The NBA is back for the 2015-16 season. While I'm excited to have basketball back on a nightly basis, I'm steadily reminded of the things that the league could improve. With the fans in mind, I think it's time I fixed the NBA.
Draft Picks/Tanking
The allocation of lottery picks and draft picks in general is lacking. Why should the league reward losing? Because the system is so slanted, we currently have the Philadelphia 76ers taking tanking to new heights. They don't have a dominant star player on their roster. They've developed the mindset that they won't begin actually building a team until they have one secured. In the process, they don't pursue free agents, they don't pursue veterans, they scrape the salary floor, and make no moves to employ a competitive roster. They fully understand how flawed the system is and are playing it better than almost anybody. How is this fair to Philly's fans? Not every ownership and management group cares about the on-court product. Should those teams stumble into high draft picks every year? Probably not. I have one suggestion. Make the draft order random. Nobody would tank if there was no incentive. If a good team gets a high pick, so be it, and if a bad team gets a poor pick they won't be able to rely on the system to save them.
The allocation of lottery picks and draft picks in general is lacking. Why should the league reward losing? Because the system is so slanted, we currently have the Philadelphia 76ers taking tanking to new heights. They don't have a dominant star player on their roster. They've developed the mindset that they won't begin actually building a team until they have one secured. In the process, they don't pursue free agents, they don't pursue veterans, they scrape the salary floor, and make no moves to employ a competitive roster. They fully understand how flawed the system is and are playing it better than almost anybody. How is this fair to Philly's fans? Not every ownership and management group cares about the on-court product. Should those teams stumble into high draft picks every year? Probably not. I have one suggestion. Make the draft order random. Nobody would tank if there was no incentive. If a good team gets a high pick, so be it, and if a bad team gets a poor pick they won't be able to rely on the system to save them.
Salary Cap
I think a hard cap would work for this league. As punitive as this current luxury tax system is, it still isn't preventing invested billionaire owners from fielding teams with ridiculous salaries when they deem necessary. A hard cap could create the parity that makes the NFL so open competitively from year to year. Player contracts were already shortened in the last CBA (so owners could protect themselves). They could theoretically set the cap at about $90 million, and only allow teams to use veteran minimum deals to exceed that amount. This would force any star to reconsider a suffocating contract (*coughs* Kobe), and would reiterate the importance of the oft-forgotten NBA middlemen. You know those guys that aren't quite stars or fringe players? They don't get any commercials, but they make key stops in big situations, draw charges, and hit big shots off kick-outs from stars. Because the commercial stars take up so much of the cap, these guys salaries continue to shrink every year. This will force GM's everywhere to reconsider their importance.
The idea is nice, and for the sake of proximity it works.
Nearby teams should play one another more often. When it comes to the playoffs
though, divisions and conferences shouldn’t mean anything. The NBA has already
taken the first step in decreasing the importance of divisions, and the next
move should be bringing it to the postseason. Last year's first round featured an epic series from the Spurs and Clippers. On the eastern side of the bracket, the Nets and the Celtics snuck in with sub - .500 records. Why are these teams even in the playoffs? Because of geography? It's becoming clear that fans want to see the best teams compete in April. Let's seed the best records 1-16, regardless of conference.
Restricted Free Agency
Nationally Televised Games
I like the current format, and I'm glad that Saturday night games will be added to the slate once football is over. This is selfish. I don't expect Friday night games, but isn't there a network out there (NBC? please? We need this) that would be willing to broadcast one to two on Mondays and/or Tuesdays? The NBA has proven it can draw ratings if at least one star or historic franchise is involved in the game, and nothing else in America can compete with a sporting event in primetime outside of an award show. At the small risk of over-exposure, an extra night of NBA ball would be great.
I like the current format, and I'm glad that Saturday night games will be added to the slate once football is over. This is selfish. I don't expect Friday night games, but isn't there a network out there (NBC? please? We need this) that would be willing to broadcast one to two on Mondays and/or Tuesdays? The NBA has proven it can draw ratings if at least one star or historic franchise is involved in the game, and nothing else in America can compete with a sporting event in primetime outside of an award show. At the small risk of over-exposure, an extra night of NBA ball would be great.
TNT Commentators
While we're talking about nationally televised games, we can't forget about the commentary. At the least, the NFL provides crews that are either informative or entertaining, Chris Webber and Reggie Miller are neither of those things. Webber can talk well into the commercial break, and Reggie's jokes tend to fall flat. TNT gets nearly every part of their broadcast right, but having these two on the air as often as they do is downright wrong. They should try new on-air talent.
Scheduling
Remember the 2011-12 lockout season? There were games nearly every night. Besides highlighting how big Christmas Day is for the league, it magnified how taxing the season is every night, sometimes to the point of injury and exhaustion. A compacted schedule probably isn't the answer, nor is 82 games. I have two suggestions. The NBA should either cut the schedule by 10-15 games or stretch it out to allow more rest. They could begin in early October, and shorten the preseason, or keep the same date and play deeper into the summer. A retraction of games would prompt owners to try and cut players salaries, so this could be a healthy compromise.
While we're talking about nationally televised games, we can't forget about the commentary. At the least, the NFL provides crews that are either informative or entertaining, Chris Webber and Reggie Miller are neither of those things. Webber can talk well into the commercial break, and Reggie's jokes tend to fall flat. TNT gets nearly every part of their broadcast right, but having these two on the air as often as they do is downright wrong. They should try new on-air talent.
Scheduling
Remember the 2011-12 lockout season? There were games nearly every night. Besides highlighting how big Christmas Day is for the league, it magnified how taxing the season is every night, sometimes to the point of injury and exhaustion. A compacted schedule probably isn't the answer, nor is 82 games. I have two suggestions. The NBA should either cut the schedule by 10-15 games or stretch it out to allow more rest. They could begin in early October, and shorten the preseason, or keep the same date and play deeper into the summer. A retraction of games would prompt owners to try and cut players salaries, so this could be a healthy compromise.
Official Review
Seeing one of these during a live broadcast is an absolute eyesore. No call should take 5 minutes and three officials to make, especially when the hd feeds on TV clearly show what happened within seconds. The replay center needs to act quickly in these scenarios. Few things are worse in a close game than a complete game stoppage because of a tough call. It kills the rhythm and puts entirely too much focus on the officials. It also serves as an impromptu timeout for both teams. Not great.
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