Apr 25, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA;Miami Heat forward LeBron James gets pressure from Milwaukee Bucks guard Monta Ellis (left) and center Larry Sanders during game three of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report by Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, Monta Ellis and Larry Sanders nearly came to blows in the locker room following their home playoff loss in Game 3 against Miami.  From Berger’s story:

Though the players had to be separated, the dust-up didn’t get serious enough to trigger disciplinary action for either player. One source described the confrontation as “just words between teammates in the locker room.” 

…

Ellis “took umbrage,” according to another person with knowledge of the situation. Correctly assuming that Sanders’ comments were directed primarily at him and backcourt mate Brandon Jennings, who both are prospective free agents, Ellis approached Sanders and squared off with him, sources said. A teammate got between the two players and separated them before the conflict became physical.

Huh.

Given that Ellis is the Bucks’ best offensive weapon and that Sanders is their best defender and most valuable asset, Milwaukee may have a problem.  Complicating matters is the fact that Sanders is under contract for next season and that Ellis has a player option for 2013-14.  Monta may put feelers out over the next month and decide that staying put for $11 million next season is his best financial option.  A pairing of the two next season is a real possibility.

In the larger scope of things, though, one dustup doesn’t mean much.  If there is evidence of a larger trend of animus between the two, then the Bucks have something to worry about.

There were definite chemistry issues on the Bucks following the J.J. Redick trade.  Brandon Jennings pouted when Jim Boylan shorted his minutes.  Rumors of Redick’s unhappiness abounded.  Mike Dunleavy took to vacant glazes and frustrated quotes.  Monta almost deliberately seemed to pick up his game when he took the court without Jennings.

But the fact that tempers flared following the most disappointing loss of the season?  That’s not really a surprise at all.

One last part of the Berger story merits a mention:

Oddly, a member of the proposed ownership group trying to keep the Kings in Sacramento has done some background checking on Ellis as a possibility for the Kings if the team decides to part ways with restricted free agent Tyreke Evans this summer, a league source involved in the discussions said.

So the new Sacramento ownership group 1) kept Seattle hungry for a team by holding onto the Kings, 2) surrendered a huge chunk of future cash from luxury tax payouts, and 3) snooped around one of Milwaukee’s three-best players, one who is still under contract with the Bucks.  It’s like these guys have it out for Milwaukee.  Yikes.

January 9, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors vice chairman Vivek Ranadive (left) and recording artist MC Hammer (right) at Oracle Arena. You can’t touch this, Seattle. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

When the NBA’s committee on relocation announced last week its recommendation that the Sacramento Kings be sold to a group that would keep the Kings in California’s capital city, it was bad news for the Bucks. It left thirsty a team with a definite NBA interest, an arena plan, and a well-heeled investor’s group on the prowl for a team. The Bucks, on the other hand, have the double whammy of a less-than-glamorous financial outlook and no concrete plans for an arena.

Today, the bad news got even worse.

According to the Sports Business Journal and the Sacramento Bee, Vivek Ranadive, the leader of the group to keep the Kings in place, made concessions in the deal with regard to the NBA’s revenue sharing agreement. In other words, they willingly ceded the one last remaining thread that gives the Sacramentos and Milwaukees of the league a pseudo-level playing ground on which to compete with the Dallases and New Yorks.  From the Sacramento Bee:

The Sacramento group, led by software tycoon Vivek Ranadive, told the NBA it would accept fewer revenue-sharing dollars while the team was still playing at Sleep Train Arena. Once the team moves into the proposed downtown arena, the Kings would take no money at all. The arena is supposed to open in 2016.

And what do you know?  The NBA was perfectly okay with this arrangement! Of course they were.

Part of the reason the collective bargaining agreement took so long to hammer out is that the interests of the NBA and its heavyweights were vastly different from those of the smaller-market teams. To end the lockout and get the league operating again, those cash-heavy outfits had to agree to share revenue with their cash-strapped cousins — and do it at historically high rates.  But by picking Sacramento over Seattle, and re-negotiating the CBA’s financial terms with Ranadive, the other teams of the league could potentially get a little bit of that money back.

Some estimates of the collective bargaining agreement put the amount distributed to the lowest-revenue teams at $16 million per season.  It’s a safe bet that the Bucks will be near that level, and that figure of $16 million represents about one-quarter of the payroll for a team near the salary cap.  The Bucks are a franchise that likely needs those dollars to meet its most basic operating costs.

It’s a dangerous precedent.  IF the Bucks face a future situation like the Kings’ current predicament where they need both new local ownership and a modern arena to replace the BMOHBC, and if Seattle or some other city steps up with a counteroffer, the Milwaukee side of the deal could feel the pressure to match Sacramento’s self-castrating gesture in order to sweeten their own proposal.  Egad.

But maybe in a small way, could it perhaps help Milwaukee?  If the revenue levies are pooled at the same rates, and if there is one fewer baby bird, mouth agape, on the receiving end, would the Bucks could get a higher portion of payout?  As it turns out, the CBA has a clause covering such undistributed funds, and the Bucks wouldn’t get a sudden windfall from such an arrangement.

Per the NBA CBA, parts II.B.4-5 on revenue sharing,

(4) Each non-taxpaying team will receive a 1/30th share of the tax payments.

(5) The remaining tax funds (“undistributed funds”) may be distributed to all teams in equal shares or used in such other manner (not payroll-based) as may be determined by the NBA (e.g., to fund a league program).

So that extra money may or may not float it’s way back to the other 29 teams, and if it does, it would go to ALL teams, not just the non-taxpayers.

All in all, it’s a disheartening revelation for the small-market teams, and most of all, for the Bucks.