The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will allow teams to use the new designated veteran exception on two players, rather than just one, meaning teams would have the option to extend two star players to long-term max contracts before they reach free agency, says Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (via Twitter).
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst discusses the topic as well, suggesting that the new second designation will be known as the “Kevin Love Rule,” since the Timberwolves previously were unable to offer Love a five-year max because they had also made Ricky Rubio their designated player. This time around, the Wolves will be able to designate both Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, if they so choose.
We’ll need to wait for the CBA to be formally ratified to know for sure whether different rules for this designation will be in place for guys like Towns and Wiggins, who are coming off rookie deals, as opposed to veteran players who are on their second or third contracts. While we wait for the full details, we have a few more tidbits related to the new CBA to pass along…
Details:
- According to TNT’s David Aldridge (via NBA.com), the NBPA pushed for a “zero and two” rule for prospects. Such a rule would have allowed players to enter the NBA draft out of high school, but if they chose to attend college, they would have had to play at least two NCAA seasons before declaring for the draft. Ultimately though, the current “one and done” rule will remain unchanged in the new agreement.
- NBPA president Chris Paul, who was thrilled to reach an agreement, said he’s most excited about what the new deal will do for the health care and health insurance of former NBA players, per Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com. The health care packages for retired players will be co-funded by the NBA and the players’ union, per Aldridge.
- There will be no major changes made to the international buyout rules in the new CBA, sources tell Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (Twitter link). The current maximum that NBA teams can pay ($650K) is expected to rise by $25K annually.
Reactions:
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com has multiple pieces breaking down the new CBA, pointing to the modification of the over-36 rule as one way the new agreement helps Paul, and examining the winners and losers of the deal.
- Like Paul, many players around the NBA greeted the news of a new CBA with excitement and positivity. Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com has the quotes and the details.
- One player who didn’t share that excitement was Draymond Green, who originally made some cryptic comments on Twitter expressing his disappointment (link via Alysha Tsuji of USA Today). Green expanded on his position today, explaining that he would have liked the deal to provide more money and support for younger players and minimum-salary players, to balance things out (Twitter links).
- The new CBA looks like it will put more pressure on teams to make the right decisions in the draft, says Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.