Karl Malone has been roundly praised for turning down offers from other teams for more money in order to pursue his dream of a championship by signing with the Lakers.
First, given the size of the market and the Lakers cache, it's not clear how much money Malone is sacrificing.
But even if he is, his moving subverts the salary caps goal of inducing parity. If more players follow in Malone's footsteps, the Lakers may be able to have a dynasty on the cheap with a string of players playing for less than their market value.
A simple solution is to base salary cap numbers on the basis of a players' best bone fide offer whether or not the player accepts a contract for a lower price.
Rival teams will be loathe to strategically bid up a player's value above what he is really worth because the player may accept their offer.
"Market value" caps would do a lot better job of promoting league security.
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The NBA is already doing quite fine ensuring parity - just take a look at the Eastern Conference. Teams that are consistent losers can and do turn themselves around in time by working within the current constraints. The Kings and Mavericks were simply horrible in the mid-90's, but are now two of the top five teams in the league. They did so with shrewd drafting and smart decisions (picking up Steve Nash when his value was low, drafting guys like Dirk Nowitski and Peja Stojakovic when no one else heard of them, pampering their players with non-cap perks like private jets when some teams still make their players wait in airports, plush locker rooms when other teams sit on folding chairs, and five-star hotel suites when other teams are going four-star), not just signing a bunch of expensive free agents. Teams that simply throw money at guys usually fail (look at: the Timberwolves - they gave so much money to Garnett they couldn't afford to surround him with enough talent to put them over the edge; the Magic - they wanted to overpay for Grant Hill so they worked out a sign-and-trade that involves giving the Pistons Ben Wallace; the Sonics - they gave Vin Baker a huge contract only to watch him get fat sitting on it... the list goes on and on). Penalizing teams that actually make good decisions (and in turn the players that choose to play for them since that team now has fewer resources to continue getting better) benefits no one but a few teams that can't attract talent on their own.
There was an intersting outdoor hockey game in Edmonton yresterday, actually 2 games the first was an Old Timers with Gretzky, LeFleur, and other blasts from the past. A commentator said that theyw ere probably better known than current players. I was a big hockey fan but with games out of the price range of all but corporate buyers the game has been diluted, same with other pro sports...I watched the finals of the World Cup of Rugby for real sports...the North American variety is so diluted it is sad...and theplayers demand and expect more..But the fans are dumbed down enough to go along with it.Buy a championship..it used to be build a championship...sad.