ESPN550.com
I never had thought about it this way before, but ESPN.com's JA Adande makes an interesting case as to why the strong teams will only get stronger as the NBA lowers its salary cap and luxury tax threshold.
Adande notes that the NBA elite is "a stagnant circle, while the rest of the league has been taxed into timidity. No one's willing or able to take the bold steps to vault into contention, he writes, so we're stuck with the replay."
If anything, the trend will only get worse if the salary cap and luxury tax levels continue to drop as forecast, with potential low points of a $50 million cap and a $61 million tax threshold.
He quotes one general manager as saying that "the haves will be further separated from the have-nots."
The tax doesn't deter the best teams from pursuing more free agents, while teams that fear the tax will have to shed players even more furiously in order to stay tax-free.
Meantime, the Miami Heat continued its pursuit of free-agent forward Lamar Odom, although Kobe Bryant expressed confidence that Odom will end up staying in LA.
The Heat also have expressed interest in dealing with Utah for Carlos Boozer. The veteran power forward became expendable with the Jazz decided to match an offer made to restricted free agent Paul Millsap by Portland. The deal included a lump-sum, up-front payment of $10.5 million.
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