Average pay for average performance is the recipe for an average year. The entire goal of the GM (or any employer) is to pay the employees as little as possible while achieving production goals and without causing a backlash. Since the NBA is a monopoly, the union was necessary to combat that overwhelming incentive for owners to collude on wages.

This is where the rhetoric comes in. Joe tries to spin it like he is giving the players what they deserve and he is rewarding them for years of service, etc. But in reality, he thinks that every contract signed is a better deal for the Pistons than it is for the player.

And a lot of players realize that they are leaving something on the table. Due to the salary cap, they recoup that lost $ by having better teammates and achieving higher recognition... which leads to more money in the future when they go into free agency... or when they get endorsements.

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You can never have perfect introspection: because if you could, then you could determine what you were going to do ten seconds from now, and then do something else.

I actually hadn't seen this "article" until today. Very well and professionally written, DBA. It puts things in perspective very nicely.