The Lockout & the Raptors: Players approve CBA, Owners too! (1944)

[mcHAPPY]

Owners approve, too

Done!

spearsnbayahoo marc j. Spears
nba board of governors ratifty 10year cba. Training camps and free agency period begins friday at 2 p.m. Et.

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
vote to pass labor deal was 25-5, stern said.

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
"this was watershed moment," stern says in relation to both the labor deal and revenue sharing ($196 million). Six teams will get $16m each.

aschnba steve aschburner
stern: "it's fair to say this is my last [cba negotiation]. It's a 10 year deal with a re-open in six."
8 minutes ago

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
also says he's looking forward to free agent frenzy, and will spend christmas in oklahoma city. (stern does not celebrate x-mas).

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
stern humor: "it's not 4 a.m. What are we going to do?" he then acknowledges disappointing fans but says he'll make it up to them.

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
teams can now receive as much as $20 million in revenue sharing money.

»

sheridanhoops chris sheridan
stern: "pleased and proud to announce" board of governors approved labor deal and revenue sharing plan. Fair, but not perfect deal, he says.

[mcHAPPY]

It would appear the lockout near officially over. This thread gave Bargnani a run for its money on total views but it looks like Everything Bargnani remains the champ.

(Hopefully I have not jinxed the owners vote by removing this from the sticky (i.e. blue section) threads).

[mcHAPPY]

Players approve CBA

KBergCBS Ken Berger
BREAKING: Players have approved the new collective bargaining agreement, two people with knowledge of the results tell

.

[mcHAPPY]

B-list items explained

Stein and Coon break down the B-list items in the new CBA:

ESPN.com's breakdown of the freshly negotiated "B-list" items added to the deal since Hunter's original term sheet distributed to players on Nov. 26, along with several significant changes from the previous collective bargaining agreement, follows here:

Drug testing

The following rules are being implemented, per Hunter's memo:

• Beginning in 2012-13, players can be tested during the offseason for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs only. Offseason drug testing was prohibited under the previous CBA.

• The number of tests is limited to two for any player during the offseason and the majority of players can receive no more than four tests during the course of an entire year. Under the previous CBA, drug testing was limited to four times per player and only during the season.

• Players may not be tested at the arena on game nights. This limitation did not exist under the previous CBA.

D-League

Hunter's memo Wednesday specified the following D-League rules:

• Players with three years of service or less can be assigned to the D-League. (It was two years' experience in the previous CBA.)

• A player can be assigned to the D-League an unlimited number of times after a limit of three in the previous CBA.

• Players continue to receive their NBA salary while assigned to the D-League. This was also the case under the previous CBA, but ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher reported recently that the league was pushing for players to be paid at D-League salary rates while under assignment.

• Players with more than three years' experience can be assigned to the D-League -- for example, for injury rehabilitation -- but only when the player and the union request the assignment. Under the previous CBA, players with more than two years' experience could not be assigned to the D-League no matter what.

Discipline

• The league and teams cannot discipline a player solely because of an arrest. (Although there was no rule in place before, it has been the league's practice to discipline players only after a conviction. The new rule will mimic this practice.)

• The league will provide NBPA with team rules for all 30 teams. The union can challenge any team rule it feels is unreasonable or not applied fairly.

• Any discipline from NBA commissioner David Stern for on-court misconduct is now subject to neutral review. Under the previous CBA, suspensions of 12 games or fewer were at Stern's final discretion.

Wireless microphones

Hunter's memo specified a number of rule changes related to players wearing wireless microphones during games.

• Players can be asked to wear microphones for no more than one nationally televised game per month, one locally televised game per month and up to two playoff games per round. There was no limitation under the previous CBA.

• The player must consent before the content can be aired live. This is similar to the previous CBA, where the player had to consent to wearing the microphone and could remove it at any time.

• Players cannot be subject to discipline based on what they say while they or another player wears a microphone. The memo, however, made no mention to whether this extends to microphones not worn by a player, meaning players could likely still be disciplined for things picked up by other microphones on the floor.

Salary cap and team salaries

The sides agreed Nov. 26 to increase the minimum team salary from 75 percent of the cap to 85 percent in 2011-12 and 2012-13 and 90 percent thereafter. In Hunter's Wednesday memo to the players, minimum team salary drops to 80 percent, giving teams more time to transition to the higher salary requirements.

Contracts and player salaries

• A new "renegotiation and extension" provision allows an existing contract to be renegotiated so the player is paid a smaller amount over a longer period, but the player's salary cannot decrease by more than 40 percent. Renegotiations previously could only increase a player's salary.

• The sides previously agreed to what has been nicknamed the "Derrick Rose Rule," which allows franchise-level players to receive a higher maximum salary (30 percent of the cap instead of 25 percent) starting in their fifth year. Hunter's latest memo further specifies that these contracts must be at least four years in length.

• Signing bonuses have been reduced slightly. The previous CBA allowed signing bonuses of 17.5 percent in offer sheets to restricted free agents or 20 percent in other contracts. The limits are now 10 percent and 15 percent, respectively, as per Wednesday's term sheet.

• Bonuses have always been classified as either "likely" or "unlikely," depending on whether the player met the bonus criteria in the previous season and with unlikely bonuses not counting against the team's salary cap. In the previous CBA, unlikely bonuses were limited to 25 percent of the player's base salary. In Hunter's memo, this limit is reduced to 15 percent.

• The sides agreed Nov. 26 to freeze the minimum salary scale and the rookie salary scale at or near their 2010-11 levels until they are reduced by 12 percent in relation to the increases in the overall system. In Hunter's memo these scales begin to increase in 2013-14.

• Teams were previously allowed to pay players over either six or 12 months. An 18-month pay schedule will be allowed now if the deal is ratified.

• Under the previous CBA, players could receive up to 80 percent of their annual salary in advance (prior to Oct. 1). Per Hunter's memo, this percentage has been reduced to 50 percent.

Restricted free agents

• The Nov. 26 agreement provided restricted free agents with larger "qualifying offers" (contract offers from the player's original team, which secured the team's right of first refusal) if they met "starter criteria," which they defined as starting an average of 41 games per season or averaging 2,000 minutes per season. Hunter's memo refines these starter criteria, explaining that a player needs to meet the starter criteria either in the previous season or over the average of the two previous seasons.

• The size of a qualifying offer for a minimum salary player will be increased slightly in the new deal. In the previous agreement, it was the minimum salary plus $175,000. Now it would be the minimum salary plus $200,000.

Trade rules

In the previous CBA, teams could receive a maximum of $3 million cash in any trade. The Nov. 26 agreement changed this limit to $3 million per year. Hunter's memo specified that the $3 million limit will grow by 3 percent each year -- meaning it will rise to $3.09 million next season -- and that the amount is not netted. Translation: Cash received in trade does not offset cash sent to other teams in trade.

International players

• In the previous CBA, NBA teams could spend up to $500,000 to buy players out of contracts with overseas teams, with the buyout amount not counted toward the salary cap. The buyout amount in the proposed new deal will increase by $25,000 each season.

• The international player buyout rules, per Hunter's memo, also apply to U.S. players playing overseas. For example, an NBA team will be able to pay a Chinese team up to $500,000 to release an NBA player who signed in China during the lockout, such as Wilson Chandler or J.R. Smith. Without a buyout, these players will be unable to return to the NBA until the end of the Chinese Basketball Association season (the last game of the finals is set for March 30).

Miscellaneous changes

• Increases in compensation during training camp to $2,000 per week beginning in 2012-13.

• Increases in per diem (to $120), promotional appearance fees, housing allowance for traded players ($4,500 for three months following a trade) and compensation for All-Star participation.

• Sixteen full days off per season with no games, practices or team meetings.

• Beginning in 2012-13, players will have the option to participate in a new annuity plan with favorable interest rates.

Issues to be decided later

A number of issues cannot be resolved in time to enable business to resume by Friday and the season to start by Dec. 25. The league and union will form committees to discuss further changes to the following areas:

• The NBA draft.

• The D-League.

• The age limit.

• Players' working conditions, including the number of off days, access to NBA facilities during the offseason, minimizing the impact of back-to-backs, and limiting two-a-day practices during training camps.

• Human growth hormone (HGH) testing.

Source: ESPN.com

[Puffer]

Most notable for Raptor Fans:

Draft rules stay the same for 2012.

Key feature for the Raps for the next couple of years.

[mcHAPPY]

Read the final CBA

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ing/index.html


Well, the above is the final work of this lockout. I'm not sure it was worth 5 months but what do I know?


Most notable for Raptor Fans:

Draft rules stay the same for 2012.

[mcHAPPY]

Voting begins today for new CBA, B-list details emerging

Via Twitter.com:

KBergCBS Ken Berger
All indications remain that draft eligibility age will stay the same until there is time for further discussion.

Ken Berger
KBergCBS Ken Berger
Also, unlimited D-League assignments for three years. Veterans can go, but only with consent. League had wanted five-year program.


Ken Berger
KBergCBS Ken Berger
Players will be subject to offseason testing, but only for steroids, source says. Prior random tests were only from Oct. 1-June 30.

Ken Berger
KBergCBS Ken Berger
Negotiators have just about "closed the deal" on B-list issues as players prepare to begin electronic voting today, source tells @CBSSports.

[mcHAPPY]

Amnesty details

Still, the provision will stay alive for the full length of the new collective bargaining agreement. Teams can use it only once, and only for “contracts in place at the inception of the CBA,” according to a summary of the draft agreement.

The idea is simple — cut a player with pay so his salary doesn’t count against the cap or luxury tax — but as I wrote last week, the details are complicated and carry several crucial questions. The two sides have now reached a broad agreement on some of the thorniest questions, according to a source close to the talks. Some bullet points:

• Teams will not be able to use the amnesty provision on a player acquired in a trade going forward. The CBA summary says teams can apply amnesty to a pre-existing contract. It does not say whether teams must already have that contract on their books, or whether that contract must simply exist. There had been hope, for instance, that the Nets could acquire Hedo Turkoglu’s contract in a theoretical Dwight Howard trade and then use the amnesty provision on Turkoglu instead of the less-expensive Travis Outlaw. Turkoglu’s contract is “in place,” in some sense, after all.

But alas: The sides have agreed that teams can use the amnesty provision only on players they have now. That is a bit of a disadvantage for teams such as the Thunder and Grizzlies that have no viable amnesty candidate, though it does provide a form of long-term insurance should any of their players become unproductive down the road.

• The salary of any player waived via the amnesty clause will continue to count toward the salary floor. This could be of major interest to a team such as the Wizards, who would fall so far under the salary floor (about $49 million per team) by using amnesty on Rashard Lewis as to make the provision almost unworkable for them this season. But if Lewis’ $20.6 million salary continues to count toward that floor — and not against the cap — even after amnesty, the provision is more useful in the short term. Regardless, the Wizards indicated last week that they will not use the amnesty clause on Lewis this season. That makes some sense, considering this center-heavy free-agent class doesn’t have much to offer a team trying to develop its own big man (JaVale McGee).

• Teams will not be able to use the new “stretch” provision on players they acquire via the amnesty process. The stretch provision will allow teams to waive a player and stretch the annual cap hit well into the future. For instance: If you release a player with two years and $20 million left on his deal, you could stretch the cap hit over five seasons — twice the number of years left on his contract, plus one. The goal is to soften the short-term impact on cap flexibility so that teams will be more willing to waive players they don’t want.

The catch: Teams can use the provision only on “new” contracts, or deals that don’t yet exist. But what of amnesty-related contracts? If a team bids on Outlaw and “wins” him, is that a new contract the team can “stretch” later should Outlaw continue to struggle? Or is it an “old” one, and thus not eligible to be stretched because it is linked to a pre-existing deal?

The answer is: The team will not be able to use the “stretch” provision on such a player.

• Finally: If a team bids on a player in the amnesty waiver process, it is bidding on the full length of his contract, not just the first season. In the event the Blazers change course and use amnesty on Roy, that would mean any team that bids, say, $4 million on the guard will be bidding to pay him at least that amount in each of the four remaining seasons on his deal.

This is where we stand at the moment, according to a source close to the process. Things could change in theory, but with players scheduled to begin voting on the CBA on Wednesday afternoon, that seems unlikely.

Source: SI.com

Via Twitter.com.... take any Marc Stein tweet with a giant grain of salt

ESPNSteinLine Marc Stein
Hearing most likely scenario w/amnesty clause is teams getting seven-day window between Dec. 9-25 to use it or carry it into 2012 offseason

[Bendit]

D. Will is full of crap. He doesn't want to get booed and this is his damage control. Here's your likely 10% Nets fans:

Source: Twitter @basketballtalk

Thats his hometown as well and they need to replace JKidd.

[Apollo]

D. Will is full of crap. He doesn't want to get booed and this is his damage control. Here's your likely 10% Nets fans:

Report: Mavericks saving cap space to make run at Deron Williams http://dlvr.it/zFp31 #PBT #NBA

Source: Twitter @basketballtalk

[WJF]

Deron Williams actually just came out and said theres a 90% chance he resigns with New Jersey.

I guess saying you're staying with the Brooklyn Nets is a little different than saying your staying in Oklahoma, but still. Good for him. Fans need that sorta thing.

D-Will has been back pedaling a little on that statement, he says there is a good chance he re-signs with the Nets, but that the 90% number was just something he said without much thought.

[Joey]

considering KD is just one year (?) into a new extension on a team thats heading in a very exciting direction its not hard to believe him. Can't think of any players that have said otherwise at the same point in their career. (Melo, Lebron, Vince, Dwight). Right now everything in OKC is sunshine and butterflies with a KD.

Deron Williams actually just came out and said theres a 90% chance he resigns with New Jersey.

I guess saying you're staying with the Brooklyn Nets is a little different than saying your staying in Oklahoma, but still. Good for him. Fans need that sorta thing.

[mcHAPPY]

Players have 27 hours to vote starting Wednesday

Sam Amick: In letter from @TheNBPA head Billy Hunter obtained by SI.com, he tells players a 24-hour window to vote on CBA will begin Wed. at 1 pm EST Twitter

Sam Amick: Correction on timing: Voting open for "more than 24 hours," until 4 pm EST on Thursday. Twitter

.

[GarbageTime]

It's refreshing, but is it believable? After all, didn't Paul just say the other day that his heart is in New Orleans?

considering KD is just one year (?) into a new extension on a team thats heading in a very exciting direction its not hard to believe him. Can't think of any players that have said otherwise at the same point in their career. (Melo, Lebron, Vince, Dwight). Right now everything in OKC is sunshine and butterflies with a KD.

[Nilanka]

With the Melo saga last year and the Howard/Paul saga unfolding this year, the above is very refreshing.

It's refreshing, but is it believable? After all, didn't Paul just say the other day that his heart is in New Orleans?