NBA, players union reach tentative new labor agreement

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NBA, players union reach tentative new labor agreement



The NBA and the NBA Players Association jointly announced Wednesday night that they have a reached tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement pending ratification by the league's players and team owners.

The sides have agreed to extend its mutual deadline to opt out of the existing CBA, which was Thursday at 11:59 p.m., to Jan. 13, 2017, to give them sufficient time to review terms and hold the separate votes required to ratify the seven-year deal, which contains an opt-out clause for both parties after Year 6.

ESPN.com first reported earlier Wednesday that the NBA and the union were on the brink of announcing the deal, which has been anticipated in league circles for weeks and is poised to deliver seven more years of labor peace.

A deal to render the opt-out moot and snuff out any possibility of a lockout in the 2017 offseason has come together to beat that deadline despite New York Knicks starCarmelo Anthony telling ESPN's Ramona Shelburne over the weekend that he was "skeptical" a deal could be struck in time.

ESPN subsequently reported that control over licensing matters and the use of player likenesses had emerged as a significant issue in the latter stages of the labor talks, but sources said Wednesday that those issues had been largely resolved.

The votes to ratify the new deal, which are likely to take place later this month for both league owners and active players, will be regarded as a formality once an agreement is reached.

The sides have been meeting near-daily this month -- sometimes multiple times a day -- in hopes of getting the long-anticpated deal to the finish line.

The league and union would actually have until June 30, 2017, when the current CBA expires, to hash out a new deal in the event either side opts out or talks collapse.

But even Anthony acknowledged, in raising his concerns to Shelburne about "a dent in conversations" that had unsettled talks "at the 25th hour," that he sides have been close to a deal for some time.

 

[LegalMoney]

Without a doubt the NBPA is the best professional sports player's union.

Great work!

 

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Union reps LeBron James, Chris Paul could be big winners through 'over-38' rule

Paul is the president of the players' union, and James is the vice president.
12:33 PM CT

• Brian Windhorst
  ESPN Senior Writer

LeBron James has been ahead of the curve on contract management for most of his career, and a provision he helped position himself for in the new collective bargaining agreement means his latest forward-looking maneuver could be worth almost $100 million.

The new deal, which still must be ratified by the owners and players' union, alters the "over-36 rule" to the "over-38" rule. Previously, teams could not sign players to four- or five-year contracts if the player turned 36 before Oct. 1 of one of the years of the deal. By moving the rule back two years, James is in position to sign a five-year contract in 2018 when he is 33 years old, sources told ESPN.

James' health, the overall player market and other factors make it impossible to know what he might sign for in 2018, but projections show he could sign for up to $210 million if he stays with the Cleveland Cavaliers and signs for five years at the maximum number. Before the rule change, he would have been able to sign for only three years and an estimated $90 million to $100 million less at age 33.

James said Friday that the rule change wasn't about his earning power.

"I'm too much of a present guy to worry about what can happen in the future. If I'm blessed and able and the game continues to bless me, then we'll cross that path when we get there," he said. "But there's guys in our league now that are 34, 35, 36 that have an opportunity to sign a longer-deal contract, so I think it's great for our league."

The rule change also could benefitChris Paul, who would be eligible to sign a five-year contract with the LA Clippers for up to $210 million this summer. Paul would have been able to sign for four years under the current rules. It could be worth up to $50 million more to him, depending on how the deal gets put together.


In 2006, James set a trend when he turned down a five-year offer and instead took a three-year extension from the Cavs, allowing him to become a free agent in 2010.

The change also favors other older stars who are headed to free agency in their mid-30s, such as Carmelo Anthony andDwyane Wade, who can be a free agent next summer after building an opt-out clause into his deal with the Chicago Bulls.

Anthony is also a union vice president.

The new CBA also included many provisions that raised salaries of lower-paid players. Minimum salaries, rookie salaries and the midlevel and biannual exceptions all were increased by 45 percent across the board.

Retiree benefits were also vastly increased, doubling pensions for players who start taking the benefit after age 50.

 

[Coldchi]

we'll see what happens when June gets here

 

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How will the new CBA impact superteams?

 

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Designated Extensions and Other Changes in NBA, NBPA’s Agreement


On Wednesday, the NBA and NBPA agreed to a new labor deal, to be formalized and ratified by January 13.

Basketball Insiders obtained a copy of the term sheet and detailed a number of rule adjustments (Understanding Terms of NBA, NBPA’s Agreement).

One area of significant change in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) revolves around veteran extensions.

A player on a contract of three or four years in length will now be eligible to sign an extension after the second anniversary of signing their current deal. The existing rules only permit extensions after the third anniversary of a four-year deal.

Allowable extensions will increase to five years from four. The maximum amount in the first year will be raised to 120 percent of either the salary in the final season of the original deal (up from 107.5 percent) or the estimated league average.

The new deal will also include “designated player veteran extensions,” which will apply to players entering their eighth or ninth season with their original franchise (or if the player was traded to their existing team at some point during their first four years in the NBA).

To be eligible, a player needs to be named to any of the three All-NBA teams or as Defensive Player of the Year in either the season preceding the extension or two of the three prior seasons. It will also apply to the league’s Most Valuable Player in any of the three seasons before the extension.

One player who will qualify this summer is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

This unique extension can only be signed during the offseason (starting in July) and only two players can be inked to designated player extensions per team. The salary in the first year will pay between 30 percent and 35 percent of the salary cap.

Such a player will not be trade eligible for a full year upon signing.

There is also language in the deal to grandfather in players who might qualify who signed long-term extensions during the 2016-17 season, like Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The designated player extension for rookie-scale extensions will drop the All-Star starter qualification; instead matching the designated veteran extension’s award metrics.

Teams will now be permitted to have two players on their roster on designated rookie-scale extensions.

In general, the deadline for rookie-scale extensions will be moved up from October 31 to one day before the start of the regular season.

Under the new deal, players still on rookie-scale contracts will receive bumps in pay – 15 percent for 2017-18, 30 percent for 2018-19 and 45 percent for 2019-20. While teams will be responsible for paying the additional salary, they will be reimbursed by the NBA and the players’ salary cap figure will not be impacted.

Trade rules also appear to be undergoing significant change in regards to non-guaranteed salary. Teams often covet players on non/partially-guaranteed contracts as trade assets they can acquire and then waive, as a tool to shed unwanted salary.

Now, players signed to deals under the new agreement will have just their guaranteed amounts count toward salary matching.

For instance, Arron Afflalo’s 2017-18 salary ($12.5 million) with the Sacramento Kings is $1.5 million guaranteed. If a player were to sign a similar deal after this season, they would only count as $1.5 million of outgoing salary in trade.

Rosters will increase from a minimum of 13 players to 14 but the number of empty roster charges (at $815,615 for the 2017-18 season) will remain at 12.

If a team does not reach the minimum salary, they are obligated to compensate the players on their roster for the shortfall. The new agreement clarifies that the additional payment cannot push a players’ total salary over their individual maximum.

The fines for suspensions will be reduced to 1/145th of a players’ base compensation, although it will remain at 1/110th for suspensions of 20 games or more.

Penalties for using a steroid, performance-enhancing drug will be 25 games for a first-time offender and 55 for a second.

The NBA has also agreed to return half of the penalties for 24 flopping fines to the impacted players. In turn, the NBPA will drop its pending “Unfair Labor Practice charge.” Moving forward, both sides will collectively bargain over potential penalties for on-court conduct rules.

While the moratorium will end on July 6, the NBA will determine the salary cap for each coming season before the moratorium begins – on July 1.

The playoff pool for the coming season will be $20 million with future increases tied to the growth of basketball-related income.

Other areas in the deal include health insurance and an increased pension for retired players, prohibited activities (now including fireworks, firearms, jet skiing, hoverboards, trampoline jumping, etc.) and a comprehensive policy for domestic violence incidents.

Until an actual Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is executed, the details are subject to change.

Basketball Insiders will project each team’s cap room for the 2017-18 season and detail the concept of two-way contracts and other minutiae of the agreement in future articles.

 

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Answering your questions about the new collective bargaining agreement


Last week the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement. If it is ratified by both sides next month, the league will be assured of labor peace for the next six years.

If you don't have a law degree or an ability to commit complex acronyms to memory it can be pretty hard to follow. So with the help of salary-cap guru/godfather Larry Coon, here's a simpler way to learn some of the new rules and how they can affect your favorite team or player.

Q: What's the most important new rule?
A: The NBA wants to slow down or even stop superstar players from leaving their teams in free agency. Since 2010, there's been a steady stream of huge names who have left as free agents, including LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard and Kevin Durant.Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Kevin Lovealso forced trades because they knew their teams were afraid they'd leave in free agency.

The league created a huge incentive for a select -- and we really do mean select -- group of franchise players to stay put. When Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder last summer, the amount the Thunder and the Warriors could pay him was reasonably close over the first four years of a contract. The new rules will change that and give the "home" team a much larger advantage.

Q: Why would the players agree? Don't they want to be able to leave in free agency?
A: Because money. That's going to be a recurring theme here. The owners have agreed to increase the money players can get across the board. A good example is Stephen Curry. He is going to be a free agent next summer and under this new rule, the Warriors can pay him $209 million over five years. It could start at $36 million next year, which would be a record annual salary.

If he wanted to sign with another team, he could still get $133 million over four years. The starting salary for him on the max contract would be $30 million. That's a $76 million difference. 76 MILLION! What do you think Curry is going to do with that sort of economic option? Sorry, Charlotte, your dreams of Steph coming home will probably have to wait for, oh, about five years -- at least.

Last year Durant was offered the same $26.5 million starting salary by all the teams that pitched him. That's why this is being called the "Kevin Durant rule." It's a big difference.

Q: You said it was a select group of players, so who do you mean?
A: To get this type of premium deal you have to have played eight or nine years in the league and been on the All-NBA team this year or in two of the past three years, win the Defensive Player of the Year or have won the MVP in one of the past three years. You also have to re-sign with the team you played for since your rookie contract, although players traded during their rookie contracts still qualify. That's not a lot of players.

This might affect free agents like Curry andBlake Griffin this coming summer and perhaps players like Paul George andDeMarcus Cousins in 2018. It's a small group, but these are important players to their teams, and this time frame has been when most of the megastars have been leaving their teams. Also, the new rules mean superstars who meet these criteria can be offered extensions and the promise of this huge money before they even become free agents.

The life cycle of an NBA superstar will now look like this: After being drafted, he signs a four-year rookie contract. Before that contract ends he signs a four or five-year extension. Before that contract ends he signs a five-year extension. A superstar who wants to maximize his salary may not hit the open market until he's played 14 seasons in the league.

Q: So should Karl-Anthony Towns just buy a house in Minneapolis and assume he's there forever?
A: If you're a Wolves fan, that idea probably has you smiling. It's possible it could result in such a scenario with a star like Towns. But it also could lead to an unwanted side effect:young stars trying to force trades within their first four years in the league. That could happen for sure.

Q: What if you have multiple stars like the Warriors?
A: You can do this for two players on your roster. So if you're lucky enough to have two, you can keep them both.

But the rule's unofficial namesake, Kevin Durant, won't qualify with the Warriors because he's changed teams already. But Curry and either Klay Thompson or Draymond Green should be locks.

Q: So it feels like the Thunder got a pretty bad break. If these rules were around last year they might've been able to keep Durant and then also sign Westbrook and keep them both long term, right?
A: Yep, it's a major bummer for OKC. They've gotten pretty unlucky in how the rules have applied to them. To make it worse, they won't even have the new advantages when Westbrook can become a free agent in 2018 because he'll have played 10 years and other teams can offer him the same starting salary. Had the Thunder known this, they might not have signed him to an extension last summer when Durant left. Like I said, it's a major bummer.

Q: So will stars stop leaving in free agency? Don't you love the excitement of free agency in July?
A: The owners of most teams don't. This will probably slow the trend of big names changing teams. But it's hard to qualify for this, so it won't apply to that many players.

Q: Did any other players get raises?
A: Everybody got them. The players who get the least money, the guys on minimum contracts, got a 45 percent raise. So did all the players on rookie contracts, although their bumps are being phased in over three years. The players who were drafted over the past few years will get their salaries automatically boosted next year, too. That way they don't get penalized when the rookies in 2017 get the new salaries. Other mechanisms were built in to help middle-class players get more money. The mid-level exceptions were bumped by 45 percent starting next season, too.

Q: Did the old guys get anything?
A: Oh, yes. If you've been in the league at least 10 years, your minimum salary will now be $2.3 million, up from $1.4 million. And players like James, Paul, Anthony and Wade will really benefit because of a rule tweak. It used to be that you couldn't have a four or five-year contract if you turned 36 years old during the deal. Now that age limit has been increased to 38.

Q: What does that mean for Paul's free agency in 2017?
A: It means he can ask the Clippers for $50 million more than he could have if he had been a free agent last year. The Clippers don't have to give it to him, of course, but he is in a much better position to get a lot more guaranteed money. Being the union president can pay off .

Q: What about the guys in the middle?
A: NBA salaries are a zero-sum game: They get 51 percent of the revenue pie to split up among 450 or so players. So if the guys at the top are getting more, and the guys at the bottom are getting more, it means the middle class might get squeezed. This could be the beginning of a very top-heavy league, where the stars get the lion's share of the money. Some would say that's how it should be because stars drive the league. Others would say that's what happens when the union leaders are mostly superstars. Paul, James, Anthony and Curry are on the eight-person executive committee.

Q: Are there any other new rules to know about?
A: One you'll notice is that teams can now have two players who they can keep on their roster while letting them play in the D-League. These players will be on "two-way contracts" that will enable a team to control their rights and call them up to the parent team -- sort of like how it works in baseball. These players will get better D-League salaries and get paid NBA salaries when they're on the big team. Currently players on D-League teams can get called up by any team. The hope is this will keep more players from going overseas if they don't make a roster out of training camp or aren't drafted, allowing teams to develop their young players over the course of a season.

 

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NBA players will now reportedly have a union hotline to complain about officials
In the closing seconds of the NBA Finals rematch between the Cavaliers and Warriorson Christmas Day, Kevin Durant was tripped up by Richard Jefferson, causing him to fall as time expired and allowing Cleveland to win 109-108.

Durant didn't outright say that he got fouled but did hint at it afterwards by saying, "I didn't fall on my own." It turns out he was right as the NBA reviewed the play as part of the two-minute report on Monday and deemed that officials made two mistakes in the final moments of the game.

Of course, the report doesn't really help the Warriors. But perhaps Durant and his teammates can take solace in the fact that next season, thanks to the union, players can criticize blown calls or an official via a new NPBA hotline and a monthly report that will be sent to the league.

From Mitch Lawrence of Sporting News:

Players will be able to critique the work of game referees, as never before. In the past, they were allowed to submit one report annually - but never were allowed to mention the offending refs by name. That was the way Stern wanted it handled, and it wasn't subject to collective bargaining; the players had to accept the commissioner's edict, and they never felt like they had any clout in this area. Starting with the new CBA, however, the reports will be submitted with the names of the refs and with greater frequency, coming once a month.

Additionally, the players for the first time will have a hotline to the union to call in to critique the work of refs in their games. They'll be able to report not just on where they think the official botched a call, but also if they found a ref to be out of line, verbally, with how they handled blow-ups. Basically, they can complain like never before. The hotline is a response to the league allowing the new monthly reviews so that players can report something they thought was handled incorrectly while it's still fresh in their minds.

This should be a positive step between the players and officials. If an official actually holds a grudge against a certain player and that player keeps complaining to the NPBA, the union can alert the league and they could likely look into it. It should also cut down on instances like what happened after Tuesday's Bulls-Pacers game, where Paul Georgebasically suggested that officials in coordination with the league, are out to get the Pacers.

And while this may not create a drastic change, it serves as a system of checks and balances for officials, which is much better than the basically non-existent one that currently exists.

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

When I see $210 million and i know it's guaranteed, I wonder how the guys who get hit in their heads feel about playing a mans game.