Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks that the NBA could do away with maximum contracts if the players were willing to give something up in return, ESPN reports.
"If you give up guarantees, it's a trade-off," Cuban said Tuesday night.
The idea of getting rid of max contracts was suggested by Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. He argued that the NBA should do away with maximum restrictions all together. Durant believes that the money star players generate for their franchises far exceeds the value of their contracts.
"Look at it like this, Kobe Bryant brings in a lot of money to Los Angeles, that downtown area," Durant said. "Clippers are getting up there; Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and those guys are bringing in a lot of money as well. Look at Cleveland, look at Miami when LeBron [James] was there.
"These guys are worth more than what they are making because of the money that they bring to that area. That's a conversation you can always have, but until it's changed, you never know what will happen to it."
Cuban suggested a financial situation that mirrors the NFL's, in which entire contracts are not fully guaranteed. Current NBA contracts are fully guaranteed unless the player and team agree on other terms.
These suggestions come at a time when the NBA is expecting a major rise in the salary cap due to a nine-year extension of the league's television deal that will earn the NBA $2.66 billion a year, according to the New York Times. This new deal nearly triples the NBA's earning on the current deal.
Cuban thinks that a change in contract structure is a conversation NBA owners are willing to have during the negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement.
"It was discussed during the lockout time among owners but never got anywhere," Cuban said. "So it was just one of those trial balloons. I'm not offering this as a negotiation, I'm not suggesting it. All I'm saying is that was something we discussed before, and max contracts are always big question, guarantees are always a big question. But we have two years before that's even an issue, so no point discussing it now."
Cuban did not have an answer when asked if the new TV deal will help to avoid a lockout once the players and owners can opt out of the current CBA.
"I have no idea, it's too early," Cuban said. "Who knows? Things change so rapidly in business that you can't predict two years from now."
