http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nbalabor&prov=ap&type=lgns NEW YORK (AP) -- NBA owners and players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, averting the possibility of a lockout. The league called a news conference in San Antonio prior to Game 6 of the NBA Finals, with commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter announcing their agreement. The deal came on the fourth consecutive day of talks between the sides. The league's old seven-year agreement is due to expire on June 30.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2091539 League to announce agreement prior to Game 6 ESPN.com news services NEW YORK -- NBA owners and players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, averting the possibility of a lockout. The league called a news conference in San Antonio prior to Game 6 of the NBA Finals, with commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter announcing their agreement, ESPN Insider Chad Ford has confirmed. The deal came on the fourth consecutive day of talks between the sides. The league's old seven-year agreement is due to expire on June 30. The league and its players' association on Monday night were close to agreeing on a new CBA that would institute a new 19-year-old age limit, reduce contract lengths and raise the salary cap, according to sources close to both negotiating committee. The potential agreement would run for six years and would allow the two sides to avoid a July 1 lockout. The two negotiating committees were to meet again on Tuesday morning in New York, NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said. Union spokesperson Dan Wasserman declined comment on the story. A source close to the NBA negotiating committee and a source close to the union's negotiation committee claim that all of the major issues between the sides had been agreed to in principle as of Monday night, and the purpose of Tuesday's meeting was to work out some of the finer points of the agreement that weren't addressed during a lengthy, breakthrough negotiation session Friday. The players now have the opportunity to ratify the new agreement during a summer meeting on June 28. It might take several more weeks for the final agreement to get drafted, possibly delaying the start of the free agent period scheduled to start July 1.
WHEW! Part of me was thinking, "There's no way they'll be stupid enough to make the same mistake that the NHL just did." Then there was a part of me thinking, "Well, if the NHL was stubborn enough to make that mistake, it might happen to the NBA, too."
That's great to hear. Now we won't have to wait weeks or even months for any Rockets news. David Stern is an a-hole, but damn if he doesn't protect his league better than any other commissioner out there.
wow im glad that has finally been worked out and since they raised the age limit does that affect this years draft? J
I'm really interested to see what the new terms are. This is great news. The Rockets will play next year!!!
Great news.. I got to hear about it on the radio durring lunch..sounds like Stern had his way again on most of it...
I hate to quote Chad Ford, but this is probably very close to what they signed. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/ESPNSports/story?id=866485 Chad Ford ESPN Insider June 21 The NBA and its players' association are close to agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement that would institute a new 19-year-old age limit, reduce contract lengths and raise the salary cap, sources close to both negotiating committees said Monday night. The potential agreement would run for six years and would allow the two sides to avoid a July 1 lockout. NBA, Players Agree to New Labor Deal Daniilidou Beats Henin-Hardenne in Round 1 An Interactive Look at Wimbledon The two negotiating committees were scheduled to meet again on Tuesday morning in New York, NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said. Union spokesperson Dan Wasserman declined comment on the story. A source close to the NBA negotiating committee and a source close to the union's negotiation committee claim that all of the major issues between the sides have been agreed to in principle, and the purpose of Tuesday's meeting is to work out some of the finer points of the agreement that weren't addressed during a lengthy, breakthrough negotiation session Friday. Both sources asserted that none of the issues left on the table are major sticking points. If those issues can be worked out in a timely fashion, the two sides would be ready to announce a deal. If a new agreement is reached soon, the players would have the opportunity to ratify it during a summer meeting on June 28. It might take several more weeks for the final agreement to get drafted, possibly delaying the start of the free agent period scheduled to start July 1. The owners will have won several key concessions from the players, if the current proposal is agreed upon, according to sources on both sides. • A 19-year-old age limit would be implemented. Players who are not 19 by draft night would be ineligible to declare. Under current rules, American players are eligible for the draft the year their high school class graduates. Foreign players must be 18 by draft night. The new proposed age limit would bar most, but not all (Amare Stoudemire was already 19 when he was drafted), high school players from entering the draft. • Contract lengths would be reduced by one year. Currently, players can sign a fully guaranteed contract for a maximum of seven years if they re-sign with their current team. Players signing with a new team in free agency can sign a six-year deal. Under the new proposal, maxiumum contract lengths would shorten to five years for players signing with new teams and six years for players re-signing with their current team. • Raises in contracts would be reduced. Under the current CBA, players are allowed maximum raises of 12.5 percent per year if they re-sign with their current team and 10 percent if they sign with a different team in free agency. Under the new proposal, raises would be reduced to 10 percent if a player re-signs with his current team and 8 percent if they sign with a different team in free agency. • Teams would pick up an extra option year on rookie contracts. Currently, first-round picks are tied into a league salary scale. When a first-round pick signs a contract, the first three years are guaranteed, with a team option for the fourth year. Players are paid a set amount based on where they were selected in the draft. Under the new proposed rules, first-round picks would get the first two years of their contract guaranteed. The third and fourth years of the contract would be team options. In return the owners would make the following concessions to the players if the current proposal is ratified: • Total player salaries would be guaranteed. The proposed agreement guarantees that players receive a minimum of 57 percent of basketball-related income (BRI) in the form of salaries each year. • The salary cap would increase. The current CBA bases the salary cap on BRI. The cap is set at 48 percent of BRI; last year, that came to $43.87 million. According to sources, the owners would agree to increase that percentage to 51 percent, in effect raising the salary cap. Sources say the cap would, in that case, rise to between $47 million and $50 million next season. • Escrow would be reduced and distribution of escrow moneys modified. Currently, players must pay 10 percent of their salaries into an escrow account each season. If, at season's end, the total amount of player salaries exceeds 57 percent of the league's total basketball-related income, that money goes to the owners whose teams stay below the luxury-tax threshold (and a few that fall within a certain "cliff threshold"). If it doesn't exceed 57 percent, the players get their money back. Under the proposed agreement, that number would be slowly phased down to 8 percent by the end of the agreement. There is potentially another significant development in this area. Under current rules, the NBA has sole discretion over the use of the escrow money. Currently, it redistributes the cash (and luxury tax revenues) to teams that are under the luxury tax threshold. In essence, Clippers owner Donald Sterling gets a bonus for being cheap. Under the new proposed agreement, distribution rules would be changed so that luxury tax revenues would now be distributed equally among all 30 teams. • No super luxury tax. Owners had been pushing for a "super tax" for teams who exceed the salary cap by more than a certain percentage. They would be penalized $2 for every dollar they were over the tax threshold. However, the owners dropped their demand for a super tax under the newest proposal.
I wouldn't say that at all. Contract lengths only got shortened a year. Max raises got lowered a bit too, but so did the escrow payments by players. Only the additional option year on rookie contracts gives a edge to the owners. The 19 year age limit will be good for both sides. Otherwise, with the full MLE, and higher cap it's going to be business as usual around the league. Good deal for both sides.
excellent... This is a pretty good deal for both sides. Let's face it, the players will continue to make a buttload of money and the owners will continue to make a buttload of money. That 19 year old age limit is kind of weak, though. If Stern couldn't get 20, he probably should have just kept it like it is. Now, instead of a bunch of high school kids going to the NBA, they'll be hurting the college programs who will sign the kids knowing full well they'll only be around for a year. Maybe they'll develop the NBDL into a true minor league and the high schoolers develop there...
Does anyone know what will happen to local phenom Gerald Greene??? Is he 19??? I think he already hired an agent.
The new CBA doesn't go into effect until after the draft, so this draft isn't affected. I'm thinking we might see a flood of mediocre high schoolers start declaring now...
He is 19. But I don't think this year's draft will be affected. The current deal expires on June 30th, two days after the draft.
I was really hoping they would have left the age limit the same but create a strong farm system like baseball. How cool would that be to have a dedicated AAA team!
Except that there is no reason to do that. The current age limit is 18, and the new limit is just 19. So all those 18 year olds will be eligible next year anyway. So only kids that think they are good enough to get drafted or don't want to go to college will need to declare, because the age limit isn't going to affect them either way.
NEW YORK -- NBA owners and players agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement today, averting the possibility of a lockout. ADVERTISEMENT The league called a news conference in San Antonio prior to Game 6 of the NBA Finals, with commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter announcing their agreement. The deal came on the fourth consecutive day of talks between the sides. The league's old seven-year agreement is due to expire on June 30. Details of the new six-year agreement were not immediately disclosed, but the sides had been trying to reach compromises on several key issues. Among them were the owners' desire to raise the minimum age for draft eligibility to 19, reduce the maximum length of long-term contracts from seven years to six, and reduce the size of annual salary increases in those long-term contracts. Among the main items the players were seeking was a reduction in the so-called escrow tax under which 10 percent of their salaries are withheld if the amount of revenues devoted to players salaries exceeds a specified percentage. Owners had already offered to raise the salary cap from slightly more than 48 percent of revenues to 51 percent, thereby increasing the amount of money each team can spend on player salaries. The NBA has a system known as a ``soft'' salary cap, allowing teams to exceed the cap threshold to retain their own free agents, and to sign free agents under the so-called midlevel exception that was added to the labor agreement in 1999 after the sides went through a 7½-month lockout. Another lockout could have begun July 1. The agreement will still need to be ratified by the league's Board of Governors and by the members of the players' union at their annual meeting in Las Vegas next week. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3234774
