(03-31-2021, 08:39 PM)HanspardShowerVoice Wrote: I agree with a lot of what you point out here. I think sometimes the science of the analytics eclipses the art. This has happened to baseball, where the most efficient way to win baseball games (lots of pitching changes, large defensive shifts, very little tactical baserunning) is also a very unappealing entertaining product at an aethetic level. Like are we ever going to see a signature move around a mid range 2 point shot like Dirk's 1 legged fall away or Hakeem's Dream Shake, or are the modern versions of young Dirk and Hakeem going to be coached out of developing those moves to just focus on 3 point shooting and rim diving?
I think as far as keeping players from just creating mercenary super star teams in the NY/LA markets the league is just going to have to change up the incentive structures and allow small market teams to overpay to retain their homegrown talent without it being punitive on the cap. Like if you are Minnesota and you draft and develop Andrew Wiggins and have to offer him a max extension at the first available moment to make him happy and keep him in the franchise it shouldn't just absolutely kill you against the cap if he never reaches the next level. Small market teams now have no path other than to try to load up on multiple high draft picks and try to "grow their own food", but a lot of times these home grown talents are punitive from a salary cap standpoint by the time they get to their 2nd or 3rd contracts.
Or we make teams pay for endless loosing streaks by worsening their lottery chances for recent lottery odds.
Like if you have been in the top5 lottery odds 2 times in the last 4 years you can't get better than the odds for the 20th place in the league.
And your odds go to the over the cap but under the tax teams.
Look what the play-ins has done to the middling teams. If we can stop the cellar-dwellers from loosing on purpose this will even out.