Kind of repeating myself, but I agree its out there, the issue I am suggesting that we might want to solve is changing the system so its easier for teams to implement. The ownership and GM problems have been around for ever and some franchises just cant repeatedly successfully rebuild, which is why I think revamping the system so that every franchise has hope of a quick turnaround which would be good for the league in general.
I think you are missing the biggest effect which is that you will never have 2 Tier1 or 2 Tier2 players on the same team unless one is on a rookie deal, thats really ground breaking for the NBA. Then if your talent is more evenly distributed, unless we are talking climate, the less desirable locations actually look a lot more desirable because everyone has a better chance to win than the current system provides. Now as for the pay cut, how many NBA players have really taken less to sign somewhere? The significant players that I can think of are the Spurs Big3, and the Heats Big3 (taking like $2M less per season). Thats really, really rare, so I would assume it would be equally rare in a slotted NBA universe.
Just thinking of some good players who would be broken up:
- Brooklyn could only have 1 of Williams, Joe Johnson, Lopez, Pierce and KG
- Knicks could only have 1 of Carmelo, Amare and Chandler
- Indy could have Hibbert, West or George (starting next year)
- Bulls could have either Rose or Noah
- Heat could have Lebron, Wade or Bosh
- OKC could have Durant or Westbrook
- Clips could have Paul or Blake Griffin
- Warriors could have only Bogut, Lee or Iggy
- Lakers could have Kobe or Gasol
- Spurs could have Parker and either Duncan or Ginobli
- Houston could have Howard or Harden
- Grizz could have Randolph or Gasol
By my guess the guys who would be spread amongst the other 18 teams are: Joe Johnson, Pierce, KG, Amare, Chandler, Hibbert, West, Wade, Bosh, Westbrook, Griffin, Lee, Iggy, Kobe, Ginobli, Harden and Randolph, so basically every team gets 1 of these Tier1 (although some of them are on outdated deals) players. 5 teams instantly get some great building blocks when they get Wade, Bosh, Westbrook, Harden or Hibbert. Thats really a completely different NBA landscape
So imagine if the Atlanta got Harden, it would be easy to find a side kick for him the same way he helped the Rockets get Howard. Or if Westbrook went to Philly, their rebuilding just took a major step forward and they would have their key piece in place.