It’s official! The NBA Board of Governors and players ratified a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement. The 161 day Lockout was very tense and for a moment we all thought that the entire season would be lost.
Now with this new agreement, a 66 game season will begin on Christmas Day and training camp opens tomorrow!
Here’s the official overview of the deal that the NBA announced today via NBA.com…
KEY AGREEMENT POINTS
The following are the key points agreed to by the NBA and the Players Association in their new 10-year collective bargaining agreement:
• Players and owners agreed to a 50/50 split of basketball-related income (BRI). However, depending on BRI, players can receive as high as 51% or as low as 49%.
• The Salary Cap will remain soft and has been set for the 2011-12 season at $58.044 million.
• The maximum length of a player contract will be reduced by one year, from six years for a team’s own players and five years for other players, to five years and four years, respectively.
• Salaries in new player contracts may increase by up to 7.5% per year for a team’s own players and 4.5% per year for other free agents.
• Three Mid-Level exceptions now exist:
- For non-taxpayers: Mid-Level exception set at $5 million in 2011-12 and 2012-13, growing 3% annually thereafter; maximum contract length is four years.
- For taxpayers: Mid-Level exception set at $3 million, growing 3% annually thereafter; maximum contract length of two years.
- For teams operating with salary cap room: Mid-Level exception set at $2.5 million, growing 3% annually thereafter; maximum contract length of two years.
- For the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the tax rate is $1 for every $1 in salary over the tax level.
-Beginning with the 2013-14 season, tax rates for incremental spending above the tax level will increase as follows: $0-5 million over tax level – $1.50 for $1; $5-10 million over tax level – $1.75 for $1; $10-15 million over tax level – $2.50 for $1; $15-20 million over tax level – $3.25 for $1.
- Rates increase by $0.50 for each additional $5 million above tax level.
• The amount of money that can be withheld from player salaries under the “escrow” system is 10%; if escrow funds are insufficient to reduce salaries and benefits to 50%, 1% benefit fund is available to make up shortfall.
• Traded Player Exception for non-taxpayers increased to the lesser of 150% of salaries of players being traded or the salaries of players being traded plus $5 million. For trades in which the salaries being traded exceed $20 million in total, the Traded Player Exception for non-taxpayers will be 125% of such salaries plus $100,000.
• Traded Player Exception for taxpayers remains at 125% of the salaries of players being traded plus $100,000.
• Except during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, teams are prohibited from using a sign-and-trade if their team salary post-transaction would exceed the tax level by more than $4 million. Sign-and-trade contracts will have a maximum length of four years and receive 4.5% annual increases.
• For the first five years of the CBA, each team will be permitted to waive one of its player contracts that was in effect prior to the 2011-12 season and have 100% of the player’s salary removed from the team’s salary for Salary Cap and Tax purposes. Each team may use this provision only once over the life of the agreement.
• The NBA’s drug testing program has been strengthened to include up to two offseason tests for performance-enhancing drugs per year, increased penalties for performance-enhancing drugs and blood testing for HGH once the test is validated by a neutral panel of scientific experts.
• Veteran NBA players can be assigned to their team’s NBA D-League affiliate for rehabilitation assignments with the players’ consent. Beginning in 2012-13, players in their first three seasons in the NBA may be assigned to the D-League an unlimited number of times each year.
• The NBA and NBPA will create a committee to discuss issues related to the NBA Draft and NBA D-League, including Draft eligibility rules and rules related to the assignment of NBA players to the D-League.
• Non-discrimination language was added into the agreement that protects players from discrimination, including based on sexual orientation.
• Term of the contract is 10 years, with both the NBA and NBPA holding the ability to opt out after the sixth year.
Now that the deal is done, let the 2011-2012 games begin!
Good Night Sports Fans,
Alana