[ESPN.com / Ric Bucher] NBA CBA Deal Reached in Principal

This also spares us of any career-ending offseasons like last time (Kemp, Reeves, Ewing, etc).

Evan

 

I wonder if the players' union essentially went back to the negotiating positions rumored before earlier breakoffs with the exception of one or two small- to medium-level concessions.

 

Sign #36 You Know You're a ClutchFans BBS Addict: You're disappointed to be going on vacation because you'll miss out on the latest news.



This is great news. Still sounds somewhat tentative, though, hope it doesn't fall apart again. Don't f*** this up guys!

 

I hope the details come out soon. If the MLE is reduced and broken up like expected, then that could hurt one of the rockets assets for this upcoming offseason.

 

Though, there are other effects.

If the MLE is broken up, it makes cap space more valuable (a smaller amount is needed to be worthwhile over the exception). With capspace being more valuable, the value of our trade exceptions and expiring contracts inflates.

Probably equally important to the MLE (from the Rockets' assets perspective) is what the new CBA says about a luxury tax (and the salary cap). The harsher the luxury tax, the more valuable the expiring contracts.

When the details come, I'll start a thread on the impacts of the changes (or lack of changes) from the Rockets' perspective.

 

And if they do that "Super Luxury Tax" that's been proposed, then it makes our expiring contracts much more valuable. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

Awesome news. Glad that we can keep on talking about basketball and not about what it would take to get the owners and players union to agree to a deal.

 

my fear is a super tax would make our expiring contracts too valuable...to us, and thus make us much less likely to use them as trade bait and take on extra salary.

 

good point

 

The owners are offering 57% of revenue as opposed to 54%. A 3% bump. I don't see the MLE going down and the numbers I've seen are the MLE will be at 5.5M. The only place I saw the MLE being split was in that garbage post a month ago that was really really old demands from the owners. So I think that will not be in there. The "Supertax" sounds to be a real demand of the owners. But where will it kick in and when?


1. New York Knicks $108,481,857
2. Dallas Mavericks $95,682,887
3. Indiana Pacers $74,060,285
4. Philadelphia 76ers $72,027,150
5. Orlando Magic $65,656,610
6. Los Angeles Lakers $64,268,242
7. Toronto Raptors $61,301,540
8. Miami Heat $61,187,738
9. Sacramento Kings $57,634,804
10. Memphis Grizzlies $56,121,932
11. Houston Rockets $55,354,005

This how next years salaries looks before free agency. I think the Rockets are safe as long as they let enough salary expire to match Yao's increase ~$6M.

 

If it hasn't been posted already, here are some more details:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2091116

Updated: June 20, 2005, 10:53 PM ET

Age limit, bigger cap, shorter contracts part of deal
By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

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.

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 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.

• Salary cap would rise. The current CBA bases the salary cap on basketball-related income (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 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 fazed 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, 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.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

 

Hmmm, no "supertax"

Well doesnt matter, it isnt like Dallas, NY, and Portland have been winning multiple championships.

 

It doesn't mention splitting up the MLE either. Which makes signing a guy like Swift a much likelier possibility.

But our expiring contracts do become less valuable with the raise in cap and lack of supertax.

 

My guess is that there wasn't any communication between the rank-and-file players and Billy Hunter until recently. He just wanted to flex his muscles and was far too concerned about not getting pushed around by Stern like he thought he was during the last CBA negotiations. The fact is that NBA players still have the highest average salary in pro sports, and NBA players become much richer much faster than their baseball or football counterparts.

I can see some high school kid taking that age limit to court, though...

 

Thanks for posting Relativist

 

Anything's better than a lockout.

 

Some talk this mourning of Larkers making a gigantic trade or aquisition after Phil. Wonder what that was all about...