NBA Lockout: Can MLB Free Agency Rules Improve Competitive Balance in the NBA?
One of the main topics of the 2011 NBA lockout has been the concept of competitive balance. Many people argue that the disproportionate salaries of big market teams like the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers cause the NBA to be far too top-heavy. While I feel that there are many holes in this argument, there are certain disadvantages smaller market teams are having a difficult time overcoming.
Ideally, every team in the National Basketball Association should have an opportunity to win a championship. While there are certain franchises that have inherent advantages over others (warmer climates, preferable tax benefits, greater endorsement opportunities, etc.), all discussions point to an attempt to "even the playing field."
How do we do this?
The NBA is discussing many mechanisms in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement to improve the competitive balance throughout the league. Here are a few that I think could really make significant difference:
Eliminate "sign and trades' in the final year of a contract.
The sign and trade has become a staple in the NBA lexicon. In a sign and trade deal, a player is allowed to sign a deal with their present club, then is immediately flipped for a package from another team. In the past, this process was a way for a team who was losing a player to receive some compensation in return.
In recent years, however, the sign and trade has been used by players to manipulate teams into trading them away while still taking advantage of their "Bird rights." Essentially, it is a double-dip for the players, who can force a trade, while not giving up any potential salary. Most recently, the sign and trade was used by the Carmelo Anthony camp to move him to the New York Knicks.
This dynamic creates the possibility that any trade can be made, no matter what a team's salary cap. Simply swap a few bad contracts, throw in a draft pick and you can get a star. The manipulation of the sign and trade has put smaller markets who are in the position to lose a star player at a severe disadvantage, often leading to lop-sided trades in order to get anything in return for their eventual loss.
In principle, the system should be a deterrent to leave and an incentive to stay, but the sign and trade has eliminated that compromise. The process should not be completely eradicated, but should be banned in the final year of a player's contract, that way a team will never be put in a position where they are forced into a bad deal.
The question now is how does a team recover from a free agent departure?
Swap draft picks for free agent signings.
As a big Yankee fan, I am regularly astounded by the ability of the Tampa Bay Rays to compete in the American League East despite being at such a severe financial disadvantage. There are many factors in this phenomenon that go far beyond dollar numbers, but one major key has to do with the free agency structure of the major leagues.
Simply stated, in a player's "walk year", a team has the option to offer the player a contract. If that player and team cannot come to terms on a deal, the player becomes a free agent. The team that eventually signs that player is then obligated to compensate the original team with draft picks.
Draft picks are the life blood of an NBA franchise. One great pick could led to a decade of prosperity. First-round draft selections are extremely valuable, especially to smaller-market teams who can sign a player on the minimum and essentially control them for the first five season of their career.
In conjunction with my proposed aforementioned sign and trade rules, draft pick compensation on a sliding scale could have a significant leveling affect on the league. The heftier the free agent signing, the higher the pick. Additionally, teams would be more thoughtful in who they sign. Would you rather six million dollars on Shannon Brown or take you chances on a second-round pick that will cost you a fraction of the price?
Many point to a hard cap as the ultimate leveling tool. Whether that is true or not is debatable, but the change is drastic and would probably would require the players to give up their rights to guaranteed contracts. All indications are that the players are unwilling to do that.
The system is sound, but like any structure it requires periodic maintenance. You don't demolish a building because the roof leaks; you fix the leak. Let's hope little fixes like these will push the NBA out of this limbo.
