After spending six long months hammering out a new deal, the owners, general managers and agents will now be going over the agreement with a fine-tooth comb trying to find ways to get around it. It'll take time. But in all of these collective-bargaining agreements, people always look for a little bit of an edge. And they usually come up with them. It'll take time, but they'll come up with them.
Indications are that some league insiders are getting creative already.
And while some of what is already transpiring may not qualify as a loophole, ways are being found for teams to get the most out of the agreement. The Rockets had a news conference scheduled last week to announce the acquisition of Pippen but had to put it on hold for 27 hours because all of the incentive clauses in the contract did not comply with the new agreement. It is easy to see how absurdly easy the original clauses must have been by examining some of the ones that were approved. The Rockets are in the top 15 in opponents' field-goal percentage. They're not afraid to make moves.