“They don't really move games too much. But not the greatest idea, I guess, to come out here and play in this type of weather, but you know, we're doing it.” - Bryce Harper, on playing in the smoke.
🎙 Leading Off
Adam Silver has opened an investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks for re-signing swing guard Gary Trent, Jr to a 4yr/$64m deal. Trent, Jr averaged 9pts per game last season and saw his three point shooting drop precipitously. On the heels of two consecutive one year deals in Milwaukee, Trent, Jr only cashed in after his worst professional season. How does one get a fully guaranteed 4yr deal if they allegedly could only command a single guaranteed season in prior years? Did the Bucks perhaps promise to make Gary whole in exchange for two minimum salary contracts while Giannis was still in town and the team was stuck in cap purgatory? Yes. That’s exactly what happened. There are alternating ethical positions on this practice, but the reality is that exchanging an undermarket salary in one year for an explicitly over market deal in another is entirely against the rules.
We’ve chatted once or twice about Jimmy Haslam. Haslam is the latest Cleveland Browns owner to run the team into the ground. In his dual role as Bucks owner, he’s shipped Giannis to Miami, and Myles Garrett to the Rams. Add whatever punishment comes from this investigation, and it might be time for Jimmy to liquidate his holdings. Since purchasing the Browns in 2012, Haslam has presided over exactly one winning season. Will Cleveland win 9 games this season? Absolutely not. They don’t even want to. And neither do the Bucks.
🏀 Hard In The Paint
(RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
That boy Adam up there is livin in hog heaven with the current CBA. OOOOOH BOY is he happy. Take these two quotes from Silver’s latest press conference from the NBA Summer League in Vegas:
On the current financial model’s impact on team building, talent distribution, and competitive parity, Silver said, “it’s certainly not an unintended consequence.”
About that parity, Silver added, “The goal isn’t necessarily to have a different champion every year, but we’ve had eight different champions over the last eight years.”
To be fair, the current CBA is only 3 years old, but Silver is living his equalitarian dream. For a league dominated by one or two teams each decade, this is entirely unchartered territory. Most recently, Steph’s Warriors met Lebron’s Cavs in four consecutive Finals during the 2010’s. It’s time for a macro look at the League. Come, come get macro with me:
Forget the Knicks, Silver broke Big Markets. The brightest lights have always attracted the biggest stars, but CBA by CBA has chipped away at the shine. Since Silver’s early days, he’s been progressively building in advantages for teams to resign homegrown talent. He’s elevated levels of the Supermax and made resigning considerably more attractive than pursuing free agency. In return, we get Wemby re-upping in San Antonio. Ant locked into Minnesota. SGA perhaps a career Thunder. Likewise, titles don’t run through Chicago, LA, or SF. Denver, OKC, Milwaukee, Toronto have all captured recent rings.
The Second Apron is a salary cap. That’s right, the NBA has a salary cap. Just ask the Celtics. The addition of tax escalators (repeater tax) and stripping offenders of roster building flexibility slammed a de facto hard cap on an otherwise soft capped sport. I struggle on why the NBA desperately pursued this hard cap if it doesn’t necessarily guarantee less spending from ownership. Owners and players split (51/49) league revenues each year. Excessive spending by any one team that incurs a tax is just money redistributed across other teams. But hey, if you’re a commissioner, and you can get a salary cap in your sport, have it at my brother. Do your dance.
Expansion is coming. Seattle and Vegas will get teams. Valuations are too frothy to pass this up. Once the math tips in favor of adding two teams, they will promptly be sold. Adding two more mouths to the table implies splitting up national television dollars into smaller pieces. The TV dollars are fixed for another 9ish years. When the franchise fee (also distributed among existing owners) outpaces the smaller cash stream of TV money, the franchise licenses will be sold. DCF that shit if you have to.
If you’re reading about a potential 32 team league with a hard cap, parity(?), and a lucrative television deal, and you’re thinking we’re talking NFL, then you’d be wrong. Silver, despite considerably weaker television ratings, has pulled off the great footballification of the NBA. Now that he has everything he ever wanted domestically, it’s time to look abroad. That’s right. Get ready to learn Mid-Level Exception, Europe. We’ll save that piece for another time.
📻 Over The Air
🔗 Who’s gettin the Vegas team? – (Ringer)
🔗 Chase Burns 7yr Extension – (MLBTraderumors)
🔗 Open Championship Leaderboard - (Open)
📡 JumboTron: Friday’s Must Watch
All times PST
Open Championship, all morning, Peacock or USA Channel
White Sox vs Blue Jays, 4:15pm Apple TV
Atlanta vs Nashville, 5:00pm Fox, if you need more soccer
☎️ The Phone Line
Best thing on the timeline today:
🎵 Walkup Song
▶️ For Adam, who chased a dollar and found it, but be careful with your fans:
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