Draymond Green on Reported Salary-Cap Changes in New NBA CBA: 'Players Lose Again'
On Saturday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBA and National Basketball Players Association came to terms on a seven-year collective bargaining agreement, which will begin with the 2023-24 season.
But one aspect of that agreement—a second salary-cap apron put in place as a mechanism for "curbing the ability of the highest-spending teams" like the Golden State Warriors, among others—didn't sit well with Draymond Green:
While tax-paying teams are losing access to taxpayer mid-level signings in free agency, Woj reported that "the new CBA is expected to create more spending and trade opportunities for teams at the middle and lower spectrum of spending" and offer those teams "larger trade exceptions" and additional options in free agency.
Green's point seems to be that those teams haven't shown an inclination in the past to spend money, so why would they utilize these additional avenues to spend money on players? Meanwhile, the teams that are actually willing to spend are losing one avenue to do so, which Green ultimately feels will hurt the players.
In general, Green thought the players lost the latest round of CBA negotations:
One thing that will benefit players, likely the best players the most, is extending the amount of salary increase in extensions from the current 120 percent up to 140 percent.
Woj used the example of Jaylen Brown, who under the current system would be eligible for a four-year, $165 million extension after his deal runs out following the 2023-24 campaign, but with the increase could sign a four-year, $189 million deal.
Other changes to the CBA include the league tying eligibility to postseason awards to playing in at least 65 games in an effort to restrict the amount of load management happening around the league. Whether that will have the desired effect is debatable—voters have generally taken availability into consideration when deciding on most awards in the first place—but it's clear the NBA wants its stars playing in more games.
A midseason tournament, similar to English soccer's FA Cup, could be put in place as soon as the 2023-24 campaign. Tournament games would count toward the regular season standings. Tournament-winning coaches and players will receive more prize money.
Green, however, tweeted that the ultimate agreement on the prize money was also a concession by the players:
Finally, teams will be given one more two-way contract slot, going from two to three. This will allow teams to develop more players in the G League system while offering them a potential path to the NBA.
