WNBA’s latest CBA proposal features early max deals for players

The WNBA’s latest CBA proposal to the players’ union includes “allowing some of its young stars” like Fever G Caitlin Clark and Wings G Paige Bueckers a chance to “earn a maximum salary quicker,” according to sources cited by the AP. The new offer, which came two days after the latest CBA proposal from the union, would “allow players on rookie contracts who were first or second team all-league to become eligible to sign a maximum contract in their fourth year and would not be eligible for a franchise tag designation following that extension.” In addition, the salary cap in the first year would be $5.75M — “up 280%” from last year’s $1.5M — and “would grow to” $8.5M by the sixth year of the deal. The deal would result in maximum salaries “increasing by more than” $1M — from $249,000 to $1.3M — and “average salaries increasing” from $120,000 to $540,000 in the first year. The league “didn’t make changes in its revenue sharing model” from its previous offer. The league proposed giving players “more than 70% of net revenue” with escalators. The union in its offer “asked for an average of 26% of the gross revenue” — revenue before expenses — over the course of the CBA (AP, 3/2).

WNBPA VP and Sparks G Kelsey Plum said that while the union “should continue to negotiate,” she believes that the offer the WNBPA has received from the WNBA so far “is a ‘significant win.’” Plum said, “I want to play, and players want to play. And so obviously we’re going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get this done in a timely fashion. But obviously a strike would be the worst thing for both sides.” She added, “You can continue to negotiate without striking” (ESPN.com, 3/2).