NBA Begins Cancelling Games
NEW YORK (CBSMiami.com) – For the first time in several years, the National Basketball Association has postponed training camps indefinitely and canceled 43 preseason games as the owners' lockout of the players continues.
The NBA officially went into a lockout in early July after the two sides couldn't agree to a new collective bargaining agreement.
The disagreement is over money. The owners want to slash player salaries and impose a hard cap, both of which are non-starters for the players.
The two sides must first agree on how to divide up what's known as basketball-related income. In the previous deal, the players received 57 percent of the BRI, but owners had initially proposed dropping that to in the 40 percent range.
Players have agreed to drop the number to roughly 54.3 percent, but are vehemently opposed to a hard cap similar to the one used by the National Football League and the National Hockey League.
The owners made a counter offer Thursday, but it was still not near what the players are looking for. Still, it was the owners' most significant move to date.
If the players dropped their request to roughly 53 percent, the two sides would be approximately $94 million apart, according to cbssports.com.
The league's announcement Friday stated that all games from October 9-15 are cancelled and future game cancellations will be made depending on the state of negotiations between the two sides.
Both sides have said they want to save the entire regular season which is scheduled to start November 1.
But, unlike the NFL lockout, neither side is feeling much pressure yet. The NBA has lost regular season games to a lockout before and some elements on both sides are ready to do it again.
For the NBA, the lockout is damaging the goodwill and stellar ratings the league enjoyed last year. For a team like the Miami Heat, it begins closing the window for the Big Three to realistically have a shot at capturing the NBA title.
Still, the Heat could benefit if what's being described as an "amnesty clause" is inserted in the new CBA. The amnesty clause would allow teams to waive players under contract and have money owed to the waived players removed from the salary cap.
The players would still get their guaranteed money, but they would become unrestricted free agents.
In other words, the Heat could dump the contract of oft-injured wingman Mike Miller. That would in turn open up more money for the team to throw at a free agent center or point guard.
So, if other NBA teams release point guards and centers that could sign with the Heat for much less than their previous contract; the Heat could quickly build a team around the Big Three of LeBron, D-Wade, and C-Bosh that could propel them to the championship.
According to ESPN.com, the Heat are expected to target Shane Battier and Grant Hill if or when the NBA decides to strike a deal.
