After verbally agreeing on April 1, players and franchises officially ratified the new agreement collective. A 676-page document that was finally distributed to everyone.
Many points have evolved in this agreement which will come into force from July 6, but the striking element is of course the much, much more severe sanctions against teams that spend too much, with the famous “second apron” which will virtually block clubs that exceed it, depriving them of exceptions and even freezing the use of their future Draft picks, with franchises only being able to recover them by going under the “second apron” for at least three out of four seasons thereafter …
But as noted by the various specialists who spent the night going through the new collective agreement, the NBA also attacked teams that were not spending enough.
How ? As Mark Cuban specified in the context of the transfer of Davis Bertans, the minimum to be spent in terms of wages is now fixed at the start of the season, and not at the end. But above all, until now, teams that did not spend enough had to pay the difference to their players present in the workforce.
A difference now donated to the NBA
At the end of the 2021/22 season, the Thunder had to return $ 22 million, shared between its players.
As part of the new collective agreement, these 22 million dollars would be donated directly to the NBA! Worse still, teams that do not spend enough will be deprived of the kitty linked to the “luxury tax”. Indeed, 50% of the sums recovered under the “luxury tax” are redistributed to teams that do not reach this limit. But now, you will have to spend enough on salaries to be entitled to it…
The NBA has nevertheless planned a year of transition, with teams that spend too little being deprived of only 50% of the prize pool next season, before being completely deprived of it from the 2024/25 season.
We therefore understand all the better the interest of the Thunder in getting their hands on Davis Bertans, the NBA having thus set up a much more advanced system of carrots and sticks, pushing a maximum so that the teams spend, while sanctioning those who do too much. What to bring everyone together?
