Howard Beck reports that in spite of all the angst, the new collective bargaining agreement is "95 per cent complete" and he provides new details on some of the issues that are already settled. But he also notes that the last issues --the BRI split and rules covering things like the MLE-- remain "a gap [that] is psychological and financial."
Among the details that he reports are agreed on: an amnesty provision that could be exercised one time over the length of the CBA, which could be 7 to 10 years; a "stretch exception" that would permit teams to stretch out payments to waived players according to a schedule set by doubling the years left on their contract and adding one; a $5 million MLE; a reduction of contract lengths by one year combined with a reduction of annual raises by more than 50%; and a luxury tax rate that would basically double for the biggest spenders but would be minimally larger for those just over the tax threshold.
"The final deal will, by any objective measure, heavily favor the owners," writes Beck.
- N.B.A. Deal Is Close, but Last Hurdle Is a Big One - Howard Beck - New York Times
- Details of latest NBA negotiating session shed light on status of deal - Sam Amick - Sports Illustrated
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NBA talks need economic move to end the lockout - Brian Mahoney - AP
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78-game NBA season still possible: sources - Marc Berman - New York Post