The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will keep high-spending teams, or teams that are in the second apron of luxury tax, from signing players who become available on the buyout market, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks of ESPN.
The league and union agreed to a new seven-year labor deal on Friday, with an opt-out clause after year six.
Teams that go into a second level of luxury tax will also not be able to send cash or first-round picks that are more than six years away in trades.
But not being able to sign players on the buyout market is clearly the biggest penalty for teams above the tax apron. Each season, contenders add veterans who agree to contract buyouts with non-playoff contenders after the trade deadline. The idea, for those contenders, is to add veteran help for a playoff run.
Nearly every team that signed a free agent from the buyout market this season would not have been able to do so had the rule already been in place.
ESPN Reporting with @BobbyMarks42: In new CBA, high-spending teams above a second-apron of luxury tax aren’t allowed to send cash in deals, trade first-round picks seven years away or sign players in the buyout market. https://t.co/LcI0Zjb3FF
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 1, 2023
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