The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association came to a tentative agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, the league announced in a brief statement early Saturday morning.
The terms must be ratified by the union membership as well as the team owners.
No details of the pact were released, but ESPN reported Saturday that the new CBA includes:
–A second salary cap level that will limit the highest-spending teams from continuing to add players that increase salary and luxury tax spending. As a result, the new CBA will allow teams in the middle and lower spending tiers to have more “spending and trade opportunities.”
–A requirement that players must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards, such as MVP.
–The addition of an in-season tournament as soon as next season. Games will count toward the regular season standings, and winning players and coaches will earn prize money.
–An increase in the amount players can receive on contract extensions.
The Athletic also reported that the NBA no longer will test players for marijuana under the anti-drug testing program.
The deadline for either side to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement was Friday. Had either side exercised that option, the existing CBA would have ended on June 30 instead of one year from that date.
The most recent labor deal was negotiated in 2016. The NBA went through lockouts in 1995 (two months in the offseason), 1996 (one day in the offseason), 1998-99 (costing each team 32 games) and 2011 (costing each team 16 games).
–Field Level Media
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