The NBA and NBPA announced a tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in the early hours of Saturday morning. While it still needs to be ratified, a number of things have started to leak out, with some of the more prominent details being the addition of a midseason tournament and a new rule indicating that players have to play a minimum number of games to be eligible for awards.
One of the bigger changes impacts teams that want to spend more money in an effort to put a team together. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The NBA is curbing the ability of the highest-spending teams, such as the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers, to continue running up salary and luxury tax spending while still maintaining mechanisms to add talent to the roster. The NBA is implementing a second salary cap apron — $17.5 million over the tax line — and those teams will no longer have access to the taxpayer mid-level in free agency. Those changes will be eased into the salary cap over a period of years.
This caught the attention of Draymond Green, who took to Twitter on Saturday and tore into the agreement for helping “middle and lower spectrum teams” that he believes “want to lose.”
Players lose again…. Smh! Middle and Lower spectrum teams don’t spend because they don’t want to. They want to lose. So increase their spending capabilities, just to increase them. They continue to cut out the middle. And this is what we rushed into a deal for? Smdh! Never fails https://t.co/rFuSpxCJ8q
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
Wojnarowski noted that, with this new arrangement, the Warriors would not have been able to add Donte DiVincenzo in free agency last summer. Green did not comment on that, but he did say, very simply, that the players lost in negotiations and that he’ll say his longer thoughts for his podcast.
Never seen someone go to a table with the assets that makes an entire machine go, and lose EVERY time! Blasphemous
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
I have a lot more to say about this!! Guess I’ll save it for the pod! I was excited…. A deal about to get done!!! TRASH!!! *Bubba Dub voice
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
After pointing out that the players lost money in the negotiations over the midseason tournament — everyone on the winning team will get $500,000, which is down from the $1 million they were previously in line to get — Green brought up the fact that his labor has helped generate billions of dollars for the Warriors, of which he has only gotten a portion.
What happened to the 1mm they said when this idea was first introduced?!?! sheesh we lost 500k there too!
https://t.co/EH2GWXvKFz
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
You mean the people who generate billions to make millions? Yeah those people! https://t.co/nLFMYyFLEJ
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
Brother this team is worth 8 billion dollars. It was bought 8 months before I arrived for 500mm. Pretty sure my wins are warranted. Possibly should’ve made more
NEXT! https://t.co/Plg1mFUUQW
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
I really wonder if you thought you telling me you don’t agree with me on a lot things would make me lose sleep or care all. Or you telling me I’m spitting here would make me smile…. Don’t give yourself that much credit Bob. NEXT! https://t.co/AUg08DS9vf
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) April 1, 2023
Obviously a big negotiation like this means some folks are going to have to make sacrifices somewhere along the line. Still, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on how many other players agree with Green’s thoughts on the new CBA as we move closer and closer towards it getting ratified.