OK – tell me what you think about this half-baked pie-in-the sky idea:
The real problem the NBA has is competitive balance; specifically, a team has no real chance if it doesn’t have a superstar. And certain teams have a much greater shot of getting/keeping a superstar than others.
The solution:
Allow up to 5 current players a year to be “drafted” by any team as part of the draft.
Here’s the catch:
a) While rookies would be on the regular rookie pay scale, the current players “drafted” would be on a “superstar” scale which is considerably higher than other players (for example, if the non-superstar top contract was $15 million, the “superstar” contracts would be on a scale of $24-30 million, or something similar, with the top draftees earning the higher pay). That would be the tradeoff – the superstars get much lower team continuity for much higher salaries.
b) Each superstar drafted could be kept by his team only for three years. Then he would be eligible to be drafted as a superstar once again.
Here’s the advantages I see:
a) Would greatly help competitive advantage, as down teams would be able to have a much quicker turn-around time if they played their cards right.
b) Would allow top players (who in truth drive much of the income generation and are the key factors in winning) to be paid more in line with what they’re really worth. Would also allow them to really increase the value of their “brand” and legacy by proving their worth on more than just one team. That’s presumably good for the league, since interest in superstars is so important for income generation.
c) Would increase the interest in the NBA draft, and presumably the turnover would also increase the interest in the NBA as a whole, as there would never be any team that’s ever too far away from being able to rebuild and be competitive. Would also make for some interesting decisions, as GMs decide whether to peg someone from the draft on a rookie contract or a superstar at a superstar contract. The turnover would only be at the very top of the league, and thus team loyalty wouldn’t take too much of a hit.
d) Probably would keep owners from overpaying on marginal stars, as they would recognize that it won’t be too long until they have an opportunity get a real superstar.
There would have to be some things worked out around this, such as how long players are exempted from being drafted as superstars once they enter the league (I’d think something like 5-6 years or until 25-26 years old); whether/what kind of compensation the team losing a superstar would receive; how/when to start it (if it went into this coming CBA, I’d recommend 2013 and have some kind of random assignment of 1/3 of players eligible to become superstars in 2013, 1/3 in 2014, 1/3 in 2015); how to properly scale superstar vs. non-superstar contracts; how to work with salary caps; how to tweak the lottery to make it appropriate for the new draft system; and what to do with a superstar whose 3-year term expires without being picked as a superstar again. But there are smart people in the NBA; I’m sure they could figure out the best way to handle these things.