Collective Bargaining Agreement:
How the CBA Should be Changed

By Taylor Agee

 The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has it’s strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are glaring, and that’s a big problem for many teams. Starting next season, owners will start having to pay a luxury tax if their payroll is too high. Some teams cannot sign free agents because they have no cap room, a common problem. Here’s my 2 cents on various different ways the CBA should be changed...

Current Rule: Any player that has played with a team for 3 straight years and is a free agent after the 3rd year may re-sign with that team for any amount of money.

Proposed New Rule: Any player that meets a series of requirements for his situation may re-sign with that team for any amount of money.

12 points
7 rebounds
4 assists
100 3-pointers Made
50% Field Goal Percentage
80% Free Throw Percentage
35 Minutes Per Game
1.50 Blocks 
1.25 Steals

Player Requirements to be able to re-sign with current team for any salary
1 year with team/Minimum salary-3 out of 9 requirements
1 year with team/3+ million-4 out of 9 requirements
2 years with team/Minimum-2 out of 9 requirements
2 years with team/3+ million-4 out of 9 requirements
3-4 years with team/Minimum-2 out of 9 requirements
3-4 years with team/3+ million-3 out of 9 requirements

If any player plays with one team for 5 years and is a free agent after the 5th season, he may re-sign with that team for any amount of money regardless of requirements. 

Current Rule: Free Agency cannot begin until August 1st, but negotiations may begin July 1st. There is a July Monatorium, no roster changes may be made in the month of July.

Proposed New Rule: Free Agency still begins August 1st, but negotiations with free agents may begin July 20th. There is no July Monatorium, but the only moves that can be made are...

Releasing players
Coaching changes

Current Rule: Player salaries increase by a MAX of 12.5 percent each year

Proposed New Rule: There is a base salary and it goes through every year, in other words, the salary is averaged and every year the player makes that much. However, I propose that incentives be written into each player’s contract. Such as, if Vince Carter averaged 20 points or more for the year and played in at least 75 games, he would make an additional 2 million. INCENTIVES WOULD NOT COUNT AGAINST THE CAP. 

Current Rule: A trade cannot be official unless salaries from all sides for the current year equal eachother within 15 percent.

Proposed New Rule: A trade cannot be official unless salaries from all sides for the current year equal eachother within 25 percent. 

Many trades don’t happen because there is such a lapse between contracts. I agree the rule should be enforced, but choosing a number such as 25 percent is easy to remember because it can be simplified as “salaries must be within 1/4 of eachother”, as well as providing a little more flexibility.

Current Rule: Any free agent who signs with a team cannot be traded until 3 months, to the day, later. Any player who is traded to a team has 48 hours to be immediately traded. After those 48 hours are up, he must remain with that team for 3 months.

Proposed New Rule: Any free agent who signs with a team can be traded a month later, to the day. If he is traded within 2 months of signing his contract, the team pays him 20% of his salary, while his new team pays the other 80%. Any player who is traded to a team is tradeable the immediate 72 hours following. After those 72 hours are up, he is tradeable with circumstances attached for 2 months, and after 2 months and 72 hours, he is tradeable under normal procedurs. The circumstances between the 72 hours and 2 months are...

1. The team trading him must pay 10% of his salary WHICH COUNTS AGAINST THE CAP, as well as paying the player 1 million dollars in compensation out of their own pocket.

2. If the player is traded twice during 72 hours and 2 months, the team that originally traded him pays 10% of his salary, as well as 1 million. The team that traded him the second time pays 20% of his salary, as well as paying him 2 million dollars in compensation.

3. No player may be traded more than twice during this period.

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InsideHoops.com

9/10/2000
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