Could an annual salary of $100 million come for NBA players? In addition, the new collective agreement comes into force

As the NBA moves closer to a new media rights deal, much of the attention has focused on what it means for the league and its teams. But there is also another beneficiary of the package of agreements that will supposedly pay the league an average of $6.9 billion over 11 years: the players.

Those new deals — whether they end up with Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC or Amazon as partners alongside Disney — should more than double the current deals, which are set to pay the league roughly $3 billion next season in the latest year of their contracts with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. While not guaranteed, the expectation among team executives is that the salary cap will increase the maximum 10 percent allowed during the first few seasons under the new media landscape, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.

The amount of money going to the league will likely generate what was surely once considered an impossible feat: the $100 million salary.

NBA players are already amassing wealth like never before. Any player in the 2022 draft class will have the opportunity to earn more than $1 billion in NBA contracts alone, before any sponsorship or sponsorship deals. If the cap continues to rise as projected, a player could earn that amount over the course of two contracts in his prime. Jaylen Brown's record contract, which could be worth up to $304 million, might seem small in comparison.

The NBA could have its first $100 million salary for the 2032-33 season. That assumes a $141 million salary cap next season, as the league currently projects, and then a 10 percent increase in the salary cap after that.

Under that forecast, the salary cap would reach more than $302 million, allowing several players to cross the $100 million threshold. For example, a player in the first year of his supermax contract, which pays 35 percent of the salary cap, could earn up to $105.79 million during the 2032-33 season, that's double the $51.9 million of dollars Stephen Curry earned this season, the most in the league. A player in the second year of a supermax contract that took effect the previous season could earn $103.86 million that season. A player in the third year of a supermax contract that began during the 2030-31 season could earn $101.41 million.

The size of the contracts will be surprising. A five-year supermax deal beginning with the 2030-31 season will be worth $507 million by these estimates. One that starts next season will be worth $557.78 million. The supermax that will come into effect during the 2032-33 season would be valued at $613.56 million.

Of course, those figures might be too generous. Maybe the cap won't rise 10 percent each year and wages won't rise as quickly. While national media rights could account for roughly 30 to 40 percent of all basketball revenue when they go into effect, local media revenue looks set to decline, and who knows what other problems could arise.

That schedule might also be too slow. Both the NBA and NBPA could opt out of this CBA before October 15, 2028 and that would trigger a new CBA for the 2029-30 season. What happens if that collective bargaining agreement doesn't soften the cap and doesn't have a limit on how quickly the cap can rise? Or do you get rid of the rule that sets maximum salaries at 35 percent of the cap? Get ready for big numbers.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and president of global content and media distribution Bill Koenig have surely made a lot of people happy. The league's still new collective bargaining agreement was drafted with a new media rights agreement in mind and this should allow the NBA to have labor peace until the end of this collective bargaining agreement, which will run until 2030 if no one opts out. do not participate. There was always a small chance that the NBA would ever have to execute the opt-out clause it has in the current collective bargaining agreement that allows it to exit the agreement if its media revenue falls to a certain threshold compared to what it received during the year. agreement. 2022-23 season. But with such big numbers on the horizon, the league (and its players) is approaching even greater wealth.

Since it's never too early to talk about the offseason (at least that's what all the NBA TV segments tell me), it's a good time to remind everyone about this summer's hottest read: the CBA .

Some of the most restrictive parts of the new collective bargaining agreement will go into effect next season, and the new salary year begins July 1. They will influence how teams will perform this summer.

Starting on the first day after the just-concluded regular season, teams above the first tier ($172.346 million) can only trade for a player that offsets the value of the salary they are handing out. Traded player exceptions that were generated on first deck teams over the past year will no longer be usable unless they return below the deck.

Teams above the second platform ($182.794 million) can no longer add player salaries; that provision went into effect with the end of the regular season. Those teams can't send their own player in a sign-and-trade, and they can't send cash in a trade.

The “frozen selection” rule will go into effect next season. If a team is above second place on the final day of the 2024-25 regular season, then its first-round pick seven years from now (2032) cannot be traded. If that team is above second place in two of the next four years, that frozen pick will also be moved to the bottom of the first round of that year's draft. A team can unfreeze its selection if it is below or equal to second apron in at least three of the next four years.

If a team does one of the things listed above, they will have a hard limit on the platform threshold they have yet to cross.

If a team makes a cap trade between the end of the regular season and the start of the new year with a move that is not allowed for teams above the first or second apron, then that team will be capped for the remainder. of the year. the current and next salary cap year. But the new collective bargaining agreement allows teams some flexibility because that doesn't go into effect until after the 2024-25 regular season; Teams can still have their total salaries exceed the apron level between the end of the 2023-24 regular season and June 30, 2024 without having a cap.

There is also new concern about teams not meeting the salary floor. Starting with the 2024-25 season, teams that don't play the field will not receive any of the money paid to teams that don't pay taxes.

Starting July 1, teams will now be able to use the non-taxpayer mid-tier, mid-room tier, or biannual exception to trade for one or more players or acquire a player via a waiver claim (the player's contract cannot be exceed the maximum). length allowed by that exception). The exception cannot be added.

Teams will also have more freedom with extension and trade contracts. On July 1, they will be able to increase up to a total of four years and 120 percent of the previous salary.

(Photo: David Berding/Getty Images)