Jaded-Fan said:
True, there are vast differences between the NBA and the NHL, but this at least is somewhat of an argument that allowing a pretty even playing field with a Cap will not impede growth, and in fact does the opposite. The real growth is not in big markets like LA and NY where you have so many people that you could sell tickets no matter what happens, but your mid-markets and below where you have lots of room for growth if you give the fans hope for their teams at least having a chance given good management.
Hold on a sec. Are you saying that, because the Lakers and Knicks didn't make the playoffs and the growth of
middle markets, a salary cap is to thank? Man, you are way off.
The Eastern Conference is a complete joke. You got Miami and Detroit...and then head down to Chicago and Boston, who are 12 and 14 games behind Miami. This isn't growth, its a joke. Miami and Detroit are far and away the top teams and barring injury, they're automatically in the final.
In the West, you got Pheonix, Dallas, and San Antonio who are bunched up close to first, and then Seattle, 10 games back. Either Pheonix, Dallas, or San Antonio are basically guaranteed to go all the way.
All the others just get in because 8 teams in each Conference make the playoffs. These other teams have virtually no chance of winning it at all. Looking at the past winners of the NBA Championship, only 7 teams have won the hole thing since 1982: LA, Philly, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, and San Antonio. With the exception of San Antonio, all are huge markets. Where is the level playing field? Where is the growth? Where is the parity?
Worse yet, thanks to the cap, good luck getting bad teams good again. Can anyone even remember when the Clippers were good? Or Golden State? Or Atlanta? These teams suck and will continue to suck, unless they get someone like LeBron who, despite a cap, is even today rumoured to being leaving soon, and even with him, Cleveland still couldn't make the playoffs. How about the Grizzles, or even the Raptors, who are so stuck in the hole, they may fold in a few years down the road because they still cannot keep guys in the Big T.O.
A cap either does nothing to create a level playing field, or it makes it that much worse, and the same thing will happen if the NHL gets its way.