Milwaukee Bucks: How The New Collective Bargaining Agreement Affects Milwaukee

The new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement will affect the entire league, but here’s how it will specifically impact the Milwaukee Bucks.

After a tense few days, the NBA has a new collective bargaining agreement going forward! There are all sorts of interesting ways the changes will impact every team in the NBA, but we’re focused on the Milwaukee Bucks here.

That means it’s time to go through how each and every wrinkle added to the CBA will impact the Bucks. This information is mostly found in Tim Bontemps’ fantastic look at the new rules–any changes to what we know about the new CBA will be later reflected in an updated piece.

Giannis’ Pay Cut Is Bigger Than We Thought

Thank goodness Giannis Antetokounmpo has already signed his contract with Milwaukee. Annual raises increasing from 4.5 to 5 and from 7.5 to 8 percent on deals means Giannis’ contract could’ve been much bigger than it was.

Although the jump wouldn’t be too crazy. The new designated veteran player exception would not apply to Giannis because of his lack of experience, and he would instead be potentially eligible for the designated player exception.

The old critera for that exception required multiple All-Star or All-NBA appearances or an MVP award, marks Giannis likely will not hit. If the DPE qualifications mirror the DVPE, though, he could have qualified to make between 25 and 30 percent of the cap in the first year of his new deal if he made an All-NBA team this season.

Jabari’s Price Just Went Up

Jabari Parker could negotiate for the exact same $100 million deal Giannis got. He could also negotiate for more. A max deal is now worth more than ever, considering the annual salary raises have increased.

Jabari will almost certainly not be eligible for the new DPE when it’s time for him to sign a new deal/extension, but max deals are all worth more now that those raises have increased.

Another note about the new CBA in relation to Giannis and Jabari: the option to sign a second player to a five-year extension after their rookie deal has been introduced. In the previous CBA, only one player could get such a deal per team. The Bucks could’ve signed both of their young stars to longer contracts after all, although the team couldn’t have known that until now.

No Amnesty Clause

This was always going to be a long-shot, but with Miles Plumlee becoming a $50 million victory cigar it would’ve been nice for the amnesty clause to make a comeback for the Bucks. Alas, no such luck in this CBA.

Rookies Will Make More

Rookie scale contracts, like minimum deals and other exceptions to the cap, have all increased significantly going forward. This hurts the Bucks a tiny bit more than a lot of teams, simply because Milwaukee already has a lot of guaranteed money on the books.

An interesting note is that over the next three years, all rookies from the 2014-16 NBA Drafts will get raises to correspond to one future rookies are receiving.

That money does not count towards the cap, so Jabari Parker, Rashad Vaughn, Thon Maker and Malcolm Brogdon will all see some extra money coming their way although it won’t change Milwaukee’s cap situation at all going forward. Neat!

D-League Benefits

One of the larger stories of the new CBA is the changes to how the D-League will work in relation to the NBA. Two-way contracts are being introduced along with extra roster spots for players to be under control of an NBA team while playing on a D-League club.

With the NBA and NBADL working to make a one-for-one relationship between the leagues, these rules are making the D-League more of an official minor league. This makes it more important than ever for the Bucks to get their own D-League team, as the benefits of player development are increasing with the new rules.

Luxury Tax Stuff

Finally, we get to the less fun part of the CBA. The Bucks will likely end up paying the luxury tax eventually. Now, when they get there, it will be easier for Milwaukee to function.

More from Behind the Buck Pass

The tax apron has been raised from $4 to $6 million starting next season, and it will increase as the luxury cap does after that. The apron is a mark above the tax mark. If a team exceeds the luxury tax mark, they pay the NBA extra for what they spend.

If a team exceeds both the tax line and the apron, they lose benefits like sign-and-trade transactions, the bi-annual exception, and it becomes harder to do other things.

The cushion has increased between the tax line and the apron, meaning the Bucks could end up paying tax without incurring the other cap penalties. That’s good news for the team’s future in making roster moves, although it won’t save any money in Milwaukee!

Next: Bucks Player Of The Week, Week 8 Edition

There are likely other changes that will affect the Milwaukee Bucks as well, and we’ll report on those as they come up over the coming months and years. For now, these seem to be the biggest things Bucks fans will have to watch for going forward.

UPDATE: This piece earlier claimed Giannis would be eligible for the huge contract Steph Curry would get if he made an All-NBA team this season. He could not, as Giannis would be eligible for the designated player exception, not the designated veteran player exception.