The NBA and players will have labor peace for many years to come. The NBA announced early Saturday that the league and its players have reached an agreement on a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement. It is still subject to ratification, however, this is virtually definitely a formality.
The agreement will go into effect this summer and will endure at least until the 2028-29 season. Either side can opt-out at that point; otherwise, it will last until 2029-30.
According to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke to The Associated Press, among the details are that the in-season tournament that Commissioner Adam Silver has wanted for years will become a reality, and players will have to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for the top individual awards such as the MVP.
According to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke to The Associated Press, among the details are that the in-season tournament that Commissioner Adam Silver has wanted for years will become a reality, and players will have to appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for top individual awards like Most Valuable Player. The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity since neither the league nor the National Basketball Players Association made any public statements.
A second luxury tax level, once reached, will prevent teams from using their midlevel exception to sign players, according to the CBA. Given how some teams sought the so-called “upper spending limit,” which would have essentially set an absolute restriction on what can be spent each season and helped balance the playing field between teams willing to pay massive tax bills and those who aren’t, it was an obvious compromise.
There is no change in the CBA that would allow high school athletes to enter the NBA draft
There is no change in the CBA that would allow high school athletes to enter the NBA draft. That has been discussed and on the table for months, but it is unlikely to change anytime soon – at least not for the duration of the next CBA.
“We also appreciate that there is a lot of benefit to really having veterans who can bring those 18-year-olds along,” NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said in February during an NBPA news conference at All-Star weekend. “And so, certainly anything that we would even consider, to be quite honest, would have to include a component that would allow veterans to be a part of it as well.”
Silver said Wednesday, at the close of a two-day Board of Governors meeting, that he was optimistic about reaching an agreement by the weekend. He also stated that there had been no thought — at least on the part of the league — of delaying the opt-out date a third time.
NBA Opt-Out Deadline Extended to Friday: League and Union Continue Negotiations
The current CBA, which went into effect on July 1, 2017, has a mutual option for either the NBA or the NBPA to opt out after six seasons — this year on June 30. The deadline for declaring intent to exercise the opt-out was originally set for Dec. 15, but it was extended up to Feb. 8, then to Friday.
As the midnight opt-out deadline passed, the league and the union continued to negotiate, and a settlement was revealed nearly three hours later. The deal does not end the process, but it is clearly a significant step ahead.
The owners must vote on what the negotiators have hammered out, and the players must also vote to approve the arrangement. The agreement is then written – the most current CBA was over 600 pages long, with nearly 5,000 paragraphs and 200,000 words. Much of it will be the same, and much of it will need to be revised.
