Basketball

The NBA is in the midst of an unprecedented three-year transition during which its salary cap will nearly double from $63 million to around $102 million. What have we learned from a free agency unlike any other we’ve seen, and how will this unusual offseason impact the league’s looming CBA negotiations?

The NBA faces a struggle to remain competitively balanced. How can the league address its tanking problem and fix the NBA Draft?

Recent media reports have suggested that in addition to ongoing trade talks with Minnesota for superstar power forward Kevin Love, Cleveland has only recently made #1 overall draft pick and fashionable lothario Andrew Wiggins available in such trade talks. So let’s forget about ‘would they,’ ‘should they’ make this trade and focus on ‘could they?’ Let’s assume the trade is going down, and lets assume it does include Andrew Wiggins (a trade which would vastly alter the landscape of the NBA).[i] This article will break down the CBA rules regarding trades and salaries, and give a couple possible pictures of what such a trade could look like under the CBA rules.

Perhaps not entirely lost amidst the LeBron decision and an endless stream of “I’m Coming Home” YouTube montages, was a curious series of events regarding NBA up-and-comer Chandler Parsons. What doesn’t make sense is this: If Houston knew they would not match a max offer sheet for Parsons, why decline the team option? They could have kept him cheap for one more year and then made their best offer in unrestricted free agency. Given how well Parsons had played and developed, Houston had to know a large offer sheet designed not to be matched was going to come his way and so the only reason to decline the team option was if you were planning on matching any offer sheet.

Today is the day! The NBA Draft is tonight, and a few of our writers here decided they wanted in on the mock draft fun and excitement. As that one last point of view trying to predict a very unpredictable event, we hope this gives you a pleasant work break as you desperately pray that that one specific player falls to your team (not going to happen, it rarely ever does). With that in mind, and no further delay, enjoy how we think the NBA draft will pan out, complete with completely realistic trades and all!

Momentum is growing for a change to the NBA draft age restrictions. But, in order to discuss or construct ideal draft eligibility requirements requires an understanding of the relevant law, past challenges to such requirements and the structures other sports have used.