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The October 31st deadline for teams with players eligible to extend their rookie-scale contracts is drawing near, and as it does, the new CBA provides an extra wrinkle to consider. Teams can only agree a five-year rookie-scale extension with one player, known as the "designated player" in CBA parlance. As long as the designated player is on the roster, none of the team's other first-round picks nearing the end of their original deals may receive an extension of longer than four years.

The Thunder, for instance, are barred from giving James Harden a fifth year in an extension because they agreed to a five-year extension with Russell Westbrook in January. If they had that option, it would have given Oklahoma City an opportunity to spread out Harden's cap hit over one more season, easing the team's luxury tax concerns.

Teams can acquire one more designated player via trade, and extensions signed under the old CBA are grandfathered in. The latter exception explains how Westbrook was able to get a five-year extension after Kevin Durant had already signed a five-year extension in 2010. Still, the rule presents a challenge for teams like the Thunder who have built through the draft.

Only three teams have designated players so far, with more likely by the end of the month. Here's a breakdown of those teams, and how the five-year extensions they've handed out limit them in the future:

Bulls — Derrick Rose (signed five-year extension on December 11th, 2011 that runs through 2017)
Others limited to rookie-scale extension of four years or fewer:

• Taj Gibson (extension-eligible in 2012)
• Jimmy Butler (extension-eligible in 2014)
• Marquis Teague (extension-eligible in 2015)
• Any first-round pick the team adds next summer will be ineligible for a five-year extension as well, since he'd be eligible for an extension in 2016, when Rose is still under his extension.

Thunder — Russell Westbrook (signed five-year extension on January 19th, 2012 that runs through 2017)
Others limited to rookie-scale extension of four years or fewer:

• James Harden (extension-eligible in 2012)
• Eric Maynor (extension-eligible in 2012)
• Cole Aldrich (extension-eligible in 2013)
• Lazar Hayward (extension-eligible in 2013)
• Reggie Jackson (extension-eligible in 2014)
• Perry Jones (extension-eligible in 2015)
• Any first-round pick the team adds next summer will be ineligible for a five-year extension as well, since he'd be eligible for an extension in 2016, when Westbrook is still under his extension. 

Clippers — Blake Griffin (signed five-year extension on July 11th, 2012 that runs through 2018)
Others limited to rookie-scale extension of four years or fewer:

• Eric Bledsoe (extension-eligible in 2013)
• Any first-round picks the team adds next summer and in will 2014 be ineligible for a five-year extension as well, since they'd be eligible for an extension in 2016 and 2017, when Griffin is still under his extension.

10:49pm: Union vice president Matt Bonner doesn't think the rule will be upheld, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reports (Twitter links). "Obviously, flopping isn't a good thing for the game," Bonner said. "The question is, how do you police it? Fining seems a bit extreme." Bonner would prefer the NBA to combat the practice by calling technical fouls, as McDonald also tweets.

7:21pm: The NBA has released a statement denying any wrongdoing, as Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday.com writes. "Although we haven't seen any filing from the Players Association, our adoption of an anti-flopping rule is fully consistent with our rights and obligations under the collective bargaining agreement and the law," said league spokesman Tim Frank. 

5:50pm: The union's opposition is largely procedural, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes, adding that there was a dialogue between league and union officials before the rule was announced. The league had wanted a maximum fine of $50K, Berger hears, but settled on $30K for the fifth offense. The union is not opposed to a measure that would curb flopping, but believes monetary fines can't be imposed outside of those already laid out in the CBA. Berger clarifies that the union will file the grievance with the league office and the unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board, which appears unlikely to respond anytime soon. 

5:11pm: The NBPA will file a grievance and an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board stemming from the anti-flopping measure, according to a statement released by the union, which claims the league acted without its input. Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel posted a portion of the release via Sulia. 

“The NBA is not to unilaterally impose new economic discipline against the players without first bargaining with the union," the statement reads. "We believe that any monetary penalty for an act of this type is inappropriate and without precedent in our sport or any other sport. We will bring appropriate legal action to challenge what is clearly a vague and arbitrary overreaction and overreach by the Commissioner’s office."

12:40pm: The NBA has officially announced the adoption of an anti-flopping rule for the 2012/13 season, according to a press release sent out today by the league. Players who violate the rule will be warned for their first offense, and fined for subsequent offenses, according to the league, which defines flopping as follows:

"Flopping" will be defined as any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player. The primary factor in determining whether a player committed a flop is whether his physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.

Whether or not a player "flops" will be determined using video review following the game, and I would imagine only egregious instances will be penalized. The penalties for flopping are as follows:

• First offense: Warning
• Second offense: $5K fine
• Third offense: $10K fine
• Fourth offense: $15K fine
• Fifth offense: $30K fine
• If a player violates the rule a sixth time (or more), an increased fine or suspension is likely.

The penalties implemented by the NBA for flopping only apply to regular-season action. The league is expected to announce at a later date a separate set of penalties that will apply to the postseason.

Much of the talk around the NBA today has been about the league's new rule on flopping, which quickly prompted opposition from the union. That dissent appears to be largely procedural, and many players have spoken in favor of the measure. A majority of Hoops Rumors readers gave a thumbs-up to the new rule in our poll earlier today, and we passed along Cavs coach Byron Scott's thoughts on the matter. Here's more input from players and coaches.  

• Sam Amick of SI.com rounds up opinions from the Lakers, including Kobe Bryant, who called flopping "a chump move."
• Pacers coach Frank Vogel drew a fine of $15K from the league during the playoffs this spring when he said the Heat were the "biggest flopping team in the NBA," so it's not surprising that he's in favor of the new rule, as Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star documents. "The NBA does a great job delivering a great product and I think that's what they're trying to clean up more than anything, just the silly acting and trying to fool the officials," the coach said. "It's a good thing." 
• Kevin Love believes the $30K fine for the fifth violation is "excessive," as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets.
• James Harden said, "It was bound to happen at some point and obviously the league got fed up with it and put it in, so I'm happy they did it," writes John Rohde of The Oklahoman, who also passes along the thoughts of Nick Collison, who's taking a wait-and-see approach.

If you haven't done so yet, be sure to check out Hoops Rumors' 2012 Free Agent Tracker. Using our tracker, you can quickly browse the offseason's contract agreements, sorting by team, position, contract length, total salary, and a handful of other variables.

For instance, if you want to see all the Celtics' summer signings, you can sort by team and find all of Boston's free agent additions listed here. If you're curious to see how many players signed five-year contracts, you can sort by contract length and bring up that list right here.

A couple additional notes on the tracker:

• A number of rumored signings have yet to be finalized, and won't be found in the tracker yet. For instance, despite today's reports that the Knicks are expected to sign Rasheed Wallace and that the Clippers will sign Marqus Blakely, those transactions aren't official yet, and aren't in the tracker.
• Contract amounts are based on what's been reported to date, and aren't necessarily fully guaranteed. This is especially true for players on summer contracts, many of whom will be cut before earning their non-guaranteed salaries. You can use our list of 2012/13 non-guaranteed contracts to cross-reference.

Our Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar under "Hoops Rumors Features" and is a good resource for checking out which players have been added to teams' training camp rosters, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

As players continue to be signed and released, and training camp rosters become finalized, Hoops Rumors has been tracking the players whose contracts aren't fully guaranteed.  Because teams can carry up to 20 players during the offseason, a number that must be reduced to 15 by opening night, guys whose contracts aren't guaranteed are the best bets to be waived or traded by the end of October.

While a handful of teams will undoubtedly end up eating a little money by waiving a player with a guaranteed contract in favor of a non-guaranteed player that excels in training camp and the preseason, the players without full guarantees will generally be first on the chopping block. That's especially true for free agents who signed summer contracts — those deals don't even count toward team salary until the season gets underway.

Hoops Rumors' full list of non-guaranteed players for 2012/13 is located right here, and can be found anytime on the right sidebar under "Hoops Rumors Features." Although plenty of decisions on these players will be made by October 30th, many non-guaranteed deals don't officially become fully guaranteed until January 10th, so this page will be updated until that deadline.

If you notice any errors or omissions on our list of non-guaranteed contracts, please contact us and let us know. A number of players who are expected to be on training camp rosters, including Armon Johnson (Magic), DeQuan Jones (Magic), D.J. Kennedy (Grizzlies), Courtney Fortson (Clippers), Darnell Jackson (Jazz), and Trey Gilder (Jazz), will be added to the list when we receive official word that they're on board with their respective clubs.

Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren't the only updates you'll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you'll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here's a rundown of a few of them:

• Our Free Agent Tracker features up-to-date details on this summer's free agent signings, with data sortable by team, position, contract years, and contract amount.
• We also have free agent lists for both next summer, and the summer of 2014, which will continue to be modified as needed.
• Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed since 2007, sorting by player, team, year, and other variables.
• Every Thursday at 4:00pm CT, Luke Adams answers readers' questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of past chats here.
• Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is used or expires.
• We're also tracking teams' amnesty provisions — using our complete list, you can check to see which clubs have used the amnesty clause and which will carry it into next summer.
• The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
• Our ongoing Extension Candidate series provides a look at a handful of players that could have their contracts extended before the season begins.
• Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere every Saturday in his weekly Hoops Links feature.
• If you're looking to catch up on a few days worth of content, our Week in Review posts round up the week's news and rumors, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site's original content for the week. Both round-ups are published every Sunday.
• Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we listed the NBA players who are still eligible to be amnestied, recapped all the trades made this offseason, and examined the largest expiring contracts of 2012/13.

Three teams will have new coaches to start the 2012/13 season, as Jacque Vaughn will take over the Magic, Mike Dunlap is the new man for the Bobcats, and Terry Stotts got the Blazers job. A handful of other teams either gave their coaches new deals or picked up their options. Put together, these coaches are the least likely to be replaced at any point this season. It's not without precedent that a new or recently extended coach would quickly lose his job, but it's safe to say they all have a pretty long leash.

The process of hiring a new coach gets a lot of attention, but contracts for existing coaches often slip under the radar. Here are the coaches already in place who got new deals in the offseason.

• July 2: Scott Brooks signs a four-year, $18MM extension with the Thunder — The summer's most contentious coaching negotation wrapped up weeks after Brooks took the team to the NBA Finals. The deal, which resembles the one Rick Carlisle got from the Mavericks in May, puts Brooks amongst the league's highest-paid coaches, more than doubling his $2.1MM salary from 2011/12. The Thunder had been holding out for a shorter deal, and reportedly began having internal discussions about possible replacements for Brooks, including Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
• June 4: Randy Wittman signs a two-year deal to remain as coach of the Wizards — GM Ernie Grunfeld, who had just received his own new deal in April, removed the interim tag from Wittman's title. The value of Wittman's deal was not released, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports heard that the team was unwilling to make a "significant financial commitment," and locked up Wittman instead of pursuing more prominent coaching candidates. Wittman had been an assistant to Flip Saunders, but took over the head job when Saunders was fired following a 2-15 start. 
• May 29th: The Clippers exercise their option on Vinny Del Negro — Though the Clippers took a leap forward with the additions of Chris Paul and others last season, Del Negro was rarely credited with any of the team's newfound success, and was dogged by whispers he would be replaced almost right up until the Clippers exercised their option. There was internal discussion about letting him go when the team hit a rough patch last year, but Del Negro, a favorite of owner Donald Sterling, survived. Neil Olshey, who was the GM when Del Negro got the extension, is gone, but Del Negro was part of a three-man team to replace him before Gary Sacks got the job full-time earlier this month.
• May 25th: Mike Woodson signs a three-year extension with the Knicks — The deal gives Woodson about $4MM per season, an includes an option in the third year, according to Stephen A. Smith of ESPNNewYork.com. Presumably, that's a team option, but in either case it was a significant vote of confidence for Woodson, who replaced Mike D'Antoni in March. The specter of Phil Jackson was present until the deal got done, though Woodson had a major ally once the Knicks also decided to bring back GM Glen Grunwald.  
• May 18th: The Hawks exercise their option on Larry Drew for 2012/13 — The move dispelled rumors that the Hawks would decline the option, and that Drew would be a candidate for the Blazers' job. The move was one of Rick Sund's last as GM of the team, and it remains to be seen whether new GM Danny Ferry will want to keep his inherited coach beyond this season.
• May 15th: The Bulls confirm they will pick up their option on Tom Thibodeau for 2012/13 — GM Gar Forman and Thibodeau downplayed a report that the coach was unhappy with his contract situation in April, but the two sides have reportedly been discussing a long-term extension off and on since before last season, without resolution. They resumed those talks this month, as other coaches have lobbied for Thibodeau to receive a lucrative extension. He's likely in line for one that resembles the deals that Brooks and Carlisle got.
• May 15th: The Mavericks give Rick Carlisle a four-year extension — One year removed from leading the Mavs to an NBA title, the team locked up its coach long-term, setting the market for Brooks' deal with the Thunder.  TNT's David Aldridge, writing on NBA.com, later reported that the deal averages better than $4.5MM a season, and Ric Bucher of ESPN.com reported that the first year of the contract gives Carlisle $4.6MM. 

FRIDAY, 12:56pm: The NBPA has informed players that the law firm selected to review the union's business practices requires more time to finish its report, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports. That subject was one of many discussed in a series of conference calls with the executive committee and player representatives, says Berger.

Among the other topics discussed was the competition's committee's recent talks about a handful of issues, including flopping. The competition committee has yet to formulate an official recommendation on flopping to take to the league's Board of Governors, according to Berger.

WEDNESDAY, 7:08pm: According to SI.com's Sam Amick, a conference call is scheduled to take place on Thursday regarding several pertinent union issues. From a recent memo: "We will provide an update of current union business and cover matters including the distribution of 2011-12 group license funds, implementation of the new annuity program, and proposed rules changes from the competition committee."

Hanging over the head of all these discussion topics is the status of the union's two most important figures: Billy Hunter and Derek Fisher, who have been at serious odds over the union's financial situation since shortly after last year's CBA resolution. Amick reports that no resolution is expected regarding Fisher and Hunter's issue, and Suns' representative Jared Dudley says the situation "smells funny." Fisher's contract is up in two seasons while Hunter's expires in 2016. 

As we've outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Hoops Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don't want to follow all the site's updates, you can follow team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don't have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, you can also easily follow all our updates on your favorite player.

If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Kenyon Martin as he navigates free agency, you can visit this page. If you're interested in whether Jose Calderon might be traded from the Raptors to your favorite team, all Calderon-related updates are located here.

Every player we've written about has his own rumors page. You can find your player of choice by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post where he's discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Martin's page is located at hoopsrumors.com/kenyon-martin.

In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags we use at the bottom of posts. The latest news on Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau's contract situation, for instance, can be found on his rumors page. If you want to check out updates on Chris Hansen's quest to bring the NBA back to Seattle, those are all available here.

Under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, rookie scale contracts for first round picks include two guaranteed seasons and two option years. Teams are required to make decisions on those contract options a year ahead of time. So players heading into the second year of their rookie contracts this season will have their third-year options either picked up or turned down by October 31st.

Yesterday, we looked at the third-year players whose teams must decide on their fourth-year options by Halloween. Today, we're focusing primarily on members of the 2011 draft class — guys heading into their second year whose teams will decide on their third-year options for 2013/14 in the next few weeks.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, players on rookie deals are typically cheap enough and have a strong enough pedigree that their teams won't hesitate to exercise those options, but that's not always the case. Last year, James Anderson, Daniel Orton, and Damion James were among the second-year players whose third-year options weren't picked up.

Here's the complete list of players for whom a third-year option decision is due by October 31st, sorted by team. The salary for the 2013/14 option year is in parentheses.

• Bobcats: Bismack Biyombo ($3.05MM), Kemba Walker ($2.57MM)
• Bucks: Tobias Harris ($1.55MM)
• Bulls: Jimmy Butler ($1.11MM)
• Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving ($5.61MM), Tristan Thompson ($4.06MM)
• Heat: Norris Cole ($1.13MM)
• Jazz: Enes Kanter ($4.51MM), Alec Burks ($2.2MM)
• Kings: Jimmer Fredette ($2.44MM)
• Knicks: Iman Shumpert ($1.7MM)
• Magic: Nikola Vucevic ($1.79MM)
• Nets: MarShon Brooks ($1.21MM)
• Nuggets: Kenneth Faried ($1.37MM), Jordan Hamilton ($1.17MM)
• Pistons: Brandon Knight ($2.79MM)
• Rockets: Marcus Morris ($1.99MM), JaJuan Johnson ($1.14MM)
• Spurs: Kawhi Leonard ($1.89MM), Cory Joseph ($1.12MM)
• Suns: Markieff Morris ($2.09MM)
• Thunder: Reggie Jackson ($1.26MM)
• Timberwolves: Derrick Williams ($5.02MM), Ricky Rubio ($4MM)
• Trail Blazers: Nolan Smith ($1.42MM)
• Warriors: Klay Thompson ($2.32MM)
• Wizards: Jan Vesely ($3.34MM), Chris Singleton ($1.62MM)