NBA Fever Takes Over

Although the actual free agency period and training camps are scheduled to start Dec. 9th. It seems as if though the madness of the NBA season has already begun. Teams have been cleared to engage in talks with players but cannot come to a verbal or written agreement until the official start of the free agency period. With the actual start of the season being less than a week away the rumors have started to swirl around the league on anything free agent signings to amnesty cuts.

With marquee players like Dwight Howard and Chris Paul's free agency coming at the end of this season it has resulted in teams like the Lakers, Knicks and even the Clippers pitching offers to the Orlando Magic or New Orleans Hornets in hopes of getting their future franchise players. This year's free agent class on the other hand which can be seen as being lackluster when compared to the previous years or next year's free agent crops. The crop of free agents is set to expand as organizations will use their amnesty cuts to release players. The amnesty cut will essentially allow each team an apparent "get out of jail free card". The amnesty cut simply allows each team to cut one player's contract from their books without a penalty and without having to pay out the remainder of the player's contract. The irony of this year's free agent class and the amnesty cuts is that this year's big men is so limited that it will undoubtedly lead to some team overpaying for a players talent.

The players set to cash in on this year's free agency market are the leagues centers such as Nene, Marc Gasol and the often injured Tyson Chandler. While most of these players are quality players and will have plenty to contribute to their organization, chances are they won't come cheap to their teams. Like with all sports the contracts, shelling out hefty contracts to the players is a large risk. But with a high demand and very little supply for a quality big man it is a risk that most organizations on the fringe of being contenders will be willing to make. 

 Although the agreement is still tentative between the owners and players there is very little in the way of stopping the season from occurring. Currently the two parties are bargaining over B-list issues. The B list issues of the agreement are smaller thing like when the trade deadline will end and how long each team will have to make their amnesty cut. With so much progress made in the past month there is little to no chance that each party will kill the agreement over small discrepancies and risk of a massive black eye for the league if one or both of the parties were to back out.