Tax Threshold - The Chasm Of Difference Continuing The Nba Lockout

To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at Dallas Mavericks had roughly an $86 million payroll last season, when the tax threshold was about $70 million. They will pay roughly $16 million in taxes. In the proposed deal, the Mavs would pay $37 million in taxes. If it were the third time in five seasons they exceeded the tax threshold , it would be a $111 million hit. The league believes competitive balance can be achieved by reducing the discrepancy between the highest and lowest spending clubs. The past four champions have been taxpayers, and just nine clubs have won titles since 1980, the fewest of any major pro sports league. The league likes the so-called competitive balance in the NFL , which has produced nine different champions since 2000.

Union:Got the league to back off the hard cap but are not in favor of that tax plan, saying it is too restrictive and in essence a hard cap. They believe even the big-spending clubs won't be willing to pay that kind of tax. The union came back with a plan that is higher than a dollar-for-dollar tax but not as punitive. The union says there is no correlation between payroll and success, and immediately points to the New York Knicks, one of the higher-spending clubs in recent years and little success to show for it. None of the nine highest-spending Major League Baseball teams are in the championship series, and free-spending baseball has had the most champions (19).

The mid-level exception

NBA:Wants to reduce the mid-level exception to $4.8 million a year. This exception has been kind to players under the previous CBA but has put a dent in club payrolls. It allows clubs to pay players the league average ($5.8 million) and exceed the salary cap.

Union:Is most conscerned with the length of the contracts. Owners would like to keep them to three years; players want a fourth. The sides do not seem far apart on the salary, thoughq, with the union willing to drop to $5 million a year on the exception.

Contract lengths

NBA:Wants most contracts to go no more than four years, arguing that creates roster flexibility and prevents being stuck with unproductive, long-term deals. Owners are willing to allow each club one player with Larry Bird rights three seasons with the team without being waived a five-year deal, so they can give their own free agent stars longer deal and more money.

Union:Prefers maximums of four and five years, down from five- and six-year maximums in the last CBA. The union is not thrilled with shorter contracts and projects they will lead to unsavory results, such as playing year-to-year for deals and trying to accumulate statistics at the expense of team success to prove worth.

Annual raises

NBA:Wants to lower raises to 4% for players with Bird rights and 3% for others annually. Raises were up to 10.5% for players with Bird rights and up to 8% for others annually on the first year of the contract in the last CBA.

Union:Maintains that annual raises are a small part of the system issues that separate the sides and is amenable to negotiating those maximum raises.

Both sides believe they are conceding. And there's truth to that. But neither side believes the other is making enough concessions. The union says the league started out so far at one end, in favor of a hard cap, that it would have been impossible to meet them halfway from their original bargaining position. The league believes its changes will create a better product benefiting all parties owners, players and even fans.

The differences add up and carve the considerable chasm that divides owners and players, leading to the prospect of more canceled games and lost revenue.