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Draymond Green has criticized the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement’s impact on players, even as numerous middle-class free agents secured significant contracts this offseason. Green voiced his concerns on his podcast earlier this week, stating the CBA would ultimately hurt players despite initial praise from the National Basketball Players Association.
“Before the deal was even signed, [I said] that this is ridiculous,” Green said. “It is going to hurt players in the end. No one wanted to listen, and everyone wanted to act like the [National Basketball Players Association] was making a great deal.”
“Every year, the pot gets bigger and the business gets better, and the players get screwed more. That’s just how this business works.”
Despite limited cap space across the league, with only the Brooklyn Nets entering free agency with meaningful room before the Milwaukee Bucks cleared space for Myles Turner on a four-year, $107 million deal, numerous players have secured lucrative contracts.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith, Caris LeVert, Duncan Robinson, Luke Kornet and Luke Kennard all changed teams on deals worth eight figures annually. Several other players including Brook Lopez, Clint Capela, Kevon Looney, Ty Jerome, Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, Guerschon Yabusele and Tyus Jones signed for at least the taxpayer’s midlevel exception of $5.7 million.
Additional players like Naz Reid, Santi Aldama, Sam Merrill, Davion Mitchell, Tre Jones, Tre Mann and Jaylin Williams secured sizable midrange deals to return to their current teams.
The strong market for role players contradicts predictions that lower-level players would struggle under the new CBA structure. One league executive confirmed the robust middle-class market remains intact.
“The middle class is [alive], for sure,” one executive said.
The 2025 free agency period has demonstrated that even without widespread cap space, quality role players continue to find substantial financial opportunities across the league.
