NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver noted before the lottery that the NBA and NBAPA are scheduled to have discussions about an agreement for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in whichever city hosts the Western Conference Finals. But the way the two sides are going, it seems almost inevitable that this will wind up exactly like the NFL Lockout did.
While the NBA has some very profitable teams, it also has some very unprofitable teams. Instead of creating a revenue sharing system or something along those lines to keep the league healthy, the NBA is instead trying to pass that price on to it’s players. Their first proposal to the players, which was found when a Billy Hunter memo leaked out to the media, included a $45 million hard salary cap. Not only would that hurt the players by removing the ability for teams to go over the cap, but it’d also cut the current salary cap by 25%.
In other words, it’s likely to be seen as an unfeasible proposal. Given the tone and the distance between the two sides, they can talk about negotiating all they want, but this has all the makings of another NFL situation.