The full terms of the tentative NBA labor agreement are coming to light as the proposal is presented to owners and players for their approval.
While we got a look at a brief overview from union head Billy Hunter’s memo over the weekend, the new NBA release covers far more ground and gives more details as to how the new labor deal will look – and will affect teams and players in a frenzied free-agency period due to kick off December 9th.
Below are more specifics of the deal:
- Basketball Related Income will be split 50/50 after all – or at least will start from that point. The player’s share will fall between 49% and 51% depending on the total amount of BRI in years 2-10 of the deal. In Year 1 (this season), the players will receive 51.15% of BRI. There is a mutual opt-out option after Year 6.
- The soft cap will remain in place. The salary cap and luxury tax thresholds will be approximately the same as the 2010-11 season, at 58 million and 70 million respectively.
- The Mid-Level Exception has been modified, to allow teams above and below the threshold to benefit differently. For non-taxpayers, the MLE is set at $5 million; for taxpayers, $3 million.
- Other cap exceptions are phased out for teams over the salary cap.
- There will be an amnesty provision. Each team is allowed to waive one player prior to the beginning of any season and have all of their salary removed from the team’s salary for tax and salary cap purposes. Players who are amnestied will be on waivers for teams to claim based on available cap room, to assume a portion of the contract from the releasing team. The team that waives the player will be responsible for the difference in salary between what the new team pays the player and what the old team had owed the player.
- The luxury tax will be payable at a dollar-for-dollar rate in Year 1 and 2. In Year 3, it becomes a $1.50 penalty for each dollar over the cap, gradually stiffening to $3.25 for each dollar the higher a team is over the cap. Any team that is over the cap in 4 out of any 5 seasons will be penalized an additional dollar at each level.
- All cap exceptions are slated to grow at a 3% annual rate during the deal.
- Teams will now have a minimum team salary equal to 85% of the cap in Year 1 and 2, and 90% thereafter. For 2011-12, this means a minimum salary of about $49 million.
- There will be 10% escrow withholding in each season of the deal in order to account for potential shortfalls in BRI.
- Contract lengths can be for no longer than five years for players re-signed as free agents or four years for other free agents. We will not see a Joe Johnson or LeBron James deal again. Contract extensions cannot exceed four total years (three if the extension is signed during the last year of the original contract)
- Salaries may increase at most by 7.5% for Bird and Early Bird signees, and 4.5% for other players.
- Salaries remain guaranteed for players.
- Minimum salaries and rookie salaries to be set in continuation of the 2005 CBA and will grow between 3.5% and 4.5% per season.
- Sign-and-trade deals are not allowed for teams that would be more than $4 million over the salary cap. Any extension-and-trade deal cannot be for more than three years.
- Teams have three days instead of seven to match any qualifying offer sheet for restricted free agent.
- Salary cap holds for pending free agents (restricted and unrestricted) have been lessened slightly.
Training camp and free agency will start simultaneously on December 9, with the season kicking off just sixteen days later.
Coming up tomorrow: who the Atlanta Hawks might use their amnesty provision to waive (if they use it).
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