These two would make much more money if max contracts went away. (USATSI)
Kevin Durant disagrees with Mark Cuban. Earlier this week, the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar said that superstars were underpaid because of the existence of max contracts. The Dallas Mavericks owner then said that eliminating max contracts could happen if the trade-off was eliminating guaranteed contracts. Here's Durant's response on Friday, via ESPN's Tim McMahon:
"I don't think that makes sense," Durant said Friday. "Give up guarantees? Nah, I don't think so. Why? Why would we do that? Just because we asked for ... I'm not going to talk about this, man."
Durant said he had a lot to say on the subject, but said it wasn't the appropriate time for him to express those thoughts publicly.
Durant's full comments earlier in the week, via the Oklahoman's Anthony Slater:
“Look at it like this,” Durant explained. “Kobe Bryant brings in a lot of money to Los Angeles, that downtown area. People go to watch the Lakers. 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 was there. These guys are worth more than what they are making because of the amount of money 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.”
Maybe it's just me, but I'm having trouble seeing how these two issues are related. I get what Cuban's saying -- in negotiation, you sacrifice one thing for another. But it seems strange to put max contracts and guaranteed contracts up against each other.
The abolition of the max contract would redistribute wealth in the NBA, to the benefit of the truly great players and the detriment of role players. It's questionable whether or not the NBPA would push for this, given that the majority of its members are not stars. The abolition of the guaranteed contract would have an adverse effect on every NBA player, however, and it's something that the union would universally oppose. Everything can be discussed when the collective bargaining agreement expires, but I'm with Durant here. If the league does get rid of restrictions on individual player salary, it shouldn't necessarily mean guaranteed contracts go away, too.
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