The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have reached agreement on a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement, promising labor peace through the rest of the decade, sources told ESPN early Saturday morning.
...
...the league's negotiations with [NBAPA executive director Tamika] Tremaglio and new NBPA president CJ McCollum delivered a deal months ahead of a possible work stoppage.
...
The NBA is curbing the ability of the highest-spending teams, such as the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers, to continue running up salary and luxury tax spending while still maintaining mechanisms to add talent to the roster. [This would be like a Man City rule in soccer.] The NBA is implementing a second salary cap apron -- $17.5 million over the tax line -- and those teams will no longer have access to the taxpayer mid-level in free agency. Those changes will be eased into the salary cap over a period of years.
...
As a counter to those spending limitations, the new CBA is expected to create more spending and trade opportunities for teams at the middle and lower spectrum of spending. There will be an opening of more opportunities in the free agent market, including larger trade exceptions.
In an attempt to curb load management and lost games among star players, the NBA is tying eligibility for postseason awards -- such as All-NBA teams and MVP -- to a mandatory 65 games played. The 65-game minimum does come with some conditions.
This is a big issue with me, a fan, and I would have thought with the players as well. A cut-down on the number of regular season games to preserve players' health was what I wanted. Alas, the players didn't want to play fewer games for less money.
The in-season tournament could arrive as soon as the 2023-24 season. The event will include pool-play games baked into the regular-season schedule starting in November -- with eight teams advancing to a single-elimination tournament in December. The Final Four will be held at a neutral site, with Las Vegas prominent in the discussion, sources said.
Each in-season tournament game would count toward regular-season standings; the two finalists would ultimately play an 83rd game that would not count in the regular season. Winning players and coaches will earn additional prize money.
Okay, that's not bad. The tournament would only add one more game for the two finalists.
The NBA and NBPA have agreed to increase the upper limits on extensions from a 120% increase on a current deal to 140%...
There is an increase in two-way contract slots, jumping from two to three per team. Two-way contracts were created in the 2017 collective bargaining agreement as a vehicle for teams to develop younger players. It has been seen as a success, as it's become a route to players earning long-term homes in the league, and in several cases becoming major contributors.
Some of the biggest success stories to emerge from the two-way pipeline include: ...Duncan Robinson and Max Strus with the Miami Heat...
Yeah.