Peace reigns between NBA and Players Association (NBPA). After repeatedly postponing the deadline to reach an agreement, the employers and the union finally shook hands two weeks ago. The New NBA Agreement It has yet to be ratified by the NBA Board of Governors (“governor” is the current new terminology, less racialized than “owner”) and the players in separate votes, but it is difficult for a break to occur at this stage of the film .
So now is the time to analyze what we are learning about this new agreement, and for this the easiest thing to do is to respond to the Frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the most important points of it.
Why has it been so easy to reach an agreement?
Because there is a lot of money at stake. There was a time when the negotiation of the collective agreement led to turbulent times in the NBA. so, in 1998 we saw the first lockoutleague lockout, after owners uproarized by signing Kevin Garnett a six-year, $126 million contract, the highest in American sports history at the time. That one-sided fight at the negotiating table led to the imposition of the cap on contracts or the salary scale for rookies, while losing 464 regular-season games.
I say it was a one-sided fight, because that’s the way it has been every time there’s been a tough matchup. If it comes to a lockout and games are canceled, franchises lose money, or rather stop entering. But those responsible do not stop being a thousand millionaires that they can always endure a few more months of losses in order to win the battle. The players, however, are losing their salary and their way of life. And the big stars can take more, but the league’s middle class, which makes up the bulk of it, can’t. That same thing happened in the lockout from 2011.
So the owners are happy, for now. Franchise valuations continue to skyrocket, and with it the value of their investments. And NBA players are the athletes with the highest median salary of any global competition. It is not worth arguing when the wind is blowing in your favor.
What is the “apron”? How is it different from a hard salary cap?
The NBA has a salary cap, but it’s what we call soft. It can be overcome by using certain exceptions for free agent signings or renewals. For many years the owners, excuse me, governors, have tried to establish a hard salary limit that cannot be exceeded, but that is a red line that players will never accept to crossbecause it greatly limits the money they can earn.
Then we have the luxury tax, in a line above that salary limit, to financially punish those who exceed it too much. AND after that luxury tax there is what they call apronanother ceiling that limits the movement of the teams that exceed it.
Well, this new agreement adds a second apron above the previous one, try to stop teams that spend carelessly like Golden State Warriors or Los Angeles Clippers. Franchises that exceed that second mark will only be able to increase their salary expense by renewing their own players, selecting players in the Draft or signing minimum contracts.
Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors
Why is the increase in the salary limit limited to 10% per year?
Because there are still some who have nightmares about the contracts that the Lakers gave to Timofey Mozgov y Luol Dengand many others that were signed that summer 2016 in which the salary cap was raised so much that everyone found themselves with a lot of cap space and the Golden State Warriors were able to sign Kevin Durant, for example.
That could have happened again. In 2025 there will be a new television contract, one that seems to multiply the income of the previous one. The salary cap is directly tied to NBA revenue, so that inflow of money could have sparked another salary cap boom. It will not happen, because the parties have agreed that the limit can only be increased by a maximum of 10%.
Franchises will thus limit their spending, and the extra money will continue to flow to players, just spread over more seasons. It will also be better distributed among them, instead of only the lucky ones of one or two summers signing exorbitant contracts.
What changes in contract extensions?
Previously when a player extended his contract with a franchise before it was up, the maximum percentage increase in salary was 120% compared to his senior year. This produced that players who had had an irregular performance and then made a quality leap, were limited and preferred the option of going on the market as free agents. The new maximum percentage will be 140%. That 20% additional it has the consequence that the possible extensions will be closer to the maximum possible for the player in question, with which more players will sign them, and there could be less movement of free agents.
Some players directly affected are Jaylen Brown, OG Anunoby, Dejounte Murray, Lauri Markkanen, or Domantas Sabonis. Now it is more likely that all of them will continue in their respective franchisesif they are willing to pay them.
Jaylen Brown will have more incentive to continue in Boston
How does the new mid-season tournament work?
Adam Silver He has been obsessed for years with the idea of adding a new trophy to compete for, in love with the “cups” of the European soccer leagues, and he has gotten away with it.
The new tournament will use matches already planned in the regular season as qualifying matches. The best eight will then play a single match tournament, and there will be a Final Four in a neutral city, probably Las Vegas. We’ll see if Silver’s idea is as successful as the play-in.
In an attempt to fight against scheduled rests and lost games among the stars, the NBA is going to link their season awards and their quintets All NBA a a minimum of 65 matches played, always with some conditions. We understand that one of those conditions is that the entire season has been played. This measure looks very good for the gallery. The reality is that there was already a kind of de facto limit that voters applied to their elections.
In the modern NBA (let’s say since the 80s) the MVPs with fewer games played without having lockout or pandemic in between have been Allen Iverson with 71 in 2001 and Nikola Jokic with 72 in 2021. Perhaps in other awards it affects more than in the MVP, and where it is most likely to have an impact is in the All NBA quintets, which are linked to the maximum contract that each player can sign. But there may be an adverse effect. Now you have set the limit of the number of games that it is okay to miss and the number that is wrong. For the stars now the season may not start with an 82 in their goal of games to play, but with a 65.
Nikola Jokic, still reigning NBA MVP
Adam Silver wanted to lower the age of entry into the NBA to 18 years. Why hasn’t it happened?
Because when push comes to shove, neither party cares too much. For franchises it is more work. Further scouts to hire, or more work for those who already have. All to risk millions of dollars on even greener players than those who already draft, with similar potential but even greater risk.
In addition, for the NBA it would be a hard blow for the G-League Ignitethe developmental league team that has already landed several coveted high school players, and whose existence justifies the continuation of that secondary competition.
On the other hand, for the players it would have been a increased competitionespecially for veterans who in many cases occupy the last positions of the franchises.
Because in the end everything we have mentioned and the very peaceful agreement they have reached can be summed up in that very thing. Nobody wants to be touched theirsand nobody wants to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
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