[Larry Coon] How the NBA's new two-way contracts change the game

Thought this would be very informative reading.

How the NBA's new two-way contracts change the game
by Larry Coon

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/18967110/how-nba-new-two-way-contracts-change-game

Relatively quick CBA negotiations gave the NBA and its players plenty of time to make tweaks and adjustments to improve league operations going forward.

One of those improvements is a new category of player. With the further growth and development of the NBA D-League as a gateway to the NBA, the new CBA creates a hybrid player who exists in both leagues: the two-way player.

So how will this work? And what does it mean for future team building? Breakout Dallas Mavericks guard Yogi Ferrell -- and his short stint with theBrooklyn Nets -- provides a good example.

The basics
Of course, seeing NBA players on D-League assignments is nothing new. The previous CBA allowed NBA clubs to assign their players to the D-League at will as long as the player had fewer than three years of experience. Those players remained on regular NBA contracts and continued to receive their full NBA salaries while on assignment. They joined D-League rosters that were composed mostly of players who were signed directly by the D-League.

The new CBA adds two-way players to the mix.

A two-way player is the converse of an NBA player on a D-League assignment, who is, by definition, an NBA player. A two-way player is primarily a D-League player but can be called up by the parent NBA team on temporary assignments.

A two-way player's time on an NBA roster is limited. He can be with the NBA team for training camp and for up to 45 days of the regular season. Once the 45-day limit is reached, the player cannot play on the NBA team for the remainder of that season unless his contract is converted from a two-way contract to a full NBA contract. The 45 days include days during which the player is on the active roster for an NBA game, travels with the team or participates in team activities such as practices and workouts. They don't include days before or after the D-League season, when the player is on the NBA team's inactive list.

Two-way contracts will provide a number of advantages to the league and its players starting next season (when the D-League will also get a name change to the G-League). From the players' standpoint, two-way contracts create additional jobs. Teams now will have two additional roster spots reserved exclusively for two-way players, bumping the maximum roster size to 17. Two-way players also receive higher salaries, which makes the D-League more competitive with international leagues when recruiting talent.

From the team standpoint, two-way contracts are more cost-effective than full NBA contracts -- the player receives an NBA salary only when he's on assignment with the parent team. And as with NBA players on D-League assignment, the parent team retains full rights to its two-way players.

The case of Ferrell, Brooklyn and Dallas
Ferrell went undrafted in 2016 after four years at Indiana. He was picked up by the Nets in the summer and, after being cut and sent to the D-League, eventually played 10 games for Brooklyn, averaging 5.4 PPG and 1.7 APG. Then he was waived on Dec. 8 and went back to the D-League, where he put up 18.7 PPG and 5.8 APG while shooting 40 percent from 3.

The Mavs came calling after multiple backcourt injuries. With Ferrell on a 10-day contract, Dallas went 4-0 as the rookie PG posted 17.8 PPG, 5.0 APG and 1.8 SPG in 37.5 MPG. That led to the Mavs offering a minimum deal for the rest of this year with a team option for next season. (Besides another 10-day, Dallas had limited options without cap space.)

If this scenario had occurred next season, Brooklyn could have initially signed Ferrell to a two-way deal with its expanded roster rather than risk having a team like the Mavs swoop him up while he was unsigned in the D-League. Here are some more details on how that could have worked.

Players are eligible to sign a two-way contract if they have fewer than four seasons of NBA experience. However, an NBA team can't have the same player on two-way contracts for any part of three seasons -- the maximum is two seasons.

The salary within a two-way contract is calculated on a per-day basis, based on the number of days the player was with the parent NBA team and the affiliate D-League team. In 2017-18 the D-League tenure is based on a $75,000 annual salary, and this amount will increase by three percent each year. When the player is with the NBA team his salary is based on the league's rookie minimum salary.

Two-way contracts don't count against the NBA team's salary cap, and teams do not need to have cap room or a salary-cap exception to sign two-way players. Teams are not allowed to pay an international team buyout when signing a player to a two-way contract.

Players accrue Bird rights (toward free agency) while on two-way contracts, and they are subject to restricted free agency at the end of their contracts if they were called up by the parent NBA team for at least 15 days of the previous season.

Teams have the option to convert a two-way contract into a regular, minimum-salary NBA contract, at which point the player becomes a regular member of the parent NBA team. Two-way players are not eligible for NBA playoff rosters, so a team must convert any two-way players it wants to use in the playoffs.

And finally, two-way players can be traded. However, they can't be traded for 30 days after they are signed, and trades of two-way players don't generate trade exceptions for the parent team.

In all, two-way contracts represent one of many improvements to the system in the new CBA, and make the D-League more effective as a place to develop talent. These players represent a useful hybrid between the two types of players that existed previously. In Ferrell's case, not only could he have made more money this way, but his path back to the NBA would've been more clear. And Brooklyn likely wouldn't have lost out on a productive player.

As with any other new rule, NBA teams will look for the cracks and crevices and will try to find ways to tweak the new rules to their advantage. Time will tell if two-way contracts will work as intended, but for now, they appear to be a great addition to the league's system.

----
cc @BimaThug @The Cat @Clutch

 

It is common knowledge of the concept. But the details, the minutiae, might not have been widely circulated. I think Coon's article is worth posting and isn't redundant to anything.

 

?? I included the entire article here for everyone in the original post. That's Coon's story.

 

LOL! I gotcha!