Schilly

I got to thinking about the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) and was wondering...Who does it benefit?

Owners?
Well there is a limit now on how much players are allowed to make. But, owners are also faced with a looming luxury tax that could cripple many teams.

Players?
Players recieve guranteed contracts, but now there is a ceiling as to how long and how much that contract can be. The Looming luxury tax is cutting into player salaries and many players are getting half what they would have got a few years ago.

Fans?
The fans suffer the most. Fans are faced with a league where a expiring contract is more valuable to a team than talent on the floor. Labels like BYC make it difficult to move players as do the salary matching requirements (there should be some, but these are too restrictive)
Now I understand that the CBA is in place so no one party get's too ripped, but IMO there are a lot of issues that hurt the fans. Talk of the league is about money, a subject most casual fans hate with a passion. Bad contract this, overpaid that... The league needs to analyze the current trade guidelines and loosen them up a bit.

Austin Kent

Amen brother! ( I feel like Luke Ridnour, or Luke Jackson, whichever is in your avatar)

The fans are at the expense of it all.

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H2O

Theoretically, the CBA helps the league. And the luxery tax heavily rewards the teams who are under the cap, making Sterling the smartest owner in the league!?!

But I think that this will all level out in a few years, as you will see fewer "bad" contracts being given out. When the contracts of guys like Allan Houston, Eddie Jones, etc (anyone making max money not named Kidd, Shaq, Kobe, Tracy, Garnett, Duncan, and anyone who I might be forgetting) expire you will see the CBA doing what it is supposed to do, which is keeping the league balanced and allowing the smaller market teams to compete. It's just going to take a few years for the salaries to get deflated down to manageable levels, so we have to wait it out. It won't be so bad, just 3 or 4 years, but things should get better in 2.

And BTW, the CBA is the only thing that keeps my Knicks form runnin' roughshod ala Yankees style all over this league, so I don't like it either!