By most accounts, the NBA is doing better than ever.

Whether your evaluation is based on the product on the court or the massive dollars it generates, the league appears poised for its own version of the roaring '20s.

Yet some owners may be prepared to jeopardize that momentum in pursuit of a hard salary cap, or as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported, an "upper spending limit." Sources on the players' side of negotiations, meanwhile, reportedly indicated to Marc Stein that players are willing to face a work stoppage rather than accept a hard cap as part of the next collective bargaining agreement.

The current CBA runs through the 2023-24 season, but the NBA and its players face a Dec. 15 deadline for either side to give notice that it wants to opt out of the agreement a year early. That would mean a new contract would be needed before next season.

It's not difficult to understand why a hard cap is a non-starter for the players' association.

The league's argument for a hard cap, according to Wojnarowski, is that the NBA's current model – where a team like the Warriors can spend more than $370 million on salary and luxury-tax penalties despite the current $123.7-million cap – isn't sustainable.

Good luck trying to sell that to the players or the public.

According to Forbes' annual report for 2022 – published just a day before Wojnarowski's report – the average NBA team valuation skyrocketed 15% in the last year and now stands at $2.86 billion. Even the least valuable NBA team (New Orleans Pelicans) is worth $1.6 billion.

Those stunning franchise values may soon be dwarfed. For its next media rights deal, which will come into effect when the 2025-26 season tips off, the NBA is reportedly seeking an agreement worth double or even triple the current deal, which delivers the league nearly $2.7 billion per season.