Over Thanksgiving vacation, I caught the vicious head cold that seems to plaguing everyone this time of year.
Unfortunately, with a nose more stuffed than a turkey and a throat so sore I could barely swallow, my favorite meal of the year fell flat.
I tried Tylenol and Aleve, but both just gave temporary satisfaction. Within a matter of hours, the congestion and headaches returned.
But on Saturday morning, something strange happened. Around 6 a.m., I woke up and changed the channel to ESPN. Without my glasses I couldn’t see much, but I could make out the voice of NBA commissioner David Stern. At the bottom of the screen, I could make out a small red bar on the ticker, indicating breaking news.
At first I feared the “nuclear winter,” which Stern referred to when the NBA Players Association disbanded as a union, had come upon us and that the season was cancelled. But after listening to Stern for another moment, I heard the voice of Billy Hunter, the NBAPA’s executive director, and became giddy. They would only have been holding a joint press conference if a deal had been struck.
A tentative agreement had been reached, with a 66-game season set to begin on Christmas Day. I immediately felt more energized than I had all vacation. The pressure in my forehead disappeared, my sore throat eased and I genuinely felt better.
I’m not saying the resolution of the NBA lockout and the return of the NBA has healing powers. That’d be ridiculous.
But I’m not saying it doesn’t.
This is by far the best situation the NBA could have hoped for. Many NBA fans don’t even tune in to NBA telecasts until Christmas Day. Junkies like myself, who cared about an early November game between the Thunder and the Kings, are happy with absolutely anything — we’re junkies, remember?
The only depressing part of the ordeal is that all changes made were forecasted two years ago. It’s unclear how many egos pushed their way into the discussion to delay the process, but regardless, there will be the majority of an NBA season, barring some unforeseen meltdown.
What changed, exactly? Not a whole lot, but some necessary tweaks and some needed improvements, for sure.
The split of basketball-related income, or BRI, has been the biggest sticking point of the negotiations. Previously, players received 57 percent of the split — by far the most of the four major professional team sports. That number is down to 51.2 percent this season and will fluctuate between 49 and 51 percent throughout the 10-year agreement — though each side can choose to opt out after six years.
The owners solved their tussle with revenue sharing, as the new plan has three times as much money distributed to competitively disadvantaged markets. All details aren’t clear, but large-market teams with TV contracts will be forced to pay more.
In the previous agreement, teams only had to spend 75 percent of the salary cap on player contracts, giving small-market teams a reason to pocket some of their money, which disappointed fans who didn’t think their team’s front office was going all-in.
The new deal states teams need to spend at least 85 percent of the cap for the next two seasons and at least 90 percent for the rest of the agreement.
While the players received a smaller portion of the BRI, this wrinkle will force owners to put out more money for players.
The luxury tax in the new agreement requires teams to pay more into the revenue split when their spending exceeds the tax. In addition, teams repeatedly exceeding the luxury-cap threshold will need to pay more each season.
This change hopefully curbs the uncontrolled spending of teams with deep pockets, as the previous luxury tax was small compared to the new one. The new agreement also put restrictions on how much money tax-paying teams can spend in the offseason.
Another rule, called the “Derrick Rose Rule,” was implemented to reward players who outplayed their rookie contract. If a player on his rookie deal becomes the MVP, makes an All-NBA team twice or starts in the All-Star Game twice, he can receive a maximum extension of 30 percent of the team’s salary cap, up from 25 percent in the previous agreement.
Last is the amnesty clause, which allows any team to remove one contract from their salary cap. They still need to pay the player, but the money doesn’t count against their cap number, potentially freeing up millions of dollars.
Unlike in 2005, when the last collective bargaining agreement was reached and there was an amnesty clause, teams do not need to use it immediately. For example, if a team like the Portland Trailblazers wanted to wait another year to see if Brandon Roy’s knees would hold up, they can wait and choose to use it any time during the new CBA. It can only be used on contracts that were agreed to before this year, however.
So get ready. On Christmas Day, when you’ve finished unwrapping your presents, you’ll be able to take the bow off what will undoubtedly be one of the craziest NBA seasons yet.
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