NBA Salary Cap FAQ
This FAQ is for anyone who wants to know more about the salary cap, trade rules, and other aspects of the NBA's 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement. There is a lot of information here, so there are several ways to navigate this document. A simple text search within your browser is the easiest way to find something if you know what you're looking for -- that's why I kept the entire FAQ on one page. You can go to the table of contents to see a list of all the questions, or if you want to know about a particular topic you may be able to find it in the index. You can also go straight to the questions. You can find an overview of the differences between the 2017 and 2011 CBAs in the appendix. If you've been following this FAQ for a while, you can go to the revision history to see if anything has changed. Finally, you can see who wrote this thing or view the Copyright Notice and Privacy Policy. Enjoy!

2. What is a soft cap? What is the difference between a soft cap and a hard cap? Which does the NBA have?

The NBA has a soft cap. A hard cap cannot be exceeded for any reason. A soft cap like the NBA's contains exceptions which allow teams to sign players or make trades that exceed the cap under certain conditions. In practice, few NBA teams are under the cap during a season.

Certain components of the NBA's system function as a hard cap under specific circumstances. See question number 20 for more information.

3. Why have a soft cap?

A soft cap promotes a team's ability to retain its own players. Nobody likes it when a player plays with one team his entire career, the fans love him, he wants to stay and the team wants to keep him, but he has to leave because the team cannot offer him a satisfactory contract. The exceptions under a soft cap provide the means for teams to keep players under these kinds of circumstances. In addition, they allow teams to make a limited number of changes (replacing departed players, improvements, etc.) every year.

4. What is the Collective Bargaining Agreement?

It's the legal contract between the league and the players association that sets up the rules by which the league operates. (It's commonly abbreviated as "CBA," which is not to be confused with either the Chinese Basketball Association or the Continental Basketball Association. The abbreviation CBA will be used in the remainder of this document.)

The CBA defines the salary cap, the procedures for determining how it is set, the minimum and maximum salaries, the rules for trades, the procedures for the NBA draft, and hundreds of other things that need to be defined in order for a league like the NBA to function.

The CBA also prevents the NBA from being in violation of federal antitrust laws. Many of the league's practices (such as the salary cap and draft) would violate antitrust laws were they not agreed to via collective bargaining (see question number 118).

5. Has there always been a salary cap?

It may surprise you to learn that the NBA first had a salary cap in 1946-47, its first season. The cap that season was $55,000, with most players earning between $4,000 and $5,000. Star player Joe Fulks earned $8,000, and Tom King earned a league-highest $16,500 for his combined duties as player, publicity director and business manager for the Detroit Falcons.

The "modern" NBA salary cap began in 1984-85, at $3.6 million. It made steady but gradual increases of around $1-2 million each season until 1994-95, when it was $15.964 million. Armed with a big TV contract from NBC, the salary cap jumped to $23.0 million in 1995-96, and increased to $26.9 million in 1997-98, the last season of the 1995 CBA (a 647% increase in 13 years). The ABC/ESPN TV contract, which took effect with the 2002-03 season, provided $4.6 billion over six years, but less in 2002-03 than NBC paid in 2001-02. As a result, the salary cap went down for the first time ever in 2002-03.

Under the 2005 CBA the salary cap started at $49.5 million, and finished at $58.044 million, a 17.26% increase, and averaging 3.45% per year. However the salary cap decreased in 2009-10, dropping from $58.68 million to $57.5 million. Under the 2011 CBA the salary cap started at $58.044 million and finished at $94.143 million, a 62.19% increase. This was largely driven by the new national TV deals that took effect in 2016.

See question number 6 for more information on NBA labor history.

7. What happened to the negotiations in 2011, and why did they go so smoothly in 2016?

The 2005 CBA guaranteed the players 57% of BRI (see question number 12). Coupled with sharply rising expenses, slowing revenue growth caused in part by the economic downturn in 2007-08, and other factors, 22 of the 30 teams lost money in 2009-10, collectively losing a reported $370 million. As a result, the owners sought a complete reset of the league's economic system. The players disagreed over the extent of the losses, and maintained that the league's problems could be addressed through better management and revenue sharing.

As a result, the sides were nowhere near an agreement when the 2005 CBA expired in July 2011. The league imposed a lockout, which led to the players filing multiple unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a union disclaimer of interest (see question number 118) and subsequent class action lawsuits, several players signing to play overseas (eligible to receive a Letter of Clearance allowing them to do so as long as their overseas contracts let them return to the NBA when the lockout ended), and the cancellation of the entire preseason and the first 16 games of the regular season. The sides ultimately ratified a new CBA in early December 2011, and a 66-game 2011-12 season opened on Christmas Day, 2011.

The 2011 CBA was effective through the 2020-21 season, but there was a mutual opt-out allowing the agreement to be terminated at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season. The sides agreed to terms on a new agreement in December 2016, which superseded the 2011 CBA and took effect on July 1, 2017.

Many factors were involved in the comparative ease of the 2016 negotiation process, including the improved financial state that resulted from changes made in the 2011 CBA, the influx of new revenue starting in 2016 that came as a result of new national TV contracts, an improving economy, skyrocketing franchise values, and new leadership at both the league and union, with Adam Silver replacing David Stern as NBA Commissioner, and Michelle Roberts replacing Billy Hunter as NBPA Executive Director.

27. If a team has more than one exception available to sign a particular player, are there any rules regarding which one it has to use?

The team has the right to choose which of its available exceptions to use to sign a player. However, teams may not combine exceptions, or combine exceptions with cap room, in order to sign a player. For example, a team $5 million under the salary cap that has not used its $9 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception may not combine the exception and the cap room to sign a player for $14 million. This is explained more thoroughly in question number 90.

29. Can a team pay a player less but arrange for an affiliated company to also pay him, perhaps by way of an endorsement contract?

I suppose it could happen, but the NBA will investigate if it suspects that an outside person or organization is paying a player on behalf or at the request of a team (even if the compensation is ostensibly for non-basketball services). If they find out that such circumvention has occurred, they will penalize the team. For the first offense the fine can be up to $3 million, forfeiture of a first round draft pick, and/or voiding the player's contract (see question number 112). The penalties increase for subsequent violations.

See question number 106 for more information on circumvention.

Incidentally, players are not allowed to become player-coaches. This is because it would be possible to circumvent the cap by signing a player as a player-coach, and paying him less as a player but overpaying him as a coach. The only payment a team can make to a player is for rendering services as a basketball player.

33. Why a three-year wait before gaining Bird rights?

It closed a salary cap loophole. There used to be no waiting period, but this was abused by Portland with Chris Dudley and Phoenix with Danny Manning. Both teams signed these players to one-year deals at small salaries. The next year, Bird rights in hand, they signed new contracts far in excess of the cap. The three-year rule prevents these types of cap circumventions.

34. Does having Bird rights mean that free agents can be signed and not count against the cap?

With very few exceptions, all salaries are included in team salary. The Bird exception simply enables a team to exceed the cap to sign certain players. The player's new salary applies toward the team salary just like the salaries of the team's other players. So if a team is over the cap and uses the Bird exception to re-sign its own free agent, it will end up farther over the cap.

35. I just saw that a team signed a player for more money than it has under the cap. It was another team's free agent, so the Bird exception wasn't used. What gives?

If one of the other exceptions wasn't used, it may just be the way the deal was reported. In most cases, only the first season's salary must fit under the cap, but signings are often reported using the total salary for the entire contract. For example, if a team is $10 million under the cap, they can sign a player to a four-year contract for $10 million, $10.5 million, $11 million and $11.5 million, respectively, for the four seasons. The deal then gets reported as four years for $43 million. But only the first-year salary counts when determining whether the team has enough cap room, and the first-year salary fits perfectly.

36. Can a team with cap room sign all the free agents it wants (up to the salary cap) and THEN re-sign its own free agents using the Bird exception?

A team's ability to do this is very limited. The team's free agents continue to be included in team salary. This charge is called the "free agent amount," which is a form of cap hold. There may not be enough money available under the cap to sign another team's free agent, because the team's own free agents are taking up all its cap room.

Essentially, if a team retains the right (i.e., Bird rights) to sign a player while above the cap, the league assumes the team will do so, and sets aside an amount of money under the team's cap in anticipation of that signing. This keeps teams from signing other teams' free agents using their cap room, and then turning their attention to their own free agents once their cap room is all used up, using the Bird exception to re-sign their own players.

The free agent amount is based on the player's current status (type of free agent, whether coming off a rookie contract, and previous salary), as a rough guideline to predict the amount he is likely to receive in his next contract. Such a rough guideline obviously is not perfect -- for example, in 2015 Kawhi Leonard's free agent amount was just $7.2 million, even though his value as a basketball player was much higher. By waiting to sign Leonard last, the Spurs also were able to sign LaMarcus Aldridge away from the Trailblazers. Had they instead signed Leonard first, they would not have had enough cap room to sign Aldridge. They eventually re-signed Leonard for a starting salary of $16.4 million.

40. Can the renouncement be renounced? In other words, can a team un-renounce a player and then sign him using a Bird exception?

Only in one specific circumstance -- when they renounce one or more of their players in order to create enough cap room to sign another team's restricted free agent, but the restricted free agent's original team matches the offer sheet and keeps him. If that happens, the team can rescind the renouncement.

However, a team can't rescind a renouncement if doing so takes them from below the salary cap to above it; or if they are already above the cap and rescinding the renouncement takes them farther above the cap than they were before the renouncement. This closes a loophole -- it prevents a team from rescinding a player in order to make an offer, then if the offer isn't accepted using the resulting cap space to sign another free agent, before rescinding the renouncement to get back the renounced player's Bird rights.

See question number 42 for more information on restricted free agency.

41. Let's say a team arranges for all of its players to become free agents at the same time. If they renounce everybody, do they then have a team salary of $0 and a full cap under which to work?

No. There are lots of things that are included in team salary besides active contracts -- see question number 13 for a full list. Note especially that there is a roster charge when a team has fewer than 12 players under contract, free agents included in team salary, players given offer sheets, and first round draft picks -- so even if a team has no contracts and renounces all its free agents, exceptions and draft picks, it still will have a non-zero team salary.

44. Haven't some restricted free agents gotten away anyway? How did this happen?

For one, the team can simply decide not to match the offer sheet. If this happens, the offer sheet is reduced to an official contract with the new team after two days. The team can also provide the league with a written statement declining their right to match the offer sheet, in which case the player becomes a member of his new team right away.

It is sometimes possible to sign a player to an offer sheet his prior team cannot match, as described in question number 43.

45. What if a restricted free agent has no interest in staying with his original team? Is there any way he can force the issue?

If the player really wants to leave, he can sign his original team's qualifying offer, which constitutes a one-year contract at a scale salary. He must then play with his original team for one season, and following that season he will become a free agent again. If he meets the tenure requirement he will be an unrestricted free agent, and then can sign with any other team.

This strategy typically would not be effective for players who would continue to be subject to restricted free agency. For example, if a second round pick completes a two-year contract, he will be a restricted free agent at the end of his second year. But if he accepts his qualifying offer and plays an additional season with his previous team, he would be a three-year veteran the following summer and therefore still subject to restricted free agency.

46. Does a team receive compensation when another team signs their free agent, like in some other sports?

No. A team that loses a free agent does not receive anything. It used to be the case in the NBA a long time ago, but not any longer. Perhaps the most famous example of this is when the Lakers' Gail Goodrich signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Jazz. The Lakers received a draft pick as compensation, which turned out to be Magic Johnson.

49. What if the team and their drafted player can't agree to a contract? What options does the player have? How long does the team keep his draft rights?

The player's options are limited. What happens depends on a number of factors:

If the player is already under contract to, or signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the drafting team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA. Players are not included in team salary during the regular season while the player is under contract with a non-NBA team.

If the player goes on to play college ball after he was drafted, then the team retains the player's draft rights until one year following the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2017 and he returns to college and plays intercollegiate basketball, then they retain his draft rights until the 2020 draft. Note that the NCAA rules state that players lose their NCAA eligibility if they are drafted, so the player currently cannot return or go on to play college ball. This rule exists in the CBA in the event the NCAA rules ever change.

If the player was eligible to play in college before he was drafted but does not go on to play college basketball, then the team retains the player's draft rights until the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2017 and he does not return to college and play intercollegiate basketball, they retain his draft rights until the 2019 draft.

For all other players, the team retains the player's draft rights until the date of the next draft.

In any of the above cases, if the team does not sign the player in the allotted time, the player can enter the next draft. If the team that selects the player in the next draft doesn't sign him either, he becomes a rookie free agent on the date of the following draft.

When a team signs a first round draft pick within three years after he is drafted, they use the salary scale for the year in which he signs (usually the player signs in the same year he is drafted). After three years they have the option of either using the salary scale or signing him as if he was a free agent -- using their cap room or any available exception, with the standard raises. They can only do the latter if the player did not play intercollegiately in the interim. Such a contract must be for at least three seasons, and the salary in the first season must be greater than 120% of the applicable rookie scale amount.

50. Are draft picks included in team salary? If so, for how much?

Unsigned first round picks are included in team salary at 120% of the player's scale salary amount immediately upon their selection in the draft. Once a first round pick signs a contract, his actual salary is included in the team salary, of course.

An unsigned first round pick is removed from team salary if the team and player both agree in writing not to sign any contract through the following June 30. The scale amount is returned to the team salary the following July 1. If the team renounces its draft rights, the player's scale amount is removed from the team salary permanently, and the team relinquishes its draft rights to the player (see question number 52).

If a first round pick signs with a non-NBA team, his scale amount is excluded from the team salary on the date he signs his non-NBA contract or the first day of the regular season, whichever is later. The scale amount goes back onto the team salary on the following July 1 or when his non-NBA contract ends, whichever is earlier. In other words, these cap holds are removed for players playing outside the NBA, but only during the regular season.

Unsigned second round picks are not included in team salary. This is a loophole teams sometimes leverage by trading late first round picks for early second round picks in order to clear cap room.

As described in question number 89, the trade value of an unsigned first or second round draft pick is always $0.

51. What if a team likes its first round pick and wants to sign him, but either feels he isn't worth the scale salary or doesn't want to commit to two seasons?

They're stuck. In essence, this makes late first round picks less valuable, because they force teams to make a two-year commitment to a marginal player. In 1996, rather than give their first round pick Travis Knight (29th overall) a contract with a (then) three-year guarantee, the Bulls renounced him, making him a free agent.

52. If a first round draft pick is renounced, is he still bound to the salary scale for a first round pick?

No. The salary scale only applies to the team that drafts the player or the team to which the player's draft rights are traded. When Chicago renounced first round pick Travis Knight in 1996, he then signed with the Lakers for one year at the league minimum salary.

Since a renounced draft pick is not constrained by the rookie scale, he is also free to negotiate a larger contract. It is therefore possible for the renouncement to work to the player's advantage.

67. How do buyouts affect team salary?

Any guaranteed salary still owed to the player as the result of a buyout continues to be included in team salary, just as with any waived player. See question number 65 for details.

69. What is the Amnesty provision?

Amnesty was a component of the 2005 and 2011 CBAs that allowed teams to release one player via the waiver process (see question number 64) and remove him from their team salary and luxury tax computations. The Amnesty provision does not exist in the current agreement.

70. What is a summer contract?

A summer contract is typically used for training camp invitees, because the player's salary is not included in team salary until the first day of the regular season. In other words, it is a "make-good" contract -- the player must make the team's opening day roster in order to receive his salary and for his contract to be included in team salary.

If the player is a veteran free agent who last played for that team, the contract must be for one season at the minimum salary (see question number 22). In all other cases there are no special limits to the salary or number of years -- a team could theoretically sign a player to a summer contract for four seasons at the maximum salary. However, summer contracts frequently utilize Exhibit 9 of the Uniform Player Contract, which adds further limitations (see below).

A summer contract can be signed from the end of the July Moratorium (see question number 105) to the last day before the regular season. To avoid counting as team salary, the player must clear waivers prior to the first day of the regular season. To qualify as a summer contract no compensation of any kind can be earned or paid prior to the start of the regular season. The salary cannot be guaranteed or insured. However, the player may receive per diem, lodging and transportation expenses, and disability insurance covering summer leagues and training camp.

Since summer contracts do not count against the team's cap until the start of the regular season, teams can effectively sign players to summer contracts when they do not have room (cap room or an exception) for the contract, and delay creating the necessary room until the start of the regular season. This can be especially useful when a team is hard-capped (see question number 20) and does not have enough room under the hard cap to bring players to training camp.

A summer contract does not need to utilize Exhibit 9 of the Uniform Player Contract (One Season, Non-Guaranteed Training Camp Contracts), but doing so limits the team's liability in the event the player becomes injured. If a player with an Exhibit 9 becomes injured and unable to play basketball prior to the team's first regular season game and the injury is a direct result of playing basketball for the team, then the team pays the player $6,000 when it waives him. This is in lieu of the rule for ordinary contracts guaranteeing the salary of an injured player until he is ready to play again or until the end of that season, whichever comes first (see question number 63). If Exhibit 9 is used, the contract must be for one season at the minimum salary, with no bonuses of any kind.

A team cannot sign a player using Exhibit 9 unless it has at least 14 players on its roster, not including summer contracts. A team also cannot have more than six players at one time who are signed to contracts with an Exhibit 9.

When a player on a summer contract is traded before the start of the regular season, his salary for trade purposes is $0 and the trade is treated the same as a trade for draft rights. Teams cannot receive trade exceptions (see question number 87) when trading summer contracts, and the acquiring team does not need to match salaries, have cap room, or use an exception. However, the acquiring team must create the necessary room or designate an exception prior to the start of the regular season, when the player's salary is added to the team's cap.

71. Do injured players apply to team salary?

Injured players are included in team salary. An exception is made for players who are forced to retire for medical reasons -- see question number 61 for details.

In certain cases, teams can gain an exception which allows them to exceed the cap to sign a replacement. See question number 25 for more information on the Disabled Player exception.

72. How do players who die apply to team salary?

Sadly, a number of players have died while they were active, including Jason Collier, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Reggie Lewis, Drazen Petrovic, Bobby Phills, Malik Sealy and Nick Vanos.

A player who dies is treated the same as one who has suffered a career-ending injury or illness. See question number 61.

73. Are player contracts insured?

There is a league-wide policy that insures the contracts of around 150 players each season for inability to perform their duties as professional basketball players due to sickness or injury. Each team submits at least five players for coverage each season, from their five most expensive contracts based on either of the following criteria:

Current season salary

Total remaining salary (with at least two years remaining on the contract)

Each team must insure at least five players, including the two most expensive contracts with at least two seasons remaining in each of the above categories. Teams have the option of submitting additional names for coverage, including players with less than two seasons remaining on their contracts. Players ages 37 and over are not covered unless offered by the insurance carrier and accepted by the team.

If an insured player is disabled, there is a 41 game waiting period, after which the insurance company pays 80% of the covered salary, which includes current and deferred compensation, and any signing bonus and incentive compensation that can be earned prior to the start of the regular season. The maximum covered salary is $28,187,500, or $275,000 per regular game. The maximum coverage for any one player is six seasons (451 games after the waiting period).

The waiting period can span seasons, and the player even can attempt to come back -- if he does and finds that he is unable to play, the 41-game count resumes (as long as he stopped playing due to the same injury).

The carrier has the right to exclude up to 14 players per season, with a maximum of six players per season excluded due to sickness (there are specific exceptions and sublimits to these exclusions). One example is when they excluded Luol Deng in 2008-09 because he had $71 million remaining on his contract and a history of back injuries. The list of excluded players changes each year, so a player who is not covered one season might be covered the following season. However, once a player is covered the carrier can't exclude the player for the remainder of his current contract.

If the player is traded, his new team receives the benefit -- for example, even though Cuttino Mobley's heart condition was discovered prior to his trade to the Knicks in 2008, the Knicks received the insurance payout.

76. What are the rules relating to international players and teams?

A player is considered to be an international player if he has maintained permanent residence outside the U.S. for the three years prior to the draft while playing basketball (as either an amateur or pro) outside the U.S., and who never completed high school or enrolled in a college or university in the U.S. An international player is eligible for the NBA draft that is held in the same calendar year as his 22nd birthday. An international player who is at least 19 but younger than 22 also can become draft eligible by declaring himself an early entry player. An international player who is older than 22 or was not selected in the draft in the same calendar year as his 22nd birthday is considered a rookie free agent.

The NBA has a formal agreement with the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) recognizing each others contracts. A player who is currently playing or last played on a FIBA team must obtain a letter of clearance from the basketball federation of the country in which he played before signing with an NBA team. The letter of clearance ensures that the player does not have an existing and validly binding contract with any FIBA team. Likewise, a player who last played in the NBA must secure a FIBA license before signing with a FIBA team, which requires FIBA to contact the NBA to obtain a written statement that the player is not subject to an existing and validly binding NBA contract.

NBA teams signing international players are allowed to pay a buyout to the players team or organization in order to release the player to sign in the NBA (see question number 77).

The NBAs agreement with FIBA also requires NBA teams to allow their players to play for their national teams in major FIBA competitions, including the European Championships, the World Championships and the Olympics, as long as the competition does not conflict with an NBA game and the player is adequately insured. NBA teams cant take any steps to dissuade their players from participating in such competitions, such as asking their players not to participate or making public statements suggesting they do not want their players to play in these competitions.

90. Can exceptions be combined when making trades?

Only to a very limited extent -- teams can combine exceptions in the same trade if they are used on different players. Teams cannot combine exceptions in order to acquire one player. For example, a taxpaying team may trade a $5 million player for a $5.5 million player and two veterans earning approximately $1.5 million each on minimum-salary contracts. The Minimum Player Salary exception is used for the two minimum-salary players, and the $5.5 million player is acquired using the Traded Player exception ($5.5 million is within 125% plus $100,000 of $5 million). This is allowed because two exceptions were not combined to acquire any one player.

The other legal combining of exceptions is aggregation, as described in question number 86, where the outgoing salaries of multiple players sometimes can be combined in a single simultaneous trade.

However, if that team has a $5 million player and a $1 million trade exception from a previous trade, it cannot add the trade exception to the 125% plus $100,000 margin from their $5 million player ($6.35 million), in order to trade for a player making $7 million. This cannot be done, as it would invoke using two exceptions on the same player.

If a team has two trade exceptions from previous non-simultaneous trades, they can't combine them into one larger trade exception. Suppose a team trades a $5 million player for a $4 million player (generating a $1 million trade exception) and separately trades a $3 million player for a $1 million player (generating a $2 million trade exception). They cannot combine the two into a single $3 million trade exception. A rule of thumb is that a trade exception can only be used to acquire a player making up to the amount of the exception plus $100,000.

(See question numbers 85 and 87 for more information on the Traded Player exception and non-simultaneous trades. See question number 88 for more information on the Minimum Player Salary exception.)

The legal combining of exceptions sometimes gives the appearance of teams getting away with illegal trades. For example, as detailed in question number 101, when a team acquires a player in trade using an exception (and not cap room), the team cannot aggregate that player's salary in trade for two months. For example, New Orleans acquired Jerryd Bayless from Portland on October 23, 2010, and traded him with Peja Stojakovic to Toronto on November 20, 2010. This trade did not violate the two-month rule because New Orleans did not aggregate the salaries of Bayless and Stojakovic to acquire any of the Toronto players.

94. Why would teams or players want to do a sign-and-trade?

Teams benefit because they can get something in return for players they otherwise would lose to free agency. For players the benefits are limited, because a player can receive no bigger contract via sign-and-trade than he can get by signing with his new team directly (four years, 5% raises), and can receive a larger Bird contract or Designated Veteran contract only when staying with his previous team. It also is much simpler for the player to sign directly with his new team, as a sign-and-trade has to be agreed to by three parties rather than two. A player really only needs to seek a sign-and-trade if he wants to go to a team that is capped-out (or doesn't have enough cap room to give the player a high enough salary) and can't sign him directly.

Another factor encouraging a player not to seek a sign-and-trade is that his new team might be weakened by losing players or draft picks in the trade. So while a sign-and-trade is a useful tool when the team does not have the cap room to sign the player directly, the player and his new team have little reason to seek a sign-and-trade when the player can be signed without involving his previous team.

97. Can a team trade the rights to a free agent, so the other team will inherit his Larry Bird rights?

Once a player becomes a free agent he cannot be traded, except in a sign-and-trade arrangement.

103. How are teams able to trade players who are out of the league, like Dallas did with Keith Van Horn?

The short answer is: they can't. Prior to the 2011 CBA teams were allowed to sign-and-trade (see question number 92) any player to whom they had Bird rights. Bird rights don't automatically go away once the player is out of the league (see question number 32 for details), so many teams continue to hold Bird rights to players who have long since retired.

Teams were able to take advantage of the Bird status of retired players when they needed to include extra salary in order to make a trade legal (see question number 85). By signing players out of retirement the teams were able to complete the trades, and since a sign-and-trade requires only the first year of the contract to be guaranteed, it was like they were trading an expiring contract (see question number 102). This kind of trade occurred twice during the 2007-08 season, when Dallas re-signed Keith Van Horn (who had been out of the league since 2006) and sent him to New Jersey as part of a package to acquire Jason Kidd, and the LA Lakers re-signed Aaron McKie and sent him to Memphis as part of a package to acquire Pau Gasol.

The league put a stop to this in the 2011 CBA by restricting sign-and-trades to players who finished the prior season on the team's roster. A player can no longer be included in a sign-and-trade if he has been out of the league.

104. What is the trade deadline?

The trade deadline is defined as 3:00 PM Eastern Time on the 10th day prior to All-Star Sunday -- i.e., the Thursday of the second week prior to the All-Star game. This is the point during the season after which trades are prohibited. The prohibition on trades lasts until the day following the team's final game of the season (see question number 101), although playoff teams are allowed to trade players that are not on their playoff roster the day after the regular season ends.

110. What is the league's domestic violence program?

The league's domestic violence program addresses cases of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault, and covers such cases wherever they occur. The focus of the program is prevention through educational programs and awareness training. There is a hotline established for players, families and other victims.

The league or players association may refer players to the program through a disciplinary determination made by the Commissioner, or as the result of a criminal conviction. A player also can voluntarily seek assistance.

The program is overseen by a policy committee consisting of two NBA representatives, two players association representatives, and three independent experts. When a player is referred to the program an expert conducts an evaluation, and a treatment and accountability plan is developed. The policy committee oversees compliance and certifies when the player has completed the program.

If a player fails to comply with the program without a reasonable explanation the NBA is notified and the player is warned. If he fails to heed the warning, he is then fined $10,000 per further day of non-compliance. If there is a substantial non-compliance or willful disregard, the penalties increase to a one-game suspension, followed by successively longer suspensions.

If an investigation is pending the Commissioner can put the player on administrative leave with pay, but only when justified by criteria such as the nature and severity of the allegations, the player's history of prior conduct, and the risk of reputational damage to the NBA or to the player's team.

On a positive finding the Commissioner can fine, suspend or disqualify the player from the league, and the policy committee can also require training, education, counseling and/or community service. The penalties are determined on a case-by-case basis, and the Commissioner can take into account both aggravating and mitigating factors. Aggravating factors include prior allegations or convictions for prohibited conduct, the use of weapons or other means of coercion, the use or threat of force or violence, the vulnerability of the victim, the presence of minors, and the nature and extent of any injuries. Mitigating factors include the acceptance of responsibility, evidence of self-defense, voluntary participation in treatment or counseling programs, and the player's character and reputation.

The domestic violence program and policies also apply to NBA players and Two-Way players on a G-League assignment.

111. What is tampering?

Tampering is when a player or team directly or indirectly entices, induces or persuades anybody (player, general manager, etc.) who is under contract with another team in order to negotiate for their services. The NBA may impose suspensions and/or fines if tampering is discovered, however the league's practice has been to wait until a team lodges a complaint before investigating (but that's not to say they don't continue to monitor the league and won't take action independently if they discover that tampering has occurred). Here are some examples:

The Miami Heat were discovered to have tampered with Pat Riley in 1995 by negotiating with Riley while he was the head coach of the New York Knicks. The Heat "settled," and avoided league-imposed penalties, by compensating the Knicks with $1 million and their first round draft pick in 1996.

The league fined three teams (Hawks, Kings and Rockets) because of team statements to the media, team emails to prospective season ticket purchasers, and articles posted on team websites related to players under contract with other teams, but who would become free agents that summer. For example, Kings coach Michael Malone stated in a press conference that "Chris Paul would look pretty good in a Sacramento Kings uniform."

You may have noticed that when general managers and other team personnel talk to the press, they are careful to avoid talking about specific players who play for other teams. They do this in order to avoid tampering. The only allowed response when talking about players under contract with other teams is to decline comment.

In 2019 the league implemented stricter measures to curtail tampering and circumvention. See question 109 for more details.

Player-to-player tampering is considered to be a relatively common occurrence, and while technically illegal, it is rarely addressed by the league. For instance during the 2016 playoffs, Mavericks player Chandler Parsons referred to Rockets player Dwight Howard saying, "[. . .] I think he can still be a player in this league. And I think he's going to leave Houston, so why not come here?" Former Commissioner David Stern clarified in 2012 that such player-to-player recruitment is generally "not tampering or collusion that is prohibited."

113. How much are players fined for technical fouls and ejections? Where does the money go?

These amounts apply to both players and coaches.

Technical fouls:

$2,000 each for the first five technicals

$3,000 each for the sixth through 10th technicals

$4,000 each for the 11th through 15th technicals

$5,000 plus a one game suspension for the 16th technical

$5,000 for each additional technical, with a one game suspension every other technical (18th, 20th, 22nd, etc.)

Technical fouls (playoffs):

$2,000 each for the first and second technicals

$3,000 each for the third and fourth technicals

$4,000 each for the fifth and sixth technicals

$5,000 plus a one game suspension for the seventh technical

$5,000 for each additional technical, with a one game suspension every other technical (9th, 11th, 13th, etc.)

Ejections:

$2,000 for the first ejection

$2,000 additional ($4,000, $6,000, $8,000, etc.) for each subsequent ejection. The count is reset for the playoffs.

The money from technical fouls and ejections is split evenly between charities of the league's and players association's choosing.

116. How do I find out the salary for a specific player?

The NBA does not publish player salaries. However, a number of unofficial sources exist, and Basketball Insiders is the source of NBA salaries that is endorsed by the author of this FAQ: Basketball Insiders.

117. The league instituted a dress code for players. Do they have the right to do that?

The league has broad powers which enable them to institute a dress code (and the players association has always acknowledged the league's right to do so). For example, every player's contract contains a provision which states that the player agrees to be "neatly and fully attired in public." In addition, the Commissioner has the general power to penalize players for conduct (which would include dress) detrimental to the league's best interests.

118. What does it mean when the players union decertifies? Why would they want to do that? What effect does it have?

Decertification and disclaimer of interest are similar processes to end a union's authority to collectively bargain on behalf of its members. A decertification is issued by the union members, while a disclaimer of interest is issued by the union itself. They are tactics sometimes employed (or at least threatened) by player unions in the event of a difficult labor situation.

Antitrust laws are at odds with labor laws -- while antitrust laws prohibit cooperation among competitors and agreements that are anticompetitive, labor laws encourage cooperation among competitors -- such as forming unions and bargaining collectively. This tension is resolved with the "non-statutory labor exemption," which exempts collective bargaining agreements from the antitrust provisions. The NBA draft and restrictions on salaries and free agency are immune from the antitrust laws so long as they are part of the CBA.

Courts have ruled (with the NFL) that the non-statutory labor exemption shield continues even after the CBA expires, so long as a "labor relationship" still exists. But if the players decertify or the union disclaims interest -- ending the union's collective bargaining rights and turning it into a non-union trade association -- it ends this continuing labor relationship and opens the league to an antitrust suit.

The NBA players association threatened to decertify in both 1995 and 1998, but ultimately voted against it both times. The union did disclaim interest during the 2011 labor dispute (see question number 7), filing an antitrust suit shortly afterward. The suit was settled over the following days (ending the labor dispute), and the players voted to re-certify the union in order to conclude their labor negotiations and settle on a new CBA.

121. Can I get a copy of the actual Collective Bargaining Agreement?

The Collective Bargaining Agreement is a very long legal contract between the league and the Players Association, and is written in dense legalese. It is my hope that this FAQ answers all your questions. However, if you really want the CBA, it is available from the players association's web site at http://www.nbpa.com/cba/. It is also available through the University of New Hampshire School of Law's Sports and Entertainment Law Institute web site, at https://ipmall.law.unh.edu/content/unh-sports-law-repository-collective-bargaining. In addition, members of the media with an account on the NBA's "Media Central" website can download it there. Bound copies of the CBA are no longer available from the league office.

The CBA doesn't answer every possible question. Many of the league's rules, policies and procedures are contained in these documents:

The NBA Constitution and By-Laws defines the NBA as an entity at its highest levels, and how teams operate within the scope of the NBA.

The NBA Operations Manual is updated annually and describes in detail how the league operates, including all the rules regarding game operations.

These documents are separate and apart from whatever contracts the league may make with other entities such as the players association. It has always been possible for the public to obtain the CBA. The league kept the Constitution and By-Laws confidential until the Donald Sterling situation occurred in 2014, after which it was made publicly available at https://ak-static-int.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/12/NBA-Constitution-and-By-Laws.pdf. The league continues to keep the Operations Manual confidential.

122. What if this FAQ is wrong? How authoritative is this FAQ?

This FAQ has been fact-checked against the actual CBA, and I'm pretty confident about its accuracy. Still, this FAQ isn't necessarily 100% accurate. If you find any errors, please contact me at lmcoon@cox.net (please include the source of your information, if possible). You may also contact me if there are additional questions you would like to see added to this FAQ, or if you find any of the answers confusing and in need of clarification.

The author of this FAQ is not employed by the NBA, any of its teams or the NBA players association.

123. Can I e-mail you with other CBA-related questions?

Yes! But while I try to answer questions to the best of my ability, the number of questions I receive often overwhelms the amount of time I have for answering them. In addition some responses have to wait until I can verify facts with others, or get batched together so I can respond to a set of related messages all at once. Unfortunately, questions that are longer and involve a lot of thought, research and/or detail on my part tend to get answered less frequently than simple ones that I can answer off the top of my head.

If you have a question, my first recommendation is that you make a reasonable effort to ensure the information you're looking for isn't already covered in the FAQ. Once you've done that, you'll probably find that your question will get answered sooner if you post it where other CBA-knowledgeable people will see it.

One excellent venue for questions is Twitter. Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/LarryCoon. Questions posted to Twitter are usually answered more quickly, either by me or by someone else who sees your tweet, although the Twitter format precludes lengthy, detailed answers (which usually is a good thing).

You might also try the CBA/Business discussion forum at RealGM.com: http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=4, which a number of CBA-knowledgeable people frequent.

Finally, if you're really interested in exploring this in depth (along with many other aspects of working in sports), I am the General Manager of Sports Business Classroom, which is a week-long seminar held during the Las Vegas Summer League.

I also recognize that some of you (members of the media, etc.) need this information as part of your job, and not simply because you're curious. I try to give these questions higher priority. Apologies in advance to anybody who gets put on the back burner as a result.

The bottom line is that I get more questions than I have the ability to answer. Apologies to anyone who has sent me an e-mail and didn't receive a reply.

124. Can this FAQ be reproduced or distributed? Can I link my web page to it?

This FAQ is copyrighted, and the copyright notice appears herein. The intent of the copyright is only to restrict the following:

For-profit use. The author doesn't make any money from this FAQ, and doesn't want anybody else profiting from his hard work.

Posting a copy of this FAQ on another web site. This only leads to different versions of the FAQ being on-line and becoming out of sync. Rather than posting a copy of this FAQ on your web site, please post a link to this page. That way, you won't have to worry about your copy needing to change when this master copy changes.

Any use of this FAQ not specifically allowed in the copyright notice requires written consent. Such consent is generally granted to any request that does not violate the provisions listed above.

126. How should this FAQ be cited?

If you are citing this FAQ in an academic or scholarly context, the following is a suggested citation. Note that you should replace the "last visited" date with the date you actually retrieved this FAQ.

Coon, Larry (2017); "NBA Salary Cap/Collective Bargaining Agreement FAQ"

http://www.cbafaq.com, last visited July 1, 2017

History of this FAQ, acknowledgements, and about the author:

An original NBA Salary Cap FAQ was written by Tony Minkoff and covered the 1995 CBA. The original draft of this FAQ was based on Tony's original, and on several articles written by Garret Okamoto for totk.com (Top of the Key). An archive copy of Tony's original FAQ can be found here.

The first edition of this FAQ was published in 1999, covering the 1999 CBA. An archive copy can be found here. Tony and Garrett participated with me on the research and draft review process, along with Patricia Bender, Josh Frankel, Jon Hamm, Jonathan Richards and Gary S. Simon. The suggestions and contributions of a number of people are also acknowledged in the revision history.

The second edition of this FAQ was written in 2005, covering the 2005 CBA. An archive copy can be found here. Ryan Hoak, Dan Hoelzl, Zev Iosupovici, Eric Pincus, Dan Rosenbaum and Andy Stein participated with me on the research and draft review process. The suggestions and contributions of a number of people are also acknowledged in the revision history.

The third edition of the FAQ was completed in 2012 and covered the 2011 CBA. A number of people were kind enough to contact me to volunteer their services as I prepared this edition, and I was able to put some of them to good use. I'd especially like to thank Josh Berman for entering the rookie scale salary and index information, Zach Schreiber for checking the scale salaries, index, and links from one question to another, and Clint Peterson for updating Zev Iosupovici's original masthead graphic. My thanks also to Andy Stein, Edward Gleason, Brett Greenberg, Ryan Hoak, Bernie Lee, David Lord, Albert Nahmad and Eric Pincus for providing feedback and suggestions which helped improve the final product.

This is the fourth edition of the FAQ, covering the 2017 CBA.

In summary, I'd like to collectively thank everybody whose contributions found their way into this FAQ over the years. Thanks also to my friends & colleagues in the media who have been so kind as to inform the public of this FAQ's existence, and for the kind words they have written about the work I have done here.

Please note that I will not accept advertisements, and I will not carry a link to your site unless it is directly related to the material in this FAQ. If you have a site you feel should be mentioned here then you can try asking, but if it belongs here then chances are I already know about it.

Andy Stein:

My friend Andy Stein passed away on December 28, 2015. If you have reviewed the revision history of this FAQ you have seen his name all over it -- indeed, Andy's fingerprints are all over this entire document. Andy was one of a handful of people who have shared a keen interest in this topic, and he participated with me in the development of this FAQ for over a decade. He was whip smart, logical and insightful, and helped me work through almost every difficult CBA-related issue I encountered. He also was usually the first set of eyes to look over anything new I wrote, because I knew he'd immediately spot any issues, no matter how subtle. Andy had long been retired, after a career that included a stint in the Carter White House, and he also worked in an agency representing NBA players. More recently he had the opportunity to do some contract work with an NBA team when a mutual friend took over as the General Manager. Andy was a true gentleman, scholar and friend. He will be missed, and future versions of this FAQ will suffer from his absence.

About the author:

Larry Coon is a computer scientist by both education and trade. He works in IT management at University of California, Irvine, and has also taught university Computer Science courses, specializing in database theory. A lifelong NBA fan, he assimilated a working knowledge of the league's salary cap and trade rules, eventually organizing this knowledge into the Salary Cap FAQ to provide "the kind of reference I was looking for when I was trying to figure it all out."

Larry has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and Sports Illustrated. He makes regular media appearances including television (such as Spectrum SportsNet and ESPN's "Outside the Lines") radio and podcasts. He is a contributor to ESPN.com and to BasketballInsiders.com. He is often quoted and cited, both online and in print, by local and national media venues. He also has contributed to the New York Times Off the Dribble blog, and to RealGM.com.

Larry also leads Sports Business Classroom, which is a one-of-a-kind educational and training initiative focusing on the business of basketball, giving attendees the opportunity to train and interact with top executives while performing real work in team video, scouting and analytics; social media & public relations; broadcast production and distribution; and the league salary cap. Sports Business Classroom takes place during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

And finally, Larry is the course developer and instructor for CBA Mastery with Larry Coon, an on-demand video course teaching the intracacies of the CBA. The course applies Larry's pedagogical approach to learning the CBA, and includes more than 11 hours of video instruction in 23 modules, along with references, key terms sheets, transcripts, quizzes, exercises and a final exam. Since the course is taught using on-demand video, students can learn at their own pace, and return to modules again and again.

Larry lives in Orange County, California with his wife and daughter, about whom he brags at every possible opportunity.