The players' union holds the NBA's next few years in its hands
This cannot be a redux of 2016 for the good of the membership and the sport.
Good morning. Let’s remember to soften the butter.
The Money-Changer and His Wife, Quentin Matsys
I’m not sure how many people care about whether NBA players, the majority of which get paid multiple millions of dollars in salary each year, will get paid in full should this season get cancelled. Given the carnage that’s happening out there, there probably aren’t enough violins to mobilize for pro athletes. But NBA wonks definitely care about the salary cap and luxury tax levels, and it sounds like those are in play as the league and players’ union discuss salary cuts.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski gives a thorough accounting of the situation as it stands. There is a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that allows the league to withhold 1% of a player’s salary for every game cancelled in case of some major event … like a pandemic! There’s also an escrow fund for which 10% of player salaries are paid into, created to ensure the proper revenue split between players and owners happens.
The short version is that the league and union are talking about holding back 25% of remaining salaries in anticipation that games may be cancelled. This could prevent a scenario by which players would be forced to pay their teams back in the future if a bunch of games are cancelled. Further complicating the matter, several players (many of which are represented by Rich Paul) have shortened pay schedules, which means they’ve already taken more than 80% of their annual salary, which means in this pay withholding deal, things are going to get pretty weird.
Cap guru Albert Nahmad explains that if the league and players’ union don’t figure something out, the salary cap could theoretically drop from its current $109 million to something like $85 million. And this would potentially create a whipsaw effect ballooning the 2021-22 salary cap due to mechanisms built to ensure players get the right share of revenue as salary. (Read those post if you’re at all interested in this stuff.)
Without a deal betweeen the league and union, 2020 free agents (including those who have already negotiated extensions that will go into effect) would be entirely screwed while there would be an enormous wrinkle a la 2016 pop up in 2021 … when Giannis Antetokounmpo and a dozen other stars are free agents.
Yes: another cap spike. Everyone outside of the Bay Area loved how the last one turned out, didn’t they?
The players’ union did not come to the table before the 2016 cap spike (created by a new T.V. deal) and it led to Kevin Durant joining the Warriors (which many, many players claimed to hate) and a bunch of iffy players soaking up massive salary cap space that was then unavailable to future free agents. The 2020 cap plunge and 2021 cap spike figure to be way bigger.
The union has to play ball this time for the good of its own membership and the sport.
All Hail Marcus Smart (And 3 Anonymous NBA Players)
Marcus Smart tested positive for coronavirus a few weeks ago. He’s good now. And he’s doing good.
It turns out that the NBA organized this effort by Smart and three anonymous NBA players who have also recovered from coronavirus. From ABC News:
On Sunday, the NBA league office reached out to team physicians encouraging players who have recovered from the virus to consider opting in to the experimental treatment, according to a copy of the memo obtained by ABC News.
The NBA also donated $100,000 to the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project as part of the NBA Together campaign.
The NBA’s donation and plea for players to opt in to the program comes amid criticism that the league coordinated VIP testing of players while other Americans showing symptoms struggled to access tests. Dr. Joyner said that while “testing at many levels will be highlighted” when all is said and done, the players deserve credit for offering their help.
Antibodies in the blood from recovered patients are being used in sick patients to help recovery. So someone sick with coronavirus is going to get some of Marcus Smart’s blood and immediately dive for a loose ball. I think that’s how blood works, anyway.
Kudos to Smart and the three anonymous players, and kudos to the NBA for figuring out how to turn a negative about VIP testing into something unabashedly good.
Links
Here’s the bracket for the 2K players tournament starting Friday. Here’s the schedule. Meanwhile …
Curtis Harris on how the Clippers lost Terry Cummings, Tom Chambers and their future.
Jonathan Givony on what’s different about testing the draft waters this year. ($)
18 places to eat a hot dog, ranked.
Zach Lowe on how the Hornets are using old footage to stay together while being apart.
The Athletic picked the best player who has worn each jersey number.
Kevin Love talked to Trevor Noah about making sure arena workers get paid and these crazy times.
Productivity tips from someone who has worked from home with kids for two and a half weeks.
Be excellent to each other.