2023 NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

https://nbpa.com/cba

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBPA and the NBA sets out the terms and conditions of employment for all professional basketball players playing in the National Basketball Association, as well as the respective rights and obligations of the NBA Clubs, the NBA, and the NBPA.

The current Agreement was ratified by NBPA membership in April 2023, took effect on July 1, 2023, and runs through the 2029-30 NBA season, with both sides having the ability to opt out following the 2028-29 season.

My comments: Use the link to get to the link to open the file. It is a PDF file, 676 pages.

Enjoy!!

Here's a link to Larry Coon's FAQ.  It isn't up to date with the new rules yet, but hopefully it will in time.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm

gyso wrote:Here's a link to Larry Coon's FAQ.  It isn't up to date with the new rules yet, but hopefully it will in time.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm

Wow, I’m guessing we pay Mike Zarren a very large salary to not only know all these provisions, but different strategies to stay compliant and get the most out of all the scenarios.

I took a very quick look and determined it is way above my pay grade. Though I guess for the casual fan item 20 is worth understanding.

My bet is that nobody can memorized all the provisions contained in this document.

The key therefore is to be able to find applicable provisions as it relates to a specific subject(s) along with any conditions, modifications and exceptions.

The CAP and luxury tax portions of the agreement have already changed with respect to the CAP (up $2 million) and the tax (up $3 million) An audit is supposed to be completed by tomorrow June 30th as these numbers are just projections.

Spotrac has already updated their numbers to display the 2 and 3 million dollar increases and if there are any changes they should be visible around July 1st.

Also, thanks to GYSO for sharing this information.

The final numbers were announced over the weekend:

https://www.nba.com/news/nba-sets-salary-cap-at-136-million-for-2023-24-season

The salary cap and tax level will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 1.

Official release
June 30, 2023 6:53 PM
NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association today announced that the salary cap has been set at $136.021 million for the 2023-24 season. The tax level for the 2023-24 season is $165.294 million.

The Salary Cap and Tax Level go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday, July 1. Teams are permitted to begin negotiating with free agents today at 6:00 p.m. ET — six hours prior to the start of the league’s “moratorium period.” The moratorium period ends at noon ET on Thursday, July 6.

The Minimum Team Salary is $122.418 million for the 2023-24 season.

The First Apron Level is $172.346 million for the 2023-24 season.

The Second Apron Level is $182.794 million for the 2023-24 season.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement provides for three different Mid-Level Exceptions depending on a team’s salary level.

The Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level for the 2023-24 season is $12.405 million,
the Taxpayer Mid-Level is $5 million,
and the Mid-Level for a team with room under the Salary Cap is $7.723 million.

Reformatted for easier reading:

$182.794 million - 2nd Apron

Celtics Sweet Zone?

$172.346 million - 1st Apron

$165.294 million - Tax Level

$136.021 million - Salary Cap

$122.418 million - Minimum Team Salary

MLE Amounts:

$12.405 million - Non-Taxpayer's MLE

$5.000 million - Taxpayer's MLE

$7.723 million - Room MLE

Spotrac Celtics Salary:

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/

Larry Coon stuff:

https://hoopshype.com/lists/larry-coon-nba-free-agency-future-cba-changes-expansion-sports-business-classroom/

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm
(not updated yet)

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Second-Round Pick Exception

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2023/07/hoops-rumors-glossary-second-round-pick-exception.html

July 4th 2023 at 7:57am CST by Luke Adams

When an NBA team selects a player in the first round of the draft, there’s never any concern about how the player will be signed, regardless of how far over the salary cap the team might be. The rookie scale exception allows teams to sign as many first-round picks as they need to, within a predetermined salary range, without requiring cap room.

However, there hasn’t historically been a similar cap exception for second-round picks. That means clubs intent on locking up their second-rounders to three- or four-year contracts have had to use cap space or a portion of the mid-level exception to do so. If a team wanted to give its second-round pick more than the minimum salary, it would require cap room, the mid-level, or another exception such as the room or bi-annual.

In the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NBA and NBPA addressed this issue by adding a new second-round pick exception, which looks like a win for both sides. Teams will have more freedom to sign their young players to multiyear contracts without having to worry about carving out cap room or exception money for them.

Players, meanwhile, don’t have to worry that their new team’s cap situation might force them to accept a minimum-salary contract or a two-way deal. Of course, some late second-rounders will still sign a two-way deal or for the minimum salary, but a team will no longer be able to point to its lack of spending power to explain why that’s the only offer on the table.

Like the rookie scale exception, the second-round pick exception isn’t limited to a single use. It can be deployed as many times as needed in a given league year.

The second-round exception can be used to sign a player to either a three-year contract that includes a third-year team option or a four-year contract that features a fourth-year team option. Here’s what the salary structure looks like:

Three-year deal

The first year can be worth up to the minimum salary for a player with one year of NBA experience.

The second and third years are worth the second- and third-year minimum salaries for a rookie.

The third year is a team option.

As our chart of minimum salaries shows, in 2023/24, the maximum three-year salary for a contract with this structure would be about $5.9MM. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown (option year in italics):

Year         Salary
2023/24 $1,801,769
2024/25 $1,891,857
2025/26 $2,221,677
Total       $5,915,303

Four-year deal

The first year can be worth up to the minimum salary for a player with two years of NBA experience.

The second year can be worth up to the second-year minimum salary for a player with one year of experience.

The third and fourth years are worth the third- and fourth-year minimum salaries for a rookie.

The fourth year is a team option.

In 2023/24, the maximum four-year salary for a contract with this structure would be nearly $8.8MM. Here’s what it looks like from year to year (option year in italics):

Year         Salary
2023/24 $2,019,706
2024/25 $2,120,693
2025/26 $2,221,677
2026/27 $2,406,205
Total       $8,768,281

In any deal that uses this four-year contract structure, the salary increase or decrease between the first and second season can’t exceed 5%. For instance, a team wouldn’t be permitted to negotiate a contract that starts at the rookie minimum ($1,119,563) and jumps to $2,120,693 in year two.

Players who are signed using the second-round pick exception won’t count against a team’s cap between July 1 and July 30 of their first season. That will allow teams to preserve all the cap room they need until July 31 without having to worry about their second-rounders cutting into it. And it will position those players to sign their first NBA contracts before taking part in Summer League games.

The introduction of the second-round exception doesn’t mean that teams must use it to sign their second-round picks. They’re still permitted to use cap room or another exception to negotiate deals with those players. That would be necessary in situations where the player has the leverage to command a salary greater than the two-year veteran’s minimum.

This has already happened a couple times in 2023/24. Second-round picks Vasilije Micic (Thunder) and Sasha Vezenkov (Kings) have reportedly agreed this offseason to three-year contracts worth $23.5MM and $20MM, respectively.

Both players are experienced EuroLeague stars who will be arriving in the NBA several years after being drafted in the second round, so their new deals will exceed what a team can offer using the second round pick exception. They’ll be signed using either cap space or the room exception.

Finally, it’s worth noting that no matter how his NBA career plays out, Kings rookie wing Colby Jones has already earned a minor claim to fame by being the first player to ever sign a contract that uses the second-round exception.

My comment: As usual, click on the link to access links and other embedded items.

Bump. This thread has good info regarding the new second round pick exception.

We used it to sign Jordan Walsh to a four year contract.

GYSO

I recall that Carson Edward was signed to a 3 year deal (3rd year nonguaranteed) and I think the Celtics had to use a portion of their MLE.

The value of 2nd round picks are too often overlooked by fans A team can derive great value when they can draft a kid with significant potential and offer him a 4 year contract. The provision below is an interesting twist.

Players who are signed using the second-round pick exception won’t count against a team’s cap between July 1 and July 30 of their first season. That will allow teams to preserve all the cap room they need until July 31 without having to worry about their second-rounders cutting into it. And it will position those players to sign their first NBA contracts before taking part in Summer League games.

GYSO, Brad has gone on a tear restocking 2nd round picks. The value he squeezed out of the 25 1st rounder was amazing.