I have often wondered what it takes to build a great roster. Some say having an experienced GM and coaching staff is key. Others say that it is just a matter of winning the draft lottery. All of these elements are extremely important, unless you are a star in the NBA. Evidently, the players have more influence on their teams' roster than the General Manager.
Lebron James has been doing it for the past couple seasons. He was the centerpiece to the big Miami Heat signings a few years ago, which brought Chris Bosh and Lebron James to Miami to play with Dwayne Wade. The three individuals actually thought it would be necessary to go onto television and talk about how they had planned it all out. James had the nerve to plan and air a TV special on ESPN which ran for over an hour. The entire event was simply designed for James to reveal his plans for the upcoming season. He obviously chose Miami over Cleveland, and made it clear that his intention was to play on a winning team regardless of who it was. Sources say that he had personally came up with the idea a while back, and that the trio discussed it while playing for the USA basketball team.
What allows this team-building behavior is the overall lack of regulation within the league and its' salary cap implications. Basically, the NBA has a soft-cap which means that teams have no actual limit on spending. The salary cap is set at roughly 80 million dollars, but the teams which go over that cap simply pay a luxury tax for any overages. Players like Lebron are limited to roughly 14 million per season, or 35% of the total team salary cap. Even with this individual cap, a team can theoretically sign 5 guys at max salary, putting them at 70 million dollars; Ten Million less than the soft cap limit of 80 million. These rules are clearly too loose, which allows all star players to literally create or mold the roster to their liking. Lebron did it in Miami, and now he is doing it in Cleveland. All off season, he was speaking with other players on how he could maximize his chances of winning. In most leagues, an individual would speak with General Managers to work out a potential contract, but not in the NBA. I get the feeling that star players like Lebron James can simply build a roster, as if he is playing a video game. He shows a complete and utter disrespect for ownership, fans and the league as a whole.
I believe it would be of great benefit to the league if they looked into the salary cap and its' regulations. Clearly the players are controlling far too much of the game, and a change is necessary. Otherwise, it seems that the stars of the league will not only take the shots on the court, but they will call the shots off the court as well.
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