The NBA owners are reportedly bracing for a lockout after the 2010-11 season.
Owners are looking to significantly lower salaries.
One executive spoke about Amare Stoudemire and that he wouldn?t even get a five-year contract worth $60 million under the next CBA.
One team owner said that it would be even worse for Stoudemire.
?The owners are really going to chop the money down,?? the owner said. ?I think Stoudemire would get $5 or $6 million [annually] in the next deal. The bottom line is that things are going to change dramatically.??
A general manager, however, believes that the line of thinking from that owners was extreme.
?That [$5 million for Stoudemire] sounds a little bizarre, but player salaries are definitely going to take a hit,?? the GM said. ?Players that come up for contracts under the new CBA are going to find themselves getting a lot less money.??
One GM told ESPN that the owners are looking to shorten the maximum length of a contract to four or five years. He added that they have actually discussed trying to guarantee only the first two years of a four-year deal, and that the third and fourth years would be guaranteed only if a player reached certain performance-based incentives the previous season.
?Those concepts are being discussed,?? another GM told ESPN. ?Is there a sentiment among some [owners] that they?d like to have it like football? Yeah. But I think that?s out of bounds.??
Billy Hunter, who heads the players association, is unlikely to go willingly with these salary reductions.
?There?s going to be a lockout,?? the owner said. ?There?s not even a doubt in my mind about that. Billy?s not going to make a deal like that. Teams are already saving up money for a strike.??