NBA pushes back on claims that new CBA is hurting restricted free agents

The NBA has apparently heard enough about its collective bargaining agreement ruining restricted free agency.

The league issued a statement Monday pushing back on recent media reports suggesting CBA restrictions have limited the market for restricted free agents. And it brought some numbers.

Of the 12 restricted free agents this offseason, the NBA noted that two changed teams via sign-and-trade, the most since 2021. Two others signed offer sheets with new teams, tied for the most since 2018, while six agreed to multiyear contracts with their previous teams.

“It is not unusual at this point in the offseason that a couple of negotiations remain ongoing,” the league said.

One of those, of course, is Pistons center Jalen Duren.

Duren’s situation has become perhaps the most visible example of the argument against the current system. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe wrote over the weekend that salary-cap limitations have prevented teams from making legitimate bids for restricted free agents, pointing specifically to Duren and Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin, who remain without offer sheets.

Duren’s negotiations with Detroit haven’t exactly sounded pleasant, either. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently called them “awfully nasty” and suggested an ugly negotiation can have long-term consequences.

Then there’s Peyton Watson, another restricted free agent whose situation ultimately required a complicated trade before he landed with the Cavaliers on a four-year, $88 million contract.

The NBA clearly doesn’t agree that those cases mean the system is broken.

Its message Monday was basically this: Restricted free agency can get messy. That doesn’t make this summer particularly unusual.

Whether Duren and the Pistons eventually provide another argument for that position … well, guess we’ll find out soon enough.