According to Bleacher Report Writer Ric Bucher, NBA owners are discussing and campaigning for a franchise tag to be added into the next collective bargaining agreement.
This is currently in play as a part of the NFL collective bargaining agreement, where teams have the right to use the “franchise tag” on a player whose contract is up in the offseason and prevent him from leaving their team with no compensation.
The way the NFL rule is set up is each team can tag one player each year and guarantee they can’t leave in free agency, but the caveat is that they have to pay the player at least as much as the fifth highest salary of any player at his position in the league for the upcoming season.
This obviously is a strong desire for owners who fear their superstar, revenue generating players leaving their franchise high and dry when testing the free agent market like LeBron James did to the Cavaliers in 2010, Dwight Howard to the Lakers in 2013, LaMarcus Aldridge to the Blazers in 2015 and possibly Kevin Durant this summer.
It is savvy of the owners to try and work this into the new collective bargaining agreement as it gives them a shield from losing a top player, but would be a horrible decision for the NBA.
One of the most exciting parts of the NBA is the first week of free agency when big names are on the market, and the July excitement in the NBA would virtually disappear with this rule, not to mention give players much less rights than they deserve.
Having Bird Rights or the right to offer an extra year and slight more dollars on a max contract is enough of a shield for franchises and incentive for players to stay put, it’s the reason Carmelo stayed with the Knicks in 2014 (something they may regret now).
The NBA has a very strong players association with players having many more rights and guaranteed contracts unlike the NFL, and this proposal will never and should never be enacted in the NBA.
