Utah Jazz would benefit from a few collective bargaining agreement options

SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA looks to be headed to the courtroom after players rejected the owners' latest offer, disbanded their union and took legal action with two antitrust lawsuits.

Whenever each side's lawyers finish their showdowns, owners and players will eventually need to resume negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Which raises the question: What scenario is best for the Utah Jazz?

Jazz CEO Greg Miller turned down an interview request because NBA team management and employees have been forbidden to talk about lockout-related issues by commissioner David Stern.

But one former team executive shared his three best-case post-lockout scenarios for the Jazz.

A hard salary cap

This, according to ex-Jazz vice president of marketing Eric Schulz, "will force the 'haves' to compete on a level playing field with the have-nots."

The financial advantage of being in a big market allows those privileged teams to not bat an eyelash at paying luxury tax fees.

Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, the ex-Knicks president, agrees.

"More owners are wanting to lock in on a hard cap, and then they can prosper instead of just surviving. The Jazz can prosper under a new agreement," Checketts said. "I believe if they push that percentage to 50 or below (for BRI), it will really help teams like the Jazz and allow them to prosper."

Ultimately, Checketts added, "I think the target the NBA wants is 47 percent (for players). I think that's where the NBA would like to be."

Checketts, who's currently a consultant for the Detroit Pistons, doesn't see a doomsday scenario for the Jazz if at least a 50-50 BRI split is achieved, but he said other teams are in peril. He believes owners who've lost 60-70 percent of their wealth are determined to "stand and fight until they fix the whole model."

Added Checketts: "I've been in four or five of these things with the players association and I've never seen the owners take such a strident position. A really, really strident position. I don't think it's David's natural style, so he's getting pressured by the owners who want this repaired. They recognize they'll never be able to get their investments back if it doesn't get repaired."