NBA wants hard salary cap, NBPA resists: 'There will be a lockout' / News - Basketnews.com

NBA is concerned clubs that are willing to pay huge luxury tax bills are making it difficult for small-market teams to compete.

Credit: USA Today Sports – Scanpix Credit USA Today Sports – Scanpix

The NBA is pursuing the implementation of an upper spending limit in its negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

A system would replace the luxury tax with a hard limit that teams could not exceed to pay salaries.

The league is concerned that the massive payroll of teams such as the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, and Los Angeles Clippers -- clubs that are willing to pay huge luxury tax bills -- is making it difficult for small-market clubs to compete.

The league's proposal has been met with the firm resistance of the NBPA, to the point of the union considering it a nonstarter in discussions, via ESPN.

An unnamed player told Stein Line, "There will be a lockout before there's a hard cap."

The sides are facing a Dec. 15 deadline to announce plans to opt out of the current labor deal in December 2023. The current collective bargaining agreement runs through the 2023-24 season.

Per ESPN, other priorities for the owners in labor negotiations include finding a way to get top players to skip fewer regular-season games, gradually adjusting annual salary caps to avoid huge spikes following media deals, and eliminating the "one-and-done" that requires players to be one year out of high school before they can be drafted.

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