Collective Bargaining Agreement

And-Ones: Load Management, CBA, Chiozza, Muhammad

April 5th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Both the NBA and the NBPA acknowledged during their recent Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that players missing time due to load management is an issue for the league, according to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, who hears that it was a topic of much discussion during those negotiations. However, as Holmes details in an extensive Insider-only feature, neither side could come up with a silver bullet to solve the problem, which many view as “unfixable.”

As Holmes outlines, there are plenty of team officials who have advocated for a reduction of the NBA’s 82-game regular season schedule, which would perhaps be the most logical fix. Even having teams play just 72 games instead of 82 would allow the league to eliminate many of the back-to-back sets that often lead to players sitting out on either the first or second night. However, cutting back the 82-game schedule is widely viewed as a non-starter, given the lost revenue it would create.

Within his story on load management, Holmes also provides some new details on the 65-game minimum that the new CBA is implementing for players to qualify for postseason awards.

According to Holmes, players would have to log at least 20 minutes in at least 63 of those games for them to count toward the minimum. Sources tell ESPN that players would be permitted to play between 15-20 minutes in two games and still have them count toward the minimum of 65. These may be the “conditions” that Adrian Wojnarowski alluded to last weekend in his first report on the new CBA.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Veteran guard Chris Chiozza has signed with Spanish team UCAM Murcia, according to an announcement from the club. Chiozza, who has appeared in 91 total NBA games for four teams since 2019, spent most of 2022/23 with the Long Island Nets in the G League. His new contract in Spain is a rest-of-season deal.
Former NBA lottery pick Shabazz Muhammad has joined the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association, writes Dario Skerletic of Sportando, passing along a report from Chinese outlet CGTN Sports Scene (Twitter link). Muhammad signed a G League contract earlier this season as he attempted to make his way back to the NBA — he has since inked deals to play in Lebanon and now China.
The NBA is hoping that its G League team in Mexico City is a first step toward opening up a pathway for more Latin American players to make it to the NBA, according to Ricardo Torres of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

And-Ones: More CBA Notes, Sportsmanship Award, A. Johnson

April 4th, 2023 at 9:36am CST by Luke Adams

One major reason the one-and-done rule for draft prospects wasn’t changed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was that neither the NBA nor the NBPA was particularly gung-ho about adjusting it and both sides wanted the other to give something up in exchange for scrapping it, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on his Woj Pod. According to Wojnarowski, one idea the league proposed during the one-and-done discussions was to tack a year onto rookie scale contracts for first-round picks.

“I think the league wanted the rookie scale to go another year so it would be another year before players could get their rookie extension or restricted free agency,” Woj said (hat tip to RealGM). “That was something that obviously they didn’t get in talks, but I think was tied a little bit to one-and-done.”

Current rookie scale contracts cover four seasons and give players the ability to sign extensions after three years, so it sounds like the NBA proposed the idea of bumping those numbers to five and four years, respectively.

Later on his podcast, Wojnarowski said that he views the new rule requiring postseason award winners to have played at least 65 games as a “ceremonial” one designed to make it look as if the NBA is doing something to reduce load management.

“I don’t know that this is going to change much behavior,” he said (hat tip to RealGM). “… I’m rolling my eyes a little bit at that one… I just don’t see this impacting star players playing in any more or less games than they would have before.”

Wojnarowski’s ESPN colleagues Bobby Marks and Tim Bontemps also questioned the rule, with Marks pointing out that teams – not players – are generally the ones dictating load management plans, while Bontemps observed that most players who suit up for fewer than 65 games are doing so because of actual injuries, not load management.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter links) provides some more information on the investment opportunities that NBA players will have in the new CBA, clarifying that individual players won’t be able to directly invest in NBA teams — the NBPA will have the ability to passively invest in teams on behalf of all players. Individual players will have the ability to directly invest in WNBA teams, but there will be restrictions: They can’t invest in WNBA teams that an NBA owner controls a stake in, an individual player can’t own more than 4% of a franchise, and players can’t collectively control more than 8% of a franchise.
The NBA has announced six finalists – one from each division – for its 2022/23 Sportsmanship Award (Twitter link). Those players are Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Kings forward Harrison Barnes, Timberwolves guard Mike Conley, and Rockets big man Boban Marjanovic.
Big man Alize Johnson, who has been an NBA free agent since being waived by the Spurs in December, has new representation. He has signed with agent Bernie Lee of Thread Sports Management, according to HoopsHype (Twitter link). Johnson joined the Austin Spurs of the G League following his short stint with San Antonio, then was dealt to the Wisconsin Herd in January.

And-Ones: Hard Cap, In-Season Tournament, J.R. Smith, Teammate Award

April 3rd, 2023 at 1:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

NBA owners originally sought a hard cap in negotiations with the union regarding the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but the idea was taken off the table fairly early, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says in his latest podcast (hat tip to Real GM). He notes that the proposal was intended to restrain the league’s top spenders, but many franchises in smaller markets were opposed to it as well.

“Even a lot of small market teams were worried about a hard cap in places, like let’s say Cleveland, where all of a sudden you’re good enough to win a championship,” Wojnarowski said. “You have a team and you’re willing to go into the tax to keep that team together. Then all of a sudden with a hard cap and guaranteed contracts, the Cavs, using them as an example, or Oklahoma City four or five years from now, the smaller market teams worried ‘This is going to work against us.'”

Wojnarowski explains that a pure hard cap would make it impossible for the Cavaliers to keep the four players they hope to build the franchise around. They would eventually have to make a choice between re-signing Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell or between retaining Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein isn’t a fan of the in-season tournament that will begin in 2023/24 under the new CBA, writing in his latest piece for Substack (subscription required) that there’s nothing special about the competition until it reaches its Final Four. All the early rounds will be regular-season games played at NBA arenas, but the semifinals and finals will be held at a neutral site. Stein claims the league failed in its attempt to recreate the excitement of cup competitions in soccer.
J.R. Smith spoke about his current projects with Jenna Lemoncelli of The New York Post, but the 37-year-old guard notes that he hasn’t officially retired from the NBA. Smith, who last played for the Lakers during the bubble in Orlando, continues to work out so he’s ready in case another opportunity arises.
Last week the NBA announced the 12 finalists for the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, per a league press release. The finalists are Brooklyn’s Mikal Bridges, Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Miami’s Udonis Haslem, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, New York’s Derrick Rose, Boston’s Grant Williams, Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Denver’s Aaron Gordon, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., Phoenix’s Damion Lee and Portland’s Damian Lillard. According to the NBA, a panel of league executives selected the finalists, but current players will select the winner. Holiday won the award for the second time last season.

Rory Maher contributed to this post.

New CBA To Include Cap Exception For Second-Round Picks

April 2nd, 2023 at 2:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will introduce a new cap exception for second-round draft picks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Under the current system, teams sign their first-round picks to four-year contracts using the “rookie scale exception,” with the compensation amounts dependent on the player’s exact draft position. But if a team wants to sign its second-round pick for more than the rookie minimum or for more than two seasons, it must use cap room or an exception such as the mid-level.

While we don’t yet know exactly what the second-round pick exception will look like, Charania suggests that teams will no longer have to use their mid-level exceptions when they sign their second-rounders to their first NBA contracts, so the new exception should allow for deals up to three or four years.

Here are more updates on the NBA’s new CBA:

Under the new CBA, there will no longer be any restrictions on how many players on Designated Rookie or Designated Veteran contracts a team can carry, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). In the 2017 CBA, teams were prohibited from having more than two players on each kind of contract on their rosters and couldn’t acquire more than one via trade.
Restricted free agents will benefit a little from the new CBA, according to Wojnarowski and Marks, who report (via Twitter) that qualifying offers for RFAs will increase by 10% from their current scale amount, while the matching period for offer sheets will be reduced from 48 hours to 24 hours.
The NBA and NBPA have agreed that prospects attending the annual draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, per Charania and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link). The results of those physicals then will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted, Charania adds. Presumably, that means a team drafting at No. 25 wouldn’t have access to the physical exam for a player projected to be a top-10 pick.
Charania has also provided more info on how players will be able to invest in NBA and WNBA franchises, explaining that they’ll do so via a private equity firm selected by the NBPA. Additionally, while players will be able to enter into endorsement deals with sports betting companies, there will be “complete separation” from the gambling component, according to Charania (Twitter link).
Team and league licensing revenue will be added to the NBA’s Basketball Related Income for the first time, report Wojnarowski and Marks (Twitter link). That revenue is estimated to be worth $160MM for 2023/24 and will be added to the BRI total that the players and owners split approximately equally.
In case you missed it, we’re tracking all the CBA updates in one place right here.

Alex Kirschenbaum contributed to this post.

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Collective Bargaining Agreement

Running List Of Changes In NBA’s New Collective Bargaining Agreement

April 2nd, 2023 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association reached a tentative deal on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement early on the morning of Saturday, April 1. As a result of that agreement, we can rest assured that we won’t be faced with an NBA work stoppage this summer.

However, it may still be a little while until we have a complete picture of what’s changing and what’s staying the same in the new CBA.

Some of the coming changes have already been reported and more details will likely continue to trickle out in the coming days and weeks, so while we wait for an official term sheet, we’re tracking all those changes in the space below.

We’ll continue to add or clarify items to this list as necessary, so keep checking back for updates. Here’s what we know so far about the new CBA based on unofficial information from NBA reporters:

Updated 6-27-23 (5:27pm CT)

In-season tournament

The NBA will introduce an in-season tournament, likely as part of the 2023/24 schedule. Here are some details:

Teams will be divided into six intra-conference groups of five teams apiece and play each of the other teams in their group once. That first round of the tournament will consist of four games (two home and two road) that are part of the regular season schedule.
The six group winners and the top two wild card teams will advance to the eight-team single-elimination portion of the tournament. Tiebreakers are still being determined.
The “Final Four” will be played at a neutral location. Las Vegas is reportedly receiving consideration.
The round robin, quarterfinal, and semifinal games will count toward teams’ regular season record, but the final won’t.
NBA teams are expected to initially have 80 regular season games on their schedule. The leftover games for the teams that don’t make the single-elimination portion of the in-season tournament would be scheduled at a later date, while the two teams that make the final of the tournament would end up playing 83 games.
Prize money for the in-season tournament will be $500K per player for the winning team; $200K per player for the runner-up; $100K per player for the semifinal losers; and $50K per player for the quarterfinal losers.

(Original stories here)

Second tax apron

The NBA’s current “tax apron” is set a few million dollars above the luxury tax line. For instance, in 2022/23, the tax line is $150,267,000 and the tax apron is $156,983,000. Teams above the tax apron aren’t permitted to acquire players via sign-and-trade, use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception, or use the bi-annual exception.

In the new CBA, the NBA will implement a second tax apron that will be $17.5MM above the tax line. Teams above that second apron will face a new set of restrictions, as follows:

They won’t have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception.
They won’t be able to trade away their first-round pick that’s seven years away, beginning in 2024/25. If the team remains above the second apron in two of the next four seasons, that draft pick that was frozen for trade purposes will fall to the end of the first round. If they stay under the second apron for three of the next four seasons, the pick would become unfrozen.
They won’t be allowed to sign free agents on the buyout market.
They won’t be permitted to send out cash in trades.
They won’t be able to take back more salary in a trade than they send out.
They won’t be able to aggregate salary for matching purposes in trades.

The second tax apron is expected to be phased in over the next two seasons.

(Original stories found here)

All-NBA and postseason award voting

Two key changes will impact voting on postseason awards beginning in 2023/24:

Players will need to appear in a minimum of 65 games to be eligible to earn postseason awards such as MVP, Rookie of the Year, All-NBA, etc.
Players would reportedly have to log at least 20 minutes in at least 63 of those games for them to count toward the 65-game minimum. They would be permitted to play between 15-20 minutes in two games and still have them count toward the minimum of 65. A player who suffers a season-ending injury can qualify for postseason awards with 62 games played. There will also be exceptions related to “bad faith circumstances.”
The three All-NBA teams will be positionless rather than featuring two guards, two forwards, and one center.
The two All-Defensive teams will be positionless rather than featuring two guards, two forwards, and one center.

(Original stories can be found here)

Salary cap changes

The following changes will apply to the salary cap:

The cap will increase by no more than 10% per league year in order to avoid a repeat of the 32% spike in 2016.
The value of the mid-level exception will receive a 7.5% bump and the room exception will be increased by 30%. Those bumps will be in addition to the exceptions’ usual increase, which is tied to the salary cap. The taxpayer mid-level exception will be reduced to $5MM in 2023/24 and will increase at the same rate as the cap after that.
The room exception will allow for contracts that cover up to three seasons, while the taxpayer mid-level exception will only allow for contracts that cover up to two seasons.
The luxury tax brackets, previously at $5MM intervals above the tax line, will now increase at the same rate of the salary cap.
A new cap exception will be introduced for second-round picks so that teams no longer need to use cap room or the mid-level exception to give those players salaries worth more than the rookie minimum or deals longer than two years. The exception will allow teams to offer contracts that cover up to four seasons, with a starting salary worth up to:
- The equivalent of the veteran’s minimum for a second-year player for any three-year contract.
- The equivalent of the veteran’s minimum for a third-year player for any four-year contract.
Players signed using the second-round exception won’t count against the cap until July 31, allowing those players to participate in Summer League activities without compromising cap room.
Teams below the minimum salary floor (90% of the cap) on the first day of the regular season will not receive an end-of-season tax distribution from the league’s taxpaying teams.
Teams will become hard-capped at the first tax apron if they take back more than 110% of the salary they send out in a trade.
Salary cap exceptions that used to begin prorating downward on January 10 will now begin proration on the day after the trade deadline.

(Original stories can be found here)

Free agency and contract-related changes

The following changes will apply to player contracts:

A player signing a veteran contract extension will be allowed to receive 140% of his previous salary in the first year of a new extension instead of 120%. Our expectation is that players earning less than the NBA’s average salary will be able to make up to 140% (instead of 120%) of the average salary in the first year of a veteran extension, though that has yet to be confirmed.
A player who declines a player option as part of a veteran extension will be able to have a first-year salary worth less than the player option in his new contract.
Players will be permitted to sign rookie scale extensions of up to five years (instead of four) even if the extension is worth less than the maximum salary.
The qualifying offer amount for restricted free agents who finish their rookie contracts will increase by 10% over its usual scale amount. This will apply for the first time to the 2023 rookie class.
The qualifying offer amount for restricted free agents who weren’t first-round picks will increase to 135% of their prior salary or $200K above their minimum salary, whichever is greater.
The time a team has to match an offer sheet for a restricted free agent will be reduced from two days to one day if the team receives it before noon Eastern time. The decision would be due by the following night at 11:59 pm ET. If the offer sheet is received after noon, the team would still have two days to decide whether to match.
Teams will no longer face restrictions on how many players on Designated Rookie or Designated Veteran contracts they can carry.
Teams will be permitted to begin negotiating with their own free agents one day after the NBA Finals conclude.
Teams above either tax apron won’t be permitted to sign “buyout” players. A “buyout” player will be defined as anyone waived that season whose pre-waiver salary exceeded the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Teams above either tax apron also won’t be able to take back more salary than they send out in any trade.
The extend-and-trade rules will be modified to allow for an extra year (four total years instead of three) and a higher salary (120% instead of 105%) than was previously permitted.
A team and player can agree to remove the player’s trade veto rights if he re-signs on a one-year contract that would give him Early Bird or Bird rights at the end of the contract.

(Original stories can be found right here and here)

Trade rules

During the 2023/24 league year, teams above either tax apron will only be permitted to take back up to 110% of their outgoing salary in a trade, rather than 125%.
Starting in the 2024 offseason, teams above either tax apron will only be permitted to take back up to 100% of their outgoing salary in a trade.
There will be a limit on how many minimum-salary players can be aggregated for salary-matching purposes during offseason trades.
Traded player exceptions will allow teams to take back salaries worth the amount of the exception plus $250K (instead of $100K).
The salary matching rules for teams below both tax aprons will become more lenient, allowing those clubs to take back the following amounts in trades:
- 200% of the outgoing salary (plus $250K), for any amount up to $7,500,000.
- The outgoing salary plus $7.5MM, for any amount between $7,500,001 and $29,000,000.
- 125% of the outgoing salary (plus $250K), for any amount above $29,000,000.
A player and team cannot renegotiate the player’s contract for six months after he has been traded. Conversely, a player who has his contract renegotiated cannot be traded for six months.

(Original stories)

Two-way and Exhibit 10 contract changes

Teams will be permitted to carry three players on two-way contracts instead of two. That means the in-season roster limit will increase to 18 players (instead of 17) and the offseason roster limit will be 21 players (instead of 20).
Players on two-way contracts will have the ability to negotiate with teams to guarantee half of their salaries on the first day of the regular season.
The signing deadline for two-way contracts will be pushed back to March 4.
The maximum bonus for a player who signs an Exhibit 10 contract will be $75K instead of $50K. That amount will increase at the same rate as the salary cap.

(Original stories here)

Draft changes

Here are the details on how the new CBA will affect the NBA draft:

A player who is invited to the draft combine and declines to attend without an excused absence will be ineligible to be drafted. He would become eligible the following year by attending the combine. There will be exceptions made for a player whose FIBA season is ongoing, who is injured, or who is dealing with a family matter (such as a tragedy or the birth of a child).
Players who attend the draft combine will be required to undergo physical exams, share medical history, participate in strength, agility, and performance testing, take part in shooting drills, receive anthropometric measurements, and conduct interviews with teams and the media.
Medical results from the combine will be distributed to select teams based on where the player is projected to be drafted. The NBA and NBPA intend to agree on a methodology to rank the top 10 prospects in a draft class. Only teams drafting in the top 10 would get access to medical info for the projected No. 1 pick; teams in the top 15 would receive medical info for players in the 2-6 range, while teams in the top 25 would get access to info for the players in the 7-10 range.
Prospects who forgo college in favor of signing professional contracts with programs like the G League Ignite, Overtime Elite, or the NBL Next Stars will no longer automatically become draft-eligible during the calendar year when they turn 19. Those players now won’t become draft-eligible until they enter of their own accord or until the calendar year when they turn 22.
The one-and-done rule prohibiting prospects from entering the NBA directly out of high school will not change, despite some speculation to the contrary.

(Original stories here)

Miscellaneous changes

Here are a few more details on the new CBA:

The NBA G League will hold an annual draft for international players between the ages of 18 and 21 who opt to enter the draft pool.
Players will no longer be tested for marijuana use.
Players will be allowed to invest in NBA and WNBA franchises via a private equity firm selected by the NBPA. Individual players won’t be permitted to invest directly in NBA franchises; the NBPA can do so in behalf of all players. Individual players can invest directly in WNBA teams, though they’ll face some restrictions.
Players will be allowed to promote or invest in companies involved with sports betting and cannabis. However, any involvement with sports betting companies will require “complete separation” from the gambling component.
Team and league licensing revenue will be added to the NBA’s Basketball Related Income for the first time.

(Original stories can be found here)

New CBA Includes Cap Smoothing

April 1st, 2023 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA and its players union put provisions in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement to avoid a repeat of the salary cap spike that occurred in 2016 when the last television deal was negotiated, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Sources tell Charania that the league and the NBPA agreed to cap “smoothing” that limits salary cap increases to no more than 10% per season through the seven years of the CBA. The NBA’s next media rights deal will start after the 2024/25 season.

The salary cap that took effect in 2016 increased by 32% and provided teams with massive amounts of money to sign free agents. That led to the league-altering move that allowed Kevin Durant to join the Warriors, but it also resulted in a slew of high-priced contracts that teams quickly came to regret for players such as Timofey Mozgov, Ryan Anderson and Allen Crabbe.

The league sought to implement cap smoothing in 2016, but the union rejected the idea.

More information has been leaked tonight about the new CBA:

The agreement will allow players to invest in NBA and WNBA teams, Charania has learned (Twitter link). They can also promote or invest in companies involved with sports betting and cannabis.
There will be a 7.5% increase in the mid-level exception as well as a 30% increase to the room exception, Charania tweets.
Luxury tax brackets will begin increasing at the same rate as the salary cap, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). He notes that the brackets have been at fixed $5MM intervals above the tax line since the current system was adopted in 2011.
Rookie scale extensions worth less than the maximum salary can now cover up to five years instead of four, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. He uses the Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels as an example of a player who might agree to a five-year extension this summer without getting a full max deal.

Latest On New Collective Bargaining Agreement

April 1st, 2023 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

We learned overnight that the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will introduce a second tax apron that imposes more severe restrictions on the league’s highest-spending teams. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter) what some of those restrictions will be.

Teams that exceed the second apron won’t be permitted to send out cash in deals, trade away first-round picks seven years in the future or sign players who become free agents in the buyout market, sources tell Wojnarowski. The new apron will reportedly be set $17.5MM above the luxury tax line, and ESPN reported earlier that teams in that category will also lose their mid-level exception in free agency.

Teams exceeding the second apron will also be prohibited from taking back more salary than they send out in a trade, sources tell Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link).

Bobby Marks of ESPN points to the Suns’ acquisition of Kevin Durant in February and the Nets’ trade for James Harden in 2021 as deals that would likely have needed to be altered if the new rules were in place at the time they were made (Twitter link).

There’s more on the new CBA agreement:

Positions will no longer be taken into consideration in voting for All-NBA teams, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Under the current rules, voters must pick two guards, two forwards and a center for each of the three teams. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid were the top vote-getters in the MVP race last year, but because they both play center, Embiid had to settle for second-team All-NBA honors.
Draymond Green isn’t a supporter of the new agreement, claiming the union didn’t get enough in negotiations. “Players lose again…. Smh! Middle and Lower spectrum teams don’t spend because they don’t want to,” he tweeted. “They want to lose. So increase their spending capabilities, just to increase them. They continue to cut out the middle. And this is what we rushed into a deal for? Smdh! Never fails.” In an exchange with fans, Green pointed out that the Warriors sold for $500MM shortly before he arrived and claimed that the team is now worth $8 billion. “Never seen someone go to a table with the assets that makes an entire machine go, and lose EVERY time! Blasphemous,” Green added.
The one-and-done rule that prevents players from entering the NBA draft directly out of high school remains in place, but Devin Booker believes it will eventually be changed, writes Dana Scott of The Arizona Republic. “I think most kids are still finding their way out or they’re not even going to college and their spending a year removed training somewhere at a prep school or something of that such,” Booker said. “So with the NIL, I think that’s a step forward. Those players are able to get paid now off their name and likeness, so that’s really important. But we’ll see. I think it will eventually get back to no college.”

NBA, NBPA Reach Tentative Deal On New CBA

April 1st, 2023 at 5:32am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association reached a deal on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement early on Saturday morning, according to statements from the league and the players’ union.

The official announcements are light on specific details, simply stating that the new agreement is tentative and still needs to be ratified by the players and team owners. The NBA and NBPA said that they’ll announce more details once the new CBA is official.

However, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic, who initially broke word of the agreement, have already shared several of the most interesting changes in the new CBA.

According to Wojnarowski, the NBA and NBPA agreed at the last minute to push back the Friday, March 31 deadline for either side to opt out of the current CBA, since they felt they were closing in on an agreement. A few hours later, a tentative deal was in place.

The new CBA will begin in 2023/24 and will cover the next seven years, with a mutual opt-out after year six, Wojnarowski adds.

Here are some of the most notable ways the NBA will change in the new CBA, as reported by Wojnarowski and Charania:

In-season tournament

An in-season tournament could show up on the NBA schedule as soon as the 2023/24 season, if all the details are hammered out in time, according to ESPN. The first round of the tournament will be part of the regular season schedule, with the top eight teams advancing to a single-elimination event in December. The “Final Four” will be played at a neutral site — Las Vegas is among the cities receiving consideration.

It sounds like the plan is for NBA teams to have 80 regular season games scheduled as normal, with some of those games serving as the first round of the in-season tournament, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link). The leftover games for the teams that don’t make the single-elimination portion of the tournament would be scheduled at a later date, while the two teams that make the final of the tournament would ultimately end up playing 83 games.

Prize money for the in-season tournament would be $500K per player, reports Charania (Twitter link).

Second tax apron

In the new CBA, the league will implement a second tax apron that’s $17.5MM over the tax line, per ESPN. Clubs whose team salary is above that second apron will no longer have access to the taxpayer mid-level exception in free agency.

As Wojnarowski points out, that means taxpayer MLE signings like Donte DiVincenzo (Warriors), Joe Ingles (Bucks), Danilo Gallinari (Celtics), and John Wall (Clippers) wouldn’t have been permitted last summer, given how far those teams were over the tax line.

This changes will be “eased into” the salary cap over the next few years, according to ESPN’s report. Wojnarowski adds that there are expected to be new spending opportunities in free agency and on the trade market for non-taxpaying teams, though there are no details yet on how those new opportunties will work.

Minimum games-played requirement for postseason awards

As expected, the NBA will set a minimum number of games played for players to qualify for postseason awards, including MVP, Rookie of the Year, and All-NBA. That minimum will be 65 games, though it will come with some “conditions,” says Wojnarowski.

The ostensible goal of this change is to reduce teams’ generous deployment of “load management.” It will have the added effect of helping to simplify the criteria for award voters.

Bigger first year-raises on veteran contract extensions

Under the current CBA, a veteran who signs a contract extension can receive up to 120% of his previous salary in the first year of a new deal — or 120% of the NBA’s average salary, if he’s earning less than the league average.

The new CBA will increase that limit to 140% of the player’s previous salary, per Wojnarowski and Charania. It’s unclear at this point whether players earning less than the league average will also be able to make up to 140% of the average NBA salary in the first year of a veteran extension.

This rule change could benefit players like Jaylen Brown, OG Anunoby, and Domantas Sabonis, who will be eligible for extensions but who are earning well below their market value and likely wouldn’t have agreed to an extension that features a 20% first-year raise (40% may still not be enough in some cases, but it at least should increase the odds of a deal).

Extra two-way contract slot

Teams will be permitted to carry three players on two-way contracts in the new CBA rather than two, according to Wojnarowski and Charania. That will result in 90 league-wide two-way slots instead of just 60.

Drug testing

Players will no longer be tested for marijuana under the new CBA, tweets Charania. The process of phasing out marijuana testing has been ongoing for a few years. Random marijuana testing was a part of the current CBA, but the NBA and NBPA agreed not to resume those tests during the 2020 bubble in Orlando and has stuck with that policy ever since.

More details on the new CBA will likely be reported in the coming days and weeks as the league and the union work on formally ratifying the new agreement and getting it in place in time for the coming offseason.

One-And-Done Rule Not Expected To Change In New CBA

March 31st, 2023 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Facing an opt-out deadline of midnight Eastern time on Friday night, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association continue to discuss a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

If the two sides do reach an agreement today, the next CBA won’t change the “one-and-done” rule for draft prospects, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links). Discussions about that rule are no longer taking part of the CBA negotiations, Woj says.

The one-and-done rule, established in 2005, prohibits NBA hopefuls from entering the draft directly out of high school. Those players must wait a year before declaring for the NBA draft. As a result, many of the top prospects have become known as “one-and-done” players, since they spend just one year at college (or elsewhere) before making themselves draft-eligible.

Players used to be able to enter the draft directly out of high school – LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett were among the stars who did so – and there was some speculation in recent years that the NBA and NBPA would once again allow that to happen as part of the new CBA.

However, ESPN has been reporting for quite some time that no changes to the one-and-done rule are imminent, despite rumors the contrary, and it appears that’s still the case.

As Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter links) observes, there’s not a lot of motivation among teams, team owners, or players to change the rule. Giving NBA teams the ability to draft even younger players would make scouting more challenging and would eliminate jobs for veteran players.

According to Givony, while some people in the industry have had moral concerns about “forcing” 18-year-olds to attend college instead of beginning their professional careers, the emergence of alternate professional pathways to the NBA (ie. the G League Ignite and Overtime Elite) and NIL deals for college players have helped allay many of those concerns.

The NBA and NBPA both hope that a tentative agreement on a new CBA can be reached before tonight’s deadline, Wojnarowski notes. If there’s no deal in place by the end of the day, the league is expected to exercise its opt-out clause, which would move the expiry date of the current CBA up by one year to June 30, 2023. The two sides would still have three months to agree to a new CBA to avoid a lockout on July 1.

Adam Silver Discusses CBA Negotiations

March 29th, 2023 at 7:39pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, with a deadline set for Friday at midnight Eastern Time, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

The March 31 deadline has already been extended twice after originally being set for December 15. That deadline is for either the league or the NBPA to opt out of the current CBA on June 30.

Commissioner Adam Silver says he’s hopeful about reaching a new CBA in the next few days, but the NBA plans to exercise its option to opt out if there is no deal in place when the deadline arrives.

“I certainly can foresee one getting done and I hope we do get one done,” Silver said, per Reynolds. “It’s just because, honestly, I’m only one side of the negotiation, it’s difficult for me to place odds on whether or not that’s going to happen.”

In a statement, NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said the union has no intention of opting out if the deadline passes with no deal.

“The March 31st deadline is an important benchmark, and we are doing everything in our power to reach an agreement with the league,” Tremaglio said. “If we don’t have a deal and the league decides to opt out, it will be disappointing considering all the work both sides have put into the negotiations, and the fair nature of our requests. As far as our fans are concerned, it will be business as usual. Games will continue uninterrupted.”

Silver said he thought negotiations would come down to the wire, as both sides “tend to hold their best positions until the very end.” He described the discussions as “positive,” though he cautioned there was still work to be done, according to Reynolds.

“I think for both sides in various categories we acknowledge we’ve come closer together,” Silver said. “There still is a gap between where we feel we need to be in order to get a deal done. I’d say throughout the discussions have had a very positive tenor and continued the strong sense of partnership that we have with our players and the players association.”

It’s worth noting that if the league follows through and does opt out, the two sides would still have until June 30 to negotiate a new CBA and prevent a possible lockout. The current CBA was originally set to expire after the 2023/24 season, but an opt-out would change that timeline.

According to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, Silver said part of the reason the NBA is trying to get a new CBA in place sooner rather than later is because the media landscape has changed drastically since 2017, when the current CBA was put in place. As Vorkunov writes, Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy earlier this month and it owns Bally Sports Regional Networks, which works with 16 different teams to distribute games.

However, Diamond informed the NBA it would be able to continue its payments for the rest of the season and keep games on air.

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