Adam Silver Can't Stop NBA Super Teams

Adam Silver may not like it, but there's nothing he can do to stop NBA franchises from forming super teams. Why? Because the league has already gone to great lengths to try.

First and foremost there is a salary cap, which right there limits the amount of resources teams can funnel into a particular player. Yes, the cap can be circumvented under specific circumstances, however almost all of those circumstances are designed to allow teams to re-sign their own players. More on that in a minute.

Second, there's the maximum contract. Players themselves have a salary ceiling, which may be changing beyond 2017 with a very important collective bargaining period on the horizon. No matter how badly LeBron James wants $40 million per season, he cannot sign for more than his maximum salary slot.

Third, and most important, the NBA rules structure favors incumbent teams re-signing their own players as it is. Teams that obtain a player's "Larry Bird Rights," which are obtained by spending three consecutive seasons with the same team (and can transfer in a trade). This allows the team to offer one more year to the life of the deal than any other team. So if a player has a max salary slot of $23 million per season, the incumbent team can offer that player $23 million more than any other team.

(Side note: I realize this is a very basic breakdown of the NBA's rules. Want the full thing? Here's a great resource.)

The problem with the second and third points is that both assume a player's sole motivation is money. Which is true in 90 percent of cases. These rules were quite effective in keeping guys like Mike Conley and DeMar DeRozan with the Grizzles and Raptors. Trouble is neither of those guys are superstars, and unfortunately for the NBA superstars fall in that other 10 percent.

What do you do when a superstar doesn't care about the money? Because none of these rules were effective when James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh each left about $15 million over the life of their contracts on the table to form Miami Thrice, and then proceed to reach the next four NBA Finals, winning two.

What do you do when a superstar would rather sign shorter deals? This mitigates the advantage of the incumbent team offering that extra average salary value. Players like James see this as a detriment, while it's true he gives up some security, signing short-term deals has allowed him to keep pressure on management throughout the prime of his career.

And then there are the teams that prudently spend their salary cap space. Why should teams that draft effectively and assemble a team of value-laden contracts be punished for their success? Golden State has Klay Thompson on a four-year, $70 million deal through 2019. The reason his contract doesn't exceed $20 million per was because the cap was lower at the time of signing and he was signing the deal off of his rookie contract. Thus, the Warriors turned a savvy draft pick into an underpaid asset.

Draymond Green signed a five-year, $82 million deal, which was $8 million less than his maximum value in 2015 and will look like a steal over the life of the deal as salaries balloon with the cap. Last but certainly not least, Steph Curry's four-year, $44 million deal looks like the best team-friendly deal in the history of the NBA. That ride probably ends in 2017 when he'll be a free agent and likely command a hefty pay raise. 

The Warriors savvy drafting allowed them to capitalize big time on a gift $20 million in cap space from an influx of television revenue. This, combined with some fat trimming, allowed them to sign Kevin Durant to a two-year, $54 million deal. This was an exception, not the norm, under normal rules the Warriors couldn't have secured another superstar. But savvy drafting and exceptional timing in locking up their core allowed them to capitalize big.

None of the NBA's current rules helped prevent teams from wisely finding ways to manage their resources. And it didn't curtail players who were willing to sacrifice for a championship. This is hardly a new thing, in 2004 Karl Malone and Gary Payton took significant pay cuts to team up with the Shaq/Kobe Lakers squad, clearly in an effort to chase a ring.

So what can Silver do? Add a rule that only allows for two maximum deals per team? It wouldn't have stopped Golden State or Miami, or really many other super teams. Because at the end of the day the NBA is a stars driven league. Now more than ever the cream of the crop know this. If superstars are motivated enough, and teams are wise enough, they will find a way to dominate the league.

Regardless of what the rules are, talent always wins.