Union feels that the players will be underpaid

Poor, poor millionaire athletes. I think it's time for another PF.com donation drive, but this time, donate all of the proceeds to NBA players.

It's just fortunate for Latrell Sprewell that he got out of the league when he did. I mean, how the heck would he be able to feed his family???

I'll keep them and their families in my prayers during these difficult times.

"We might make a lot of money but, we also spend a lot of money." - Patrick Ewing

"On various occasions the NBA has publicly speculated on revenue projections for the 2008-09 season that have since been proven inaccurate," Hunter said. "The salary cap and luxury tax projections for 2009-10 based on these revenue projections have thus likewise been proven inaccurate."

The summer of 2010 is expected to feature one of the deepest free agent classes in history, possibly headlined by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Half the league could have enough salary cap space to bid on a maximum contract player.

With teams wanting to save money for that group, some players have found it tough to land deals this summer. Former All-Star Allen Iverson remains unsigned, as do productive young players such as Paul Millsap and David Lee."

I wrote about this being the future yesterday afternoon (before this was released by Sterns office).

What this means is half those teams referred to that thought they would be able to sign "max" players are about to find out they won't have the cap space they thought they would...(boing!)

The other half who already have those "max" players on board will be at a distinct advantage to keep them. It'll be a lot harder to put together a "team" of "A" players cause of the cost, tightened cap and reluctance of players to move away from their current teams who have the ability to sign them to the most favorable deals when the markets economics are compressed.

This will change everything and Dumars move to spend his $20m this season instead of waiting seems pretty doggone intelligent.

"If this keeps up much longer I might have to sell one of my cars!" -Kenny Anderson during the lockout in 1998.

Follow the Money....

Head straight to gate for sign of weakness in NBA money machine
Ken Berger - CBS Sports

"Even two perennial attendance powers, the Pistons and Heat, struggled to get fans to show up this past season. The Pistons, at the epicenter of the depressed Michigan economy, saw their streak of 259 consecutive sellouts end and posted actual attendance of only 77 percent capacity (16,957) in the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Heat, despite making the playoffs and having the No. 3 MVP vote-getter, Dwyane Wade, were at 70 percent capacity with only 13,578 showing up per game. Even the Thunder, among the 12 teams generating more than $1 million in gate receipts per home date, had trouble getting actual people into their arena, which was at 75 percent capacity (14,415).

With numbers like that, it's no wonder the usual free-agent spending spree took a hiatus -- one that almost certainly will last beyond this summer and might even get worse."


Head straight to gate for sign of weakness in NBA money machine - NBA - CBSSports.com Basketball

Cap Happy

This years cap 30 teams X $57.7M = $1,731,000,000.00
Next years projected cap 30 X $50.4= $1,512,000,000.00

That's a difference of $219,000,000 that will have to be cut from payrolls.

2010 cap may limit signings
Marc Stein ESPN

"So it also remains to be seen whether James, Miami's Dwyane Wade and Toronto's Chris Bosh -- all of whom are widely expected to pass on signing the contract extension each is eligible for this summer to ensure they'll have the opportunity to test free agency in 2010 and keep pressure on their teams to stay aggressive -- will reconsider that stance on extensions. It would appear that, even if those stars continue to wait, potential steep declines in cap space and the fact that more teams will be straying into luxury-tax territory than anticipated would improve their current teams' ability to retain them next summer."

Article & Video
NBA memo: Prepare for lower cap in 2010-11 - ESPN

I'm shrinking....I'm Shrinking...

NBA Salary Cap Shrinking: Are the Knicks Screwed?
Official Blog of PopPickle.com

"When teams started jockeying for cap space a couple of summers ago when it became known that players like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron, James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were going to be eligible for unrestricted free agency the thought was that the cap was going to be well north of $60 million by then. The Knicks and Nets were potentially going to have $40 million of cap space to utilize next summer now they are looking somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million making the likelihood of being able to sign two of those players less and less likely."

Sporting News - Your expert source for MLB Baseball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, NHL Hockey, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball and Fantasy Sports scores, blogs, and articles

*Union overlooked how overpaid players were paid this summer such as Hedo, Sideshow Bob and Bargs*

I want to hire Ewing as my financial planner

I would hope that the Pistons would have a new promotion this season.
If the Pistons score more than 100 points in a game, then the PLAYERS instead of the fans each get a Big Mac. They deserve it for all the work they do. Heck...even family members are included.