Most people in Cleveland hate Cleveland.

JFLNYC wrote:

lethal wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:I understand the ostensible rationale for sports drafts, but the fact of the matter is they're combinations in restraint of trade more designed to hold down salaries than to foster competition and we wink at their illegality in the name of sport.

They're not illegal if they're collectively bargained with the union. The other parts of your statement are true, but you know the motivation of the NBA union guys, it looks like they want to suppress top end salaries and entry level salaries and help the middle class salaries. They don't care much about the fringe guys.

You're forgetting that the human beings being drafted are not members of the union.

I think you mischaracterize the argument slightly for those of us who are in favor of a draft. I have my eyes open completely that the draft holds down salaries at the top end and that it's slightly unfair to players that they are told where to report and that this is bargained by a group they don't belong to.

But this is simply a case where the owners' interests and fans' interests line up. Unless we want to be the Premier League or something where there's just 4-6 teams that matter, we absolutely can't have a system where there's no draft. Fans of smaller market teams will face two challenges - one, a non-compelling city to live in and two, owners that can't afford to pay top talent all else equal. So we're asking players to forego some of their rights, but offering them millions of dollars to ply their trade. Given the draft has held up in court challenges, I think this isn't something to get too worked up about (worked up isn't quite the right word because I didn't sense indignation from either of you two, but I'm at a loss for a better word).

sydnor wrote:But this is simply a case where the owners' interests and fans' interests line up.

The plantation owners' and cotton buyers' interests lined up pretty well in 1860, too.

i don't necessarily think it's fair to compare sports to almost any other industry. it's almost entirely unique. if you go the no draft route, you will end up exactly with what jeff is talking about and his use of the English Premier League is a perfect example. Hell, soccer in Europe as a whole. It's not 100% "fair" to the players, I agree, but most of them will make millions of dollars because they're good at a game, so...

The draft is an established legal agreement between the players and the owners.

There is no such agreement requiring that Embiid consent for a physical for any team that wants him to.

Just like the draft is acceptable, I don't see why someone would have a problem with Embiid being selective with his physicals.

The sports industry is unique because by tradition (and, in the case of MLB, a dubious and archaic Supreme Court decision) it's given a pass on Antitrust laws. The owners of professional sports teams love competition on the field; in terms of competition from other leagues in their sport and for employee wages, not so much.

there are other leagues they can play in

if cleveland takes embiid, I cant see milwaukee passing on wiggins. perfect fit

Napalm wrote:if cleveland takes embiid, I cant see milwaukee passing on wiggins. perfect fit

I dream they take Exum.

The reason why American sports can do drafts and salary caps is because it's America only. The moment you start bringing in competition between teams from different leagues and countries the chance to restrict salaries and order access to new talent falls to zero. It's why a salary cap is a no-no in Football because one league or country will say 'fuck that' and cause a shitstorm.

After the Anthony Bennett fiasco, if the Cavs have any doubts about Embiid's back, I can't see them taking him when they have Wiggins right there for the taking.

MoBettle wrote:

Napalm wrote:if cleveland takes embiid, I cant see milwaukee passing on wiggins. perfect fit

I dream they take Exum.

I'm hoping Cleveland takes Randle.

I can see Cleveland going Parker first. They only really have Kyrie for one more year. If they don't start putting good NBA players around him, I bet they're afraid that he leaves.

JFLNYC wrote:The sports industry is unique because by tradition (and, in the case of MLB, a dubious and archaic Supreme Court decision) it's given a pass on Antitrust laws. The owners of professional sports teams love competition on the field; in terms of competition from other leagues in their sport and for employee wages, not so much.

How much real difference is there between a professional sports league draft and the medical student resident match program?

lethal wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:The sports industry is unique because by tradition (and, in the case of MLB, a dubious and archaic Supreme Court decision) it's given a pass on Antitrust laws. The owners of professional sports teams love competition on the field; in terms of competition from other leagues in their sport and for employee wages, not so much.

How much real difference is there between a professional sports league draft and the medical student resident match program?

Med students get to list what residency positions they want while the best sports players are often thrown into the worst situations.

That actually poses an interesting question. What if the draft lottery just determined the slotted salary each team could pay their rookie and then they had to sign a rookie through free agency? Like if Wiggins wants to play in Toronto (and they want him), he can, but he'll be the 20th highest paid player in his rookie class for four years. You'd probably need more separation from pick to pick salarywise, but it would be pretty interesting.

Gimpy wrote:That actually poses an interesting question. What if the draft lottery just determined the slotted salary each team could pay their rookie and then they had to sign a rookie through free agency? Like if Wiggins wants to play in Toronto (and they want him), he can, but he'll be the 20th highest paid player in his rookie class for four years. You'd probably need more separation from pick to pick salarywise, but it would be pretty interesting.

What if the NBA draft were handled like the resident match program? Players list the teams they want to play on in order and teams list the players in order and a computer algorithm spits out an answer. Unmatched players go into a second match with unfilled draft slots.

That isn't really any good for anyone I guess.

lethal wrote:

Gimpy wrote:That actually poses an interesting question. What if the draft lottery just determined the slotted salary each team could pay their rookie and then they had to sign a rookie through free agency? Like if Wiggins wants to play in Toronto (and they want him), he can, but he'll be the 20th highest paid player in his rookie class for four years. You'd probably need more separation from pick to pick salarywise, but it would be pretty interesting.

What if the NBA draft were handled like the resident match program? Players list the teams they want to play on in order and teams list the players in order and a computer algorithm spits out an answer. Unmatched players go into a second match with unfilled draft slots.

That isn't really any good for anyone I guess.

If it was like that, it'd probably be great for the Lakers.

etched Chaos wrote:The reason why American sports can do drafts and salary caps is because it's America only. The moment you start bringing in competition between teams from different leagues and countries the chance to restrict salaries and order access to new talent falls to zero. It's why a salary cap is a no-no in Football because one league or country will say '#$!&@ that' and cause a #$!&@.

toronto is in a different country!

Bucky wrote:

etched Chaos wrote:The reason why American sports can do drafts and salary caps is because it's America only. The moment you start bringing in competition between teams from different leagues and countries the chance to restrict salaries and order access to new talent falls to zero. It's why a salary cap is a no-no in Football because one league or country will say '#$!&@ that' and cause a #$!&@.

toronto is in a different country!

I should've specified North America only.