simon wringing his hands. Without really strong revenue sharing, this deal is no salvation.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/new-orleans-hornets" class="sbn-auto-link">New Orleans Hornets</a></b> have rebounded from "moribund" to "salvageable" thanks to the NBA's crack marketing task force and the region's renewed commitment to pro basketball. But the long-term outlook is the same in New Orleans as it is in other tiny markets: without really strong revenue sharing and a strong roster, the team will likely lose money.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/teams/charlotte-bobcats" class="sbn-auto-link">Charlotte Bobcats</a></b> need to hit the draft jackpot. It could be the 2011 haul of Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo. It could be a 2012 victory. But without that and strong revenue sharing, the Bobcats will lose money and tread water at the bottom of the lake.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Minnesota Timberwolves</a></b> have a rich owner, a crazy GM and the most intriguing roster in the league. "Intriguing" in no way means "good." Deep-fried Whoopie pies are intriguing. I cannot imagine that they are good. The Wolves are a lot like the Jazz, except traditionally terrible. If Minnesota's roster melds like a nice bouillabaisse, and the fans come back out, and <span>Ricky Rubio</span> is everything we dream him to be, then the Wolves can probably make a little scratch with robust revenue sharing. If the team remains the Timberwolves, the team remains doomed to red ink and dark skies.</p>
<p>* The <b><a href="https://www.sactownroyalty.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Sacramento Kings</a></b> are the league's true wildcard. They could remain the West Coast Charlotte Bobcats, albeit with some draft success (<span>Tyreke Evans</span>, <span>DeMarcus Cousins</span>). Or they could go bankrupt. Or the Maloofs could cash out after a new arena in Sacramento is approved around midseason. Ron Burkle has expressed interest. Ron Burkle is filthy rich.</p>
<p>West Coast Bobcats, or Trail Blazers South? Excuse me while I go sacrifice some animals on that pentagram altar over there.</p>
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<p><i>The Hook runs Monday through Friday. </i><i><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/section/the-hook">See the archives.</a></i></p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/28/2589412/nba-lockout-2011-deal-team-impacts-hookTom Ziller2011-11-28T09:04:02-05:002011-11-28T09:04:02-05:00NBA Schedule Details Released By League
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<p>The NBA schedule will be released within days, and it's unlikely it will at all resemble the version that the league presented in August. Cutting 18 games from every team will tend to do that.</p>
<p>In the interim, the league has <a href="http://www.nba.com/2011/news/11/27/schedule/index.html" target="_blank">announced what form that schedule will take</a>, confirming reports from the <i>New York Times</i> Sunday that indicated the NBA would shrink the interconference slate in favor of more games against in-conference opponents.</p>
<p>The NBA says that teams will play out-of-conference opponents at least once each, with three teams getting a second meeting. Of the other 12 out-of-conference opponents, six will be faced at home and six on the road. Given the NBA's strong home-court advantage, this could be a real impact in the standings.</p>
<p>The other 48 games will be played within the conference. There are six teams who will share four meetings with any given team, and the other eight with play three-game sets.</p>
<p>The NBA also says that the playoffs will begin on April 28, and that there could be one back-to-back per series in the second round.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/11/28/2591766/nba-schedule-2011-2012-details-playoffsTom Ziller