রবিবার, ২৭ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

Tulane legal analyst Gabe Feldman gives his take on the tentative ...

Here's a quick question-and-answer session with Tulane Sports Law dean and legal analyst Gabe Feldman on the framework in place for a new labor agreement between NBA owners and players. The two sides tentatively agreed to a deal early Saturday morning, apparently ending the 149-day lockout and what it means for the New Orleans Hornets' chances of regaining point guard Chris Paul, who can opt out of the final year of his contract at the end of the season.

Q: Can you break down the deal as you know it?

A: "The players will get between 49 and 51 percent of basketball related income and if the better off the league does, the higher the percentage gets. So there is a chance the players will end up with 51 percent of BRI. That's still obviously a huge win for the owners, to go from paying 57 percent down to even 51.

"And then on the system issues, the players got to hang on to some of the exceptions and the owners got some of them taken away. The mid-level exception I think will remain more intact than certainly the owners had hoped. And the extend-and-trade and sign-and-trade provisions will essentially stay intact. Then I think the real big issue for small market teams, particularly teams like the Hornets, is to see the effect of the luxury tax, which was instituted to essentially simulate a hard cap. And then how much revenue sharing the owners will engage in internally. We were always looking at two simultaneous negotiations. One was between players and owners, the other was between owners within themselves. The owners wanted to contain costs, which they've done by getting a significant share back from the players. But they've also wanted to make sure spending levels were relatively equal. And that each team could be financially viable. They tried to do that by putting in a hard cap and increase revenue sharing. They didn't get the hard cap, but they'll get the luxury tax (increase) and the question is how much revenue sharing will occur.

"The other piece is, and I haven't seen the details on it, but the perception was there would be an increase in the salary floor, much like we saw in the NFL, just to narrow the gap in spending between big markets and small markets."

Q: Is this a good deal for the Hornets specifically?

A: "It is. It's perhaps not as good as it could have been, because it won't limit spending of the big-market teams as much as the owners had initially hoped for. But it will put some limits on their spending and it will lead to increased revenue sharing. And then in terms of the actual impact as to whether it would make it harder or easier for the Hornets to keep their team intact, it makes it easier. But there are still enough loopholes in the cap to allow the big-market teams to sign away the top guys."

Q: So there's remains fear of potentially losing Chris Paul?

A: "Yeah, there is. There weren't many systems that would erase that fear completely, but this system does a better job than the previous system. But it's still not a perfect system for the Hornets."

Q: Would new agreement make it more financially attractive to a potential new owner?

A: "I think there's no question. I think it makes it more attractive for all owners, but particularly an owner for the Hornets. I think first of all the fact that the lockout is now almost over, and revenues will start coming in. And there is a system that does make it easier for a team for like the Hornets to compete on and off the court."

Q: Do both sides win and lose in this compromise?

A: "I think the owners probably win a little more than the players. But we knew that going in. We knew the players were just playing defense, just trying to hold on to whatever they could. And they gave up a lot. But they're still getting at least 50 percent of a $4 billion pie. So no real losers."

Source: http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2011/11/tulane_legal_analyst_gabe_feld.html

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