Sunday NBA Fix: Players Have No Reason To Give Up Guarantees

Welcome to the Sunday NBA Fix for Oct. 12, where we guarantee that guaranteed contracts will remain a staple of the NBA.

In the wake of the NBA getting its new, monstrous television deal that will take effect in 2016, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban suggested that players might be open to the idea of giving up guaranteed contracts in exchange for the NBA taking the lid off maximum contracts.

"“If you give up guarantees, it’s a trade-off,” Cuban told ESPNDallas."

More from NBA

• The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• Constructing the NBA’s perfect all-under-25 starting five

Cuban suggested the NBA could adopt a system similar to the one in place in the NFL, where guaranteed money is part of the negotiations for each contract.

The salary cap in the NBA will increase dramatically in 2016 when the new nine-year, $24 billion TV deal kicks in.

Cuban said there are stars in the league who deserve more than they can receive because of the maximum-salary rule.

Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder like the idea of no maximums.

"“Look at it like this, Kobe Bryant brings in a lot of money to Los Angeles, that downtown area,” Durant said. “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 [James] was there. “These guys are worth more than what they are making because of the money that 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.”"

But Durant told ESPNDallas that the idea of giving up guaranteed money makes no sense for the players.

"“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.”"

LeBron James wants the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association to start work now on a new collective bargaining agreement, well in advance of when both sides can opt out after the 2016-17 season.

"“At the end of the day, we will negotiate,” James told ESPN.com. “We know it’s going to happen at some point, because our deal is ending soon. We would love to do it sooner than later. We don’t want it to happen like it happened last time when we went into a lockout.”"

It seems like a legitimate point of discussion, but from the players’ standpoint, it doesn’t make sense to take guaranteed money away from vested veterans in exchange for a handful of superstars to cash in.

Here’s a division-by-division look at what’s making news around the association: