Mark Cuban suggested that the Los Angeles Lakers may have to consider using their amnesty provision on Kobe Bryant this offseason.

Bryant is owed $30.4 million for the 13-14 season, but continues to play at a high All-Star level.

"If you look at their payroll, even if Dwight (Howard) comes back, you’ve got to ask the question: Should they amnesty Kobe?"

Cuban said he wouldn't consider doing a similar move on Dirk Nowitzki. The Dallas Mavericks have made several cost-saving moves in recent offseasons, such as their decision not to re-sign Tyson Chandler. 

"It’s the same reason I wouldn’t get rid of Dirk (Nowitzki). I’ll take a hit for a season rather than get rid of Dirk. That’s just it. I’ve made that commitment to him over the years and he’s returned that commitment. Maybe that’s selfish, but that’s just the way it is."

The Lakers will have the highest luxury tax bill in the NBA for the 12-13 NBA season.

If the Lakers use their amnesty provision, it will more likely be on Metta World Peace and his $7.7 million salary.

Update: Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports that the Lakers will not file a complaint against Cuban for his comments. The NBA, however, is reviewing the matter and can fine him for publicly speaking about the status of another team's player.

The Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and New York Knicks are scheduled to pay the luxury tax this season.

The Bulls have never previously paid the luxury tax and were unable to shed salary at the deadline.

The Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are less than $1 million away from the tax threshold.

The Warriors traded away Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins on Thursday to get under the tax. Golden State has never paid the luxury tax in franchise history.

The Lakers will have the largest luxury tax bill, as they currently are nearly $30 million over the threshold, while the Celtics are over by less than $1 million.

The trade activity at the 2013 Deadline was tepid, largely due to concerns teams have about going over the tax.

In past seasons, teams have been comfortable paying the tax on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

The tax under the new collective bargaining agreement is far more punitive.

"I came to work today in a hearse with a black suit, black top hat because its dead out there," said one agent.

The agent blamed the new CBA and Billy Hunter for the lack of trade activity.

Executives from teams also blamed the new CBA.

"This is a pure CBA deadline," one general manager told Ken Berger of CBS Sports on Thursday evening. "If you can't get a first for J.J. Redick, this is a different world. That guy is a surefire lock to garner a first round pick in the past."

The NBA is beginning to see the true impact of its new collective bargaining agreement at the deadline.

Teams have been reluctant to add long-term money via trade in anticipation of the punitive 'repeater tax'.

The Thunder and Grizzlies have traded core members of their team in recent months in deals that were largely made for financial reasons.

Mark Cuban had long been one of the NBA's biggest spenders since becoming owner of the Mavericks, but was one of the first to change strategies in light of the new CBA.

Jerry Stackhouse took an active role in the NBPA's meeting on Saturday that led to the dismissal of executive director of Billy Hunter. LeBron James was the other player who was most vocal during the meeting.

“It’s really important,” Stackhouse said. “Our superstars got somewhat alienated under Hunter because there was so much focus on the middle class and the lower-level guys.

“It was somewhat of a ‘divide-and-conquer’ [strategy] … it sounds great that you created a [higher] average salary and all of this type of thing, but it was more [about] having more of those guys on your side, even though it’s a superstar driven league.

“We’ve just got to figure that out, figure out how we go back to grow the pot. It’s not so much necessarily about the salaries. You’ve got to look at the bigger picture, and what’s the biggest way we can get more of the pot and grow the pot. Not just so much get more but figure someone that can work with the league to help us grow it from where it is now to another level and it’s possible."

Stackhouse was also critical of Derek Fisher's role.

“These next three or four months are going to be big for us to try to start the rebuilding process,” Stackhouse said. “So much stuff has happened … but I think we’ve taken our union back. [Under Hunter] it was somewhat of a stranglehold, so it’s hard to hold anybody accountable for what happened.

“When you’re in those executive-type positions on the executive committee, the president, there are some responsibilities that you have, but at the same time, guys were limited.”

LeBron James took an active role in Saturday's NBPA meeting that resulted in the firing of executive director Billy Hunter.

Hunter's business practices were subject to an audit that showed, amongst other things, that his most recent contract was never properly approved.

James “practically cross-examined” the lawyers who prepared the audit, according to someone in the room. 

“It was spectacular,” said the person who was in the room.

Chris Paul is the only superstar in the union's executive committee.

James is respected by his peers for his place as one of the unquestioned best players in the world, but also for his business savvy and ability to connect with everyone.

James has not take a prominent role in union politics up until this point in his career, but the Miami Heat have several active members. James Jones is on the executive committee, while Shane Battier and Ray Allen are intelligent, outspoken veterans. The Heat have held many discussions about union issues over the past few months.

“He recognized that this was the time to have a very serious discussion about the future of the players association,” said one person who spoke to James on Saturday. “He wanted to make his voice heard.”

Billy Hunter has been voted out as executive director of the NBA players union.

''This is our union and we have taken it back,'' players' association president Derek Fisher said.

LeBron James and Jerry Stackhouse were especially vocal during the meeting.

Hunter's attorneys said their client was told he wouldn't be welcomed. They said his contract was legal and indicated there could be a lawsuit if the players removed him and attempted to withhold the more than $10 million that remains on his salary.

''We do not doubt that this process will possibly continue in an ugly way,'' said Fisher,

The U.S. Attorney's office is investigating the authenticity of a National Basketball Players Association contract that authorized future payment of more than $3 million to Prim Capital, according to sources.

Prim Capital is an investment firm that employed the son of executive director Billy Hunter.

The agreement called for a "five-year term, stretching from the date of execution, that cannot be cancelled or revoked while in effect for any reason by the NBPA." Under terms of the deal, the NBPA would pay Prim $602,000 per year.

"In our opinion, this provision is highly unusual and inconsistent with normal business practices," the Paul-Weiss report said.

Prim Capital hired Hunter's son, Todd, in 2002, and has provided financial services to the NBPA since 2003.

Billy Hunter is owed $10.5 million on a contract that runs through 2016 and he told the New York Times that he expects to be paid in full if he is fired as executive director of the NBPA.

“I intend to exercise all my options, as of this moment,” Hunter said in his first interview since the Jan. 17 release of an independent audit that criticizes his business and hiring practices.

Hunter said that the union was $5 million in debt when he took over and now has $80 million in reserves.

The players are expected to decide Hunter’s fate Feb. 16, at the union’s annual meeting during All-Star weekend. It is not yet clear if the players will allow Fisher to address the membership.

“I assume that between now and then that Derek will be doing everything he can to stack the deck,” Hunter said, referring to the coming union meeting, “so that they have the appropriate players in place to vote according to their request or plan.”

David Stern expects the NBA to adopt blood testing for HGH by the start of the 13-14 season.

“We watch what’s going on in baseball, we watch the negotiations that are going in with football, and it is my expectation that by next season [we] will be doing blood testing for HGH,” Stern told WCCO radio in Minnesota. “Our players have been terrific. They lead this in some ways, saying, ‘ We do not want to have anything less than the best.’ That’s been the way it’s been since 1983.”

Stern said Wednesday that testing hadn’t been implemented to this point because “there hasn’t been a favored testing protocol yet” and stated that he didn’t believe the NBA has a serious problem with HGH, which is on the league’s list of banned substances.

“If I say I don’t have a concern, everyone says I’m a Pollyanna,” Stern said. “I don’t have any reason to know one way or another. My guess is and my hope is that it’s not widely used in the NBA.”