The way players spend money half of them will totally broke and in forclosure by the time we see them play again, which probably won’t be until next year.

we always have 2012 draft talk, oops, wait a minute, damn it :)))))

I don’t even care about the players any more. I just want them to give in to the owner’s demand, take the pay cut, and start the season. I don’t care if the players make 5 million a year or 4 million. I don’t care if they are getting ripped off. I want to see some bastketball.

that helps the owners more than they deserve, in my opinion. I think they will take 50-52% of revenue to avoid a hard cap.

But it looks like there is a significant group of owners that believe that they can absolutely get everything if they wait until the players start losing paychecks. That’s OK, that’s how this is done. Collective bargaining assumes and allows for the use of economic weapons in order to strengthen your position. It just sucks for us.

The question is whether there’s a point at which the lost revenue for ownership, both due to missed games and fan anger after they start up again, outweighs getting everything they want in these negotiations. Probably not, because the owners are playing a longer game. Ultimately, one of their concerns is long term franchise value. If they can win a system in which they lock in profits, they increase resale value of their franchises significantly.

That all mitigates against a quick agreement, though I still have some hope. I think there are many owners who want to make a deal now based on where they are in negotiations. Whether they will prevail is not clear.

An interesting question is why the players have decided that a hard cap is their absolute must win issue. Tom Donohue, of the excellent Pacer blog Eight Points, Nine Seconds has pointed out that it should be exactly the opposite. Players should be more concerned about the revenue split, because that determines how much the players make, regardless of negotiated salaries, whereas owners should be more concerned about the cap structure and revenue sharing, because that’s how the league will be competitive and vibrant. But the players are totally resistant to losing guaranteed contracts, which they would for the most part under a hard cap system, and ultimately you can understand why. Careers are short enough. Injuries are prevalent. Union members don’t want to be in a position to lose their livelihoods and paychecks with no warning, at the drop of a hat.