The worst part is what it does to the next tier players. Agents are routinely pushing for max deals for players that would have never even been in the conversation for big bucks prior to the creation of the Super Max.
Yep. It does that too. I have tried to think of ways to fix it, but they don't work. For instance, if you say only first team all-nba players can get a supermax contract, then as soon as someone makes first team (even once by the skin of his teeth) he will expect to get it.
The only solution I can think of, and I was against it at first, was eliminate the max contract altogether. I think it has been Phrazbit that has been pushing this. This will cause teams and players to look at their own value in relation to the whole of their team, not an arbitrary number. But I think this has to be coupled with a harder cap. Maybe if a team is over the high end of the luxury tax (repeater or whatever they call it range) they lose all draft picks until they are under. Maybe being over for the year means you lose your next, highest pick that belongs to you regardless of where it came from. I am sure there are holes with this. I am just thinking out loud.
It will allow teams to develop different philosophies and paths toward winning. Some teams will go with one or two stars taking up most of their cap, while other teams will seek to fill an entire team with quality players but at more reasonable contracts. It should balance itself out.
