There will not be a labor stoppage in the NBA any time soon. In the early hours of Saturday morning, multiple reports indicated that the league and its Player’s Association came to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is set to begin ahead of the 2023-24 season and run for the next seven years, although there is reportedly a mutual opt-out after the sixth year.
Right before the clock hit 3 a.m. on the east coast, the league and the NBPA put out a statement confirming that there is a tentative agreement on a new CBA. As Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN noted, the expectation is that the new deal will be “ratified by league governors and players in the coming weeks.”
The following has just been released: pic.twitter.com/Tf8NDvi0TE
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 1, 2023
NBA and NBPA reach tentative deal on new collective agreement bargaining agreement.
: https://t.co/SZtzwo7Zig pic.twitter.com/67rHk7GMzY
— NBPA (@TheNBPA) April 1, 2023
As for what is going to be in the new CBA, reports indicate that the in-season tournament that Adam Silver has coveted for years will, indeed, be coming to the NBA. There’s also a games played minimum for postseason awards, as players will now need to play at least 65 games to be eligible.
Deal includes In-Season Tournament, 65-game minimum for postseason awards, new limitations on highest spending teams and expanded opportunities for trades and free agency for mid and smaller team payrolls, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/B8GJWeF4cq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 1, 2023
NBA and NBPA have agreed to a minimum number of games played – 65 games – for players to be eligible to win major individual league awards such as MVP in the new CBA, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023
Prize money for the championship team of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament beginning in 2023-24 season: $500,000 per player, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, players will now be allowed to use marijuana under the new CBA.
Sources: NBA players will no longer be prohibited for marijuana under the new seven-year Collective Bargaining Agreement. It’s been removed from the anti-drug testing program, a process that began during 2019-20 season.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023
There are also a number of tweaks to things like maximum contract extensions, the number of two-way contracts a team can have, and perhaps most notably, the ability that more ambitious teams have to spend.
Sources: Additional changes in new CBA:
– A second tax apron that, when reached, will eliminate a team’s taxpayer mid-level exception
– Veteran extension limits will increase from 120 percent to 140 percent
– A third two-way contract via cap exception https://t.co/OWyMT7tQMF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 1, 2023
Wojnarowski specifically cited the Clippers and the Warriors while mentioning the new rules regarding teams that spend the most, writing that the league “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.”