I was just looking for some information and saw this blurb at the Athletic about the new CBA and the minimum team salary rules: https://theathletic.com/4607105/2023/06/28/nba-cba-new-rules/ am I the only one who thinks that a HUGE change in the rules? If I'm reading that right, there is now a sort of hard minimum cap. The minimum team salary is 90% of the cap. That would mean the salary floor is between 122-123M. Teams have to hit that mark by the start of the season. If they don't, then. for the rest of the season they can only perform signings and transactions that increase team salary. They can't trade 10M in salary for 9M in salary. That's a significant restriction but more than that, this seems welded to the 2nd apron and the more punitive luxury tax rules. In the past, teams in cap hell could simply look for a team with cap-space and dump a player along with a pick. But teams won't be sitting around with gobs of cap-space anymore, at least there won't be nearly so many teams doing that. High spending teams won't have an easy relief valve any more and missing out on tax disbursements will be a big incentive to hit that floor for most teams the amount of in-season cap-space league-wide will basically disappear. And the value of TPE's will increase significantly. Small market teams, and rebuilding teams, will have to change the assumptions they make and the way they operate
Great point, and I haven't seen a corollary to this yet in the 600+ pages (not that I've scoured for it)... In the past the salary floor was actual salary (e.g., an amnestied Roy didn't count against the cap, but did against the salary floor b/c Uncle Paul was still signing checks for him). If that's the case here (that 122M has to be accounted for in salary on first day of season), even your TPE idea--again, a smart use of margins--gets less powerful. Because the TPE goes against "cap" and not "salary" until it's filled. But the premise--"in-season cap space league-wide will disappear"--seems likely.
It's kind of revealing that when you said you had a female in your life, you felt it was necessary to specify she was human
I have to do that because 98.7% of you on this forum have only “interacted” with inflatables…..so there’s that FAMS!
To get back on topic: I'm all for this change; cheapskate teams need to spend the money meaningfully, and setting the floor at the beginning of the season rather than later at least forces them to invest in players who might see action during the season, even if it's through trades or G-League assignments. I'd go further myself, and suggest a rule that only the salary spent on players who at the beginning of the season have a reasonable expectation of playing during that regular season should be counted towards the floor. So someone like Raef LaFrentz on our books for years wouldn't count as a salary spend because it was the ghost of a player who was already retired.
I can’t remember the last time I got a pic with BOTH of my bitches in it together! Wow, 13 years ago!
There's a mother big change. One player per team is now granted access to the elusive executive restrooms at each arenain the NBA. Leading the charge for this groundbreaking amendment were none other than CJ McCollum, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. These titans of the game fought tooth and nail, not for better player safety or fairer compensation, but for the right to use lavatories that are fit for basketball royalty. The reasons cited for this contentious point of contention were truly out of this world. CJ argued that when he needs to relieve himself during a game, he deserves a bathroom experience that matches his regal stature. "When I'm dropping 40 points on the opposing team, I shouldn't have to settle for cramped stalls like some ordinary player," he declared. He also demanded that the restroom always be stocked with particular special lotion for his ultra-soft skin. James Harden, notorious for his exceptional ball-handling skills, contended that only executive restrooms could accommodate his unique pre-game ritual. He insisted that his patented "toilet meditation" technique, which reportedly unlocks his ball handling prowess, could only be performed in a bathroom environment befitting his superstar status. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving believed the executive restrooms contained ancient, mystical artifacts that would enhance his performance on the court. Luka isn't too eager to surrender the bathroom privilege to Kyrie though, and it could lead to locker room discord.
This is why we've seen moves like OKC getting Bertans and Detroit getting Harris now, rather than waiting until later in the season and using their cap space then. Given that every team is above the floor already for 2023-24, according to Spotrac, it's just something to prevent a few teams from being encouraged to carry less salary longer.
