Cheap owners have no place in the NBA or in professional sports altogether

Cheap owners do not belong in the NBA or in professional sports. 

It’s actually quite simple, really. Do not buy a *$%#*&@ sports team if you do not want to commit money to them. If you want to avoid a massive luxury tax when you are a middling or lottery team, I can understand that to some extent. But if you’re a title contender? And you’re pinching pennies? You are showing to everyone that you don’t fully care about the team, the sport, or the players you employ.

I know, I know. We can’t view this from our perspective. Owners do not share the same love and loyalty for teams as the home-grown fans do. Many owners are out-of-touch billionaires who want to brag to their rich friends that they have this professional sports team, even more so if they are a winning team.

They don’t fully embrace the team nor the city. But these decisions can be the difference between a title and a playoff exit, between a title repeat and falling short. Shall we take a look at some recent examples?

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The 2014 Miami Heat

The ‘Heatles’ won the NBA championship in 2012 and 2013. Following those seasons, however, ownership got cold feet in terms of paying a massive luxury bill…and it cost them the best player in franchise history.

After the 2013 title, the Heat amnestied Mike Miller’s contract to get his salary off the books. Midway through the 2014 season, they dumped Joel Anthony in another move. They failed to utilize the mid-level exception that many contenders use to sign key role-players. While Pat Riley said that the moves were more about roster decisions than saving money, it was pretty clear that Mickey Arison (Heat owner) just did not want to pay all the luxury tax.

And it cost them greatly. LeBron James was reportedly very upset with the cost-cutting moves and was offended by the request to take a pay cut on his next contract. So what happened? The Heat lost in the 2014 Finals. LeBron left for Cleveland that summer. The Heat was lost as an organization up until the last few years. The Heat got cheap and it cost them the best player in franchise history (oh and at worst a top 2 player, all-time).

Think it’s just owners who do not cheer their teams from the sidelines or care much about the sport? Owner’s who watch basketball and cheer for their teams as hard as the fans must be willing to pony up, right? *sigh*

The 2012 Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks won their first and only title in the 2011 season. An aging core including Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, and Tyson Chandler took it to the Heat. For some reason, superfan owner Mark Cuban did not feel the need to keep that core together.

Starting center and defensive anchor Tyson Chandler signed a deal with the New York Knicks the summer following the title. The reasoning being:

"“not wanting to commit the money for an aging center for that many years in the new collective bargaining agreement”."

Jason Kidd and Jason Terry left that summer as well. In fact, the Mavs only had two of their starters from the title run the FOLLOWING season.

Mark Cuban can scream on the sidelines all he wants. He cheaped out on the title team and you know what he got? Nothing but first-round exits in the decade that have followed. Let’s look at the two examples from this free agency period that triggered the writing of this article.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title in 2020. Their early playoff exit in 2021 can more so be attributed to a ragged roster with injuries than the owners cheaping out. They have revamped this summer: trading for Russell Westbrook and signing veterans like Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, and Kent Bazemore. But those were minimum contracts given to aging veterans. When faced with re-signing a young guard who filled a position of need, the Lakers and Jeanie Buss balked.

The Chicago Bulls signed Alex Caruso, a massive piece of the Lakers bench this season and a starter on the title team, to a four-year, $37 million contract. The Lakers had his bird rights, so they could have matched that without worrying about the salary cap. In fact, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, they had a chance to (subscription required).

It is fairly clear that the luxury tax implications gave the Lakers pause in terms of Caruso. This is contender malpractice. Caruso is a young player which is a NEED for this team (who has eight players over the age of 32). He was a massive part of their rotation (especially defensively) and is not easily replaced. They could have traded that contract in the future for another impact player but because they do not have salary space, that slot is gone forever.

This is a terrible decision by the Lakers to save some money, and it very well could be the difference come playoff time.

The Milwaukee Bucks

Disgusting. The Milwaukee Bucks won their first title in 50 years no more than two weeks ago. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton were the obvious stars. But a lot of love must be sent to PJ Tucker.

Tucker was acquired ahead of the trade deadline from the Houston Rockets. From day one, he implemented the “we dogs” mentality. Players like Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton bought in immediately and were massive contributors off the bench. PJ’s defense on Kevin Durant in the Eastern Conference Semifinals cannot be understated.

PJ is one of those guys that everyone in the NBA loves. The national media may have some hate for Milwaukee as a small market team and Giannis as a non-American superstar, but everyone congratulated PJ on the title. The Skip Bayless’, the Colin Cowherd’s, all of the regular haters. He’s ingrained in NBA and streetwear culture alike. Milwaukee does not get a lot of those guys in town. And PJ embraced Milwaukee.

Tucker was the only Bucks player who did not take the driven escort back after the championship parade. Instead, he walked home, stopping in bars, often followed by hoards of Bucks fans. It may be the most legendary thing a Milwaukee player has done off the court.

Making the optics look worse, PJ has been an underappreciated player in his career. He was overseas for several years before finding a spot in Phoenix. Spent some years in Toronto before ending up on the James Harden Rockets teams. But he was underpaid. By a lot. And he was unhappy with it. By the end of their relationship, PJ was sitting out until he got traded to a contender. And he did. And he bought it. Helped them win their first title in a half-century. And how does ownership repay him? But lowballing him just like his previous team. Just disgusting.

Sam Amick has the scoop (subscription required) again. In short, ownership did not want to pay the tax bill that would’ve come with Tucker’s re-signing.

You know who signed him to what he deserved? The Miami Heat. A team that has revamped to be built almost primarily to defend the Bucks. Heck, they may even be the Bucks’ biggest rivals (emotionally, anyway). And the Bucks allowed one of the best defenders in the league join them.

PJ started every game in the playoffs for the Bucks after the first round. He was a massive contributor outside of the mentality he brought to the team. And we low-balled him.

It appears the owners are happy with one title. Well, they should be. Under their current mentality, the Bucks may not win a title for another 50 years.

One last thing. That $30 million overall hit that the Bucks owners were unwilling to pay for PJ Tucker? Owner Wes Edens was more than happy to spend two-thirds of that for his cute new penthouse in Manhattan this past October. Oh, and let’s not forget that the owners GLADLY accepted TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION TAXPAYER DOLLARS to pay for the new Fiserv Forum arena. And now they want to cheap out on us? Unforgivable.

Team owners do not give a $&!# about the teams they own. Nor the players they employ. Nor the hometown fans. And their “frugalness” is killing championship contenders. So I say again: Cheap Owners Have No Place in Professional Sports.