October 28, (THEWILL) – The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and the NBA are apparently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, and the NBA is reportedly looking to establish an “upper salary limit”.
Expectedly, the suggestion has been received with firm resistance from the NBPA, to the point of the union considering it a non-starter in discussions. As teams re-sign their older players to costly agreements and go over the soft cap, the league is essentially proposing a hard cap to prevent payrolls from ballooning.
The Golden State Warriors serve as the archetypal example, as their projected salary cap for their active roster for the next season is $214 million. The idea is that the hard cap would take the place of the luxury tax system currently in existence, which permits teams to exceed the soft restriction but imposes rising financial penalties as they do so.
Although there is technically a hard cap in the NBA right now, it is only activated when a player is acquired through a sign-and-trade or a specific exception is invoked.
The implementation of a hard cap would, however, unavoidably reduce players’ earning potential, disincentivizing or possibly completely prohibiting teams from signing veterans to lucrative contracts. Obviously, the players are not interested in developing this approach any time soon.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
