At this time a year ago, the NBA world was partially held hostage by Carmelo Anthony's relentless efforts to get out of Denver. Every day there were rumors about where he was heading. One of the reasons for the extended lockout were because of the Melo situation but even more so because of the LeBron James fiasco that lasted several years. This season was supposed to hold the same sweepstakes for Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. It still might happen, but it won't be as easy.
Howard Beck of the New York Times outlines several key points of the new CBA, including the extend-and-trade type of deal:
Options and trades: The league dropped its ban on player options and extend-and-trade deals. But a player who wants an extension as part of a trade will be limited to three years, instead of four, with raises of 4.5 percent, instead of 7.5 percent.
So now, if Howard REALLY wants to go play for the Lakers (like Melo wanted so badly to get to New York), then he'd not only lose a year on his contract extension, but would also lose 3 percent per year for those three years of the extension.
It might not seem like a ton at first glance, but when you're talking about several millions of dollars on a max contract and the fact that they just lost money from the lockout then it will make them think longer and harder before forcing their way out.
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