Breaking News: Done Deal!!!

"The days of jumping from the preps to the pros - the route to the NBA chosen by LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and others - are almost over." San Antonio - (AP)

The NBA has reached an agreement with the NBA Players Union and hammered out a new 6 year deal which will replace the current agreement that expires on July 1st 2005. This is great news for the sport and all of its fans as a lockout would most definitely have had a negative impact on the game. I don't have time to do a full out analysis on the major changes in the agreement but I'll do my best to give a quick rundown of the new deal and my opinions on some of them.

Maximum contract length: The maximum length of contracts has been set at 6 years for players signing with their current teams and 5 years if they are signing with a new team. These numbers have been reduced from 7 years and 6 years respectively and provide owners more flexibility. This issue seemed of great importance to me. Firstly the NBA does not allow front loaded contracts and so you are basically investing in a 7 year career not expecting the players ability to play the game to decline over time. I had hoped for the max contract length to be 5 years with some kind of clause that would allow the player to extend it for a sixth year if he met certain criteria but for now something is better than nothing. Over the past few years we have seen multiple situations where a player at age of 29 is given a 7 year contract but he is burnt out by the 5th year of the contract and then you basically over paying a guy for two years or trading him for a Spalding or two.

Minimum Age for eligibility to enter the league: The minimum age to enter the draft has now been set to 19 years or one year removed from high school. International players will have to turn 19 by the end of the calendar year in which they become draft eligible. I think this is a very touchy subject for a lot of basketball fans who have seen the likes of Lebron James, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant emerge and rapidly gain superstar status in the league but personally I think its a wise move on the part of the NBA to give the kids a chance to play in developmental leagues and show their skills away from the high school atmosphere this will also encourage players coming out of high school to attend a college or university which will only give them more in terms of maturity and exposure to different situations and all helps in the process of character building and mental toughness which is very much tested when you enter the big leagues.

Reduction in annual salary increase: The maximum annual raises within a contract have been reduced from 12.5% to 10.5 % if the player re-signs with his current team. If a player joins a new team, his annual raises within the new contract will be capped at 8 %. This is great incentive to get a player to stay with his team for the majority of his career. In the past 5-10 years we rarely see a player like Reggie Miller who sticks out with his team through his entire career. Sure when they get old and haven't gone tot he final dance the urgency is increased but this may keep some players aiming for this goal with teams longer as you lose out if you sign a new contract.

Drug testing: The number of random drug tests have been set at 4 per year even for veteran players. Also the penalties for testing positive have been increased where a 1st time offender will get a 10 game suspension, 2nd time is 25 games and 3rd time will cost a player a 1 year suspension. They have also placed a penalty where a 4th time offender will be given a lifetime ban from the league. This may seem harsh at first but with the state of drugs in sports it seems quite adequate and needs to be clear cut so that players don't even get tempted to cheat the sport by juicing up.

Rookie contracts: These contracts will only be guaranteed for two years with team options for the 3rd and 4th year. This is definitely something that benefits the owners. If a players turns out to be a bust or is not able to adjust to the NBA game they will not be bound to keep that player on for more than 2 years. This two years will give them enough time to evaluate if they want to extend the contract as well as send the player to the NBDL for development if needed. From the view of players, if they are unhappy with the team they got drafted by they have a shorter stay there...

Salary Cap: The salary cap has been increased 3 % from 48% of the league's basketball-related income to 51%. This effects the numbers greatly as what looked like a $43.8 million cap for the 2005-2006 season will now look more like a $51 million cap. This looks good for a lot of teams who did not mind spending $50 million but not at the cost of paying a tax of $7 million in order to do it. I know we are still in a time where contracts are very inflated and teams get stuck with players but a higher ceiling will give the teams a chance to sign more mid-level contracts.

Luxury Tax: The money the players pay has been reduced to 8% of their salaries for the length of the new agreement. That money returns to owners at the end of the season if the players' salaries exceed 57 percent of revenues. Under the luxury tax, which requires a dollar for dollar penalty for exceeding the salary cap, this money will now be equally distributed to all teams rather than just those who were under the ceiling for that year. I am not sure I agree with this.. Why should people paying the taxes get some of it back?? I want to look into this one further but for now this is how it stands. The money gets distributed equally so technically the penalty for being over the limit isn't so much as it may seem for the team at first when they get money back at the end of the year in the case where the players salaries exceed the allowed 57%.

Player compensations: The players are now set to receive a guaranteed number of 57% of basketball related revenues. Over the past two years this is the amount the players ended up receiving but this is now a guaranteed amount no matter what the league revenues are. This is an aspect that seems to be added in to balance out a lot of the other issues players have compensated on.

NBDL: Players in their first two years in the NBA now can be placed on teams in the NBA's developmental league where the minimum age will be reduced from 20 to 18. Minor leagues have worked out great for the NHL and MLB , and it's a great stepping stone for players entering the league who need experience at a more competitive level but are not yet ready for the big league. This will give the teams a chance to develop players who are seeing more bench time than floor time and in turn develop their skills playing in "game" situations. tThis will give the players a chance to be more prepared when they are called up to fill in orwhen they are ready to solidify their place on their NBA team.

Active roster's: Active roster's will be expanded to 14 players. This is something I hadn't really thought about but it will in a sense be creating more jobs and give more players a chance to showcase their talents and prove they belong on an NBA roster and also eliminate in most cases situations where due to injuries some teams in the past have been left with a bench of just 8-9 active players. ( I seen it happen to the Raptors numerous times over the past few "Vinjury" years)

That's all I can churn out for now... I'll be back later this week with my rundown of the upcoming NBA draft which includes what each team will be looking to address and what players should be available to them in the draft which goes down on June 28th 2005. Also, by the time that article is ready I should be able to give my two cents about the NBA finals as we are going to see a game 7 which has been a rarity in recent memory. I have really enjoyed the past 2 games and look forward to the deciding one. I shall leave you with a quote from a player currently in the NBA finals...

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." - Tim Duncan