New CBA Owner Isiah Thomas appeared on "The NBA Today"
and discussed possible NBPA resistance to the CBA becoming
an NBA farm system. Thomas: "I think the affiliate system
... is the answer and that's the way we're positioning
ourselves. With the union and the NBA, that's something
they'll have to discuss and work out between themselves,
but, as a league, we're here and we would like to provide a
vehicle for them" ("The NBA Today," ESPN, 8/10). But CBA
Commissioner Gary Hunter said it's "not a slam dunk" that
the NBPA or the league "will step right up and agree to a
true farm system." Hunter: "It will be incumbent on us to
convince them. I think Isiah will have their attention and
respect when he goes in and makes that pitch" (USA TODAY,
8/11). In NJ, Sid Dorfman writes that if Thomas "can pull
it off" and make the CBA a farm system, the CBA's value
"could conceivably double or triple." Nets President
Michael Rowe said having the affiliation "would be helpful
all around, especially in marketing" (STAR-LEDGER, 8/11).
NO LOSING ISIAH: The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Bill King
chronicles Thomas' CBA deal in a front-page feature and
writes that the CBA's nine owners "eventually agreed" that
Thomas' deal to purchase the league "offered the best hope
of reversing" a trend that has seen "more than" 100 teams
fold in the last 20 years. While the league brought in
outside appraisers to examine franchise values, King writes,
"In the end, the nine groups sat down and hashed out nine
individual sale prices and the associated distribution of
the proceeds" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/9 issue).
