The NBA Has Made Winning Too Expensive

Ric Bucher opens this episode of On The Ball by addressing the backlash to his recent WNBA commentary — including criticism from former ESPN colleague Jemele Hill — and explains why he believes social-media outrage routinely turns nuanced arguments into something they were never intended to be.

Then comes the bigger NBA issue: Are teams still being constructed primarily to win championships?

The four-team trade sending Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets to the Cleveland Cavaliers is the latest example of why Ric believes instant NBA trade grades are nearly worthless. Denver didn't lose Watson because it suddenly decided he wasn't worth keeping. His new contract would've pushed the Nuggets' luxury-tax bill from roughly $68 million to more than $220 million. The real mistake, Ric argues, came years earlier, when organizational dysfunction between former coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth squandered precious seasons of Nikola Jokic's prime.

Ric applies the same long-term test to the Celtics' Jaylen Brown trade, the Clippers' acquisition of Max Strus, and other moves increasingly dictated by the NBA's punitive second apron. The result? Instead of asking how Denver can put another championship roster around Jokic, fans are left discussing tax bills, cap sheets and whether Jokic eventually needs to leave.

But the money isn't the only thing changing the league. Ric examines the transformation of NBA ownership from locally rooted businessmen who viewed players as employees into globally connected billionaires who may see franchise ownership as membership in an exclusive social club — with superstar players becoming prized relationships as much as prized employees. That shift, he argues, has changed the balance of power among owners, stars, agents and even the reporters who cover them.

Has the modern NBA become better at creating billionaires than creating champions?

00:00 — Welcome to On The Ball

01:15 — Why Ric changed the show's introduction

02:20 — Responding to the backlash over the WNBA episode

03:13 — Jemele Hill's criticism and what Ric actually said

04:49 — The question about WNBA broadcast diversity

05:15 — Lynx-Valkyries and the problem with “safe” commentary