NBA, players' union reach deal

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NEW YORK (AP) - A minimum age of 19 to be eligible to play in the NBA was part of a new six-year collective bargaining tentatively agreed to Tuesday by owners and players, averting the possibility of a lockout.

Commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter flew to the NBA Finals from New York and announced the agreement prior to Game 6 between San Antonio and Detroit. The deal came on the fourth consecutive day of talks between the sides to replace the seven-year agreement that expires June 30.
"We're gratified that we were able to avoid a work stoppage," Stern said. "This agreement creates a strong partnership with our players, which is essential for us."

The sides reached agreement on several key issues that had held up a settlement since serious talks began in late February. Among them were a one-year increase to 19 in the minimum age for draft eligibility, a reduction in the maximum length of long-term contracts from seven years to six, and reductions in the size of annual salary increases in those long-term contracts from a maximum of 12 1/2 percent to 10 1/2 percent.

Veterans will now be subject to four annual random drug tests, an increase from current rules calling for them to be tested only once at the start of training camp, and players with less than two years in the league will be subject to being sent to the minor league NBDL.

Among the main items the players received were a reduction from 10 percent to 8 percent in the so-called escrow tax under which a portion of player salaries are withheld if the amount of leaguewide revenues devoted to salaries exceeds a specified percentage.

The salary cap will be raised from 48.04 percent of revenues to 51 percent, increasing the amount of money each team can spend on player salaries, and players will receive a guaranteed 57 percent of revenues.

The NBA has a system known as a "soft" salary cap, allowing teams to exceed the cap threshold to retain their own free agents, and to sign free agents under the so-called midlevel exception that was added to the labor agreement in 1999 after the sides went through a 7 1/2-month lockout.

Another lockout could have begun July 1.

"We decided it was time to back away from the abyss and see if we could get a deal," Hunter said.

The agreement will still need to be ratified by the league's Board of Governors and by the members of the players' union at their annual meeting in Las Vegas next week.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3706686

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