Pitt isn't a small market unless you think the bottom 15 or so teams of the league are small markets. They had arena issues. Its one of those cities that is big enough for an NBA or NHL team but not both (Milwaukee, St Louis, Nashville, Memphis, Orlando, Tampa, etc).
Removing the salary cap, while also removing the cap floor probably wouldn't harm many teams. Owners just love the cap because it somewhat caps what they spend and therefore makes the rich teams significantly more profitable.
The 2005 CBA helped the small market teams more due to revenue-sharing than it did due to the cap.