2017 Labor Negotiations Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: ‘Melo, Jazz, Lockout, McRae

April 24th, 2014 at 10:38pm CST by Charlie Adams

Count NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson among those who think Carmelo Anthony would be wise to walk away from the Knicks in free agency this summer. The Big O sat down with SiriusXM NBA Radio and passed along why he thinks ‘Melo should get out of New York, notes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Robertson thinks Anthony receives too much flack for his efforts as a Knick:

“No matter what he does in New York, they’re going to criticize him, the people are going to criticize him, because you got guys on that team that cannot play. You got guys that are hurt all the time… If I were Carmelo, I would say, ‘Listen, I’m not going to stay here and take all this guff and all this criticism.'”

Let’s round up the latest notes and rumors from around the Association:

Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey acknowledges that in their most recent offseason, Utah “took a step back in order to take three or four forward,” writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Still, Lindsey remains optimistic for the future, given the club’s cap space and draft picks.
Executives and agents around the league are reportedly nervous about the potential for a lockout in 2017, but commissioner Adam Silver says he has “no expectation” that players will opt out of the collective bargaining agreement, reveals Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
Tennesee senior Jordan McRae has signed with agent Jim Tanner of Tandem agency, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (via Twitter). McRae is ranked 71st in Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress‘ list of the top 100 prospects.
The ESPNChicago.com staff discusses whether they’d rather build a team around Derrick Rose or John Wall. The general consensus is that Rose’s value is hard to gauge as a result of his injuries, and it’d likely be a safer bet to pick Wall.
The kind words Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard had for Frank Vogel don’t carry much weight, opines Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders. Koutroupis thinks Pritchard is obligated to make such a statement in order to show support, but really Vogel is in danger of losing his job if Indiana doesn’t perform up to expectations.

Execs, Agents Fear NBA Headed For Lockout

March 6th, 2014 at 12:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The consensus among agents and executives around the NBA is that the league is on the path toward a lockout in 2017, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. Commissioner Adam Silver and other league officials are already sending out signals that they want a hard salary cap, former union executive director Charles Grantham tells Deveney. Grantham’s time atop the union preceded Billy Hunter’s 17-year run as executive director, but the players have yet to name a permanent replacement. That, too, is helping sow the seeds of a lockout, Deveney writes.

The league and the union both have options after the 2016/17 season to terminate the collective bargaining agreement struck at the end of the 2011 lockout. Most reports have indicated that the agreement will indeed come to an end that year. The league is negotiating a TV rights deal that will most likely ensure that teams continue to receive money even in the event of a lockout, which was the case in 2011. That gives the league incentive to use the lockout as a negotiating tool against the players, who have been unsuccessful in finding alternative revenue streams in the past, as Deveney explains.

Grantham worries that the players are “way behind” in preparing for talks on the next labor deal, though National Basketball Players Association president Chris Paul tells Deveney that he’s not worried about the slow progress toward naming a new executive director. Still, agents feel the delay is “potentially disastrous,” Deveney writes, and they worry that players, wary of repeating the Hunter debacle, won’t give whomever they do hire the support necessary to negotiate effectively.