The NBA and National Basketball Players’ Association (NBPA) have come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to cover the coming seasons, evading a potential work stoppage ahead of a highly-anticipated and lucrative new media rights deal and potential expansion of the league.
But with that new CBA comes new wrinkles to how things are done in the league in ways that can affect the Boston Celtics as a high-salary ball club that is in the middle of a contention window given at least some of the incoming changes were designed to make life tougher for franchises with big payrolls.
Let’s dive into what’s new, and how (or if) it will impact Boston and its designs on contention.
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New extension rules
This one could, in theory, help the Celtics with the looming free agency of star forward Jaylen Brown. We say in theory because Brown is unlikely to avail himself of the new rules that would let him extend his current contract by as much as 140% instead of the current 120%.
This is because the Georgia native is potentially eligible for a supermax deal that would pay him considerably more if he makes All-NBA this or next season, meaning Brown will likely continue to push for that payday so long as he is able.
Different luxury tax rules
This change will affect the Celtics no matter what, and it entails the league and NBPA agreeing to bigger tax brackets for teams that spend over the cap to reflect the growth of the salary cap from the last CBA, but it also penalizes teams that spend more than $17.5 million above the tax line.
Teams that spend that highly will lose their taxpayer midlevel exception, taking away a teambuilding tool to try and rebalance competitive balance away from ball clubs willing to pay big tax bills some smaller-market squads may struggle to keep up with.
More two way player spots
The league has been leaning harder on their G League affiliates to find talent around the margins and underlooked prospects and as such the number of two way players from two slots to three.
This move ought to help Boston much given they will need to find different ways to add talent to the team given they may not have a midlevel exception slot available to them as a heavy taxpayer for the foreseeable future.
The in-season tournament is here
This one isn’t exactly a massive force that will shape how the club runs its season, but the prospect of converting games that will be counted as part of the regular season to the league calendar with $500,000 prize money for the winning team ought to change the season’s arc.
But how? We’re not very sure just yet, but it could boost the level of energy early in the season when interest is a little lower from fans with competing sports going on — and from players whose earnings might be more notably impacted by that prize.
Introduction of 65-game requirement for major awards
This shouldn’t have a major impact on the Celtics, but it might put a young team that tends to be healthy over the course of the season in a better position to win such hardware.
We say “tends to” given there are players like Robert Williams III and to a lesser extent Malcolm Brogdon who often miss time due to injury. Those players may see a tougher road to accolades than they did previously.
In theory, it could also reduce load management across the league, but Boston doesn’t tend to use this much for players who aren’t injury prone besides Al Horford, and even then, the 65-game threshold ought to be enough for Al, who has played more than that in nearly every season of his career.
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