NBA, NBPA Agree To Allow Teams To Sign Replacement Players, How It Works

The NBA needs to do something if they want to avoid seeing most of their games canceled and rescheduled. A prime reason right now is that a lot of players have been forced out due to health and safety protocols.

The case would not be serious if it would involve one to two players. But with some recent games being called off due to lack of available players, the NBA and the NBPA have agreed to allow replacement players to be signed to make sure that clubs have the right amount of people in matches.

Under the agreement, an NBA team can sign a replacement player for every rostered player who tests positive for COVID-19. Additionally, teams will be required to sign a replacement player if they post two positive tests.

Aside from these, players under a two-way contract will no longer have a cap on the games they can make during the season.

It should be noted that teams that can field in 13 players or have fewer than four players sidelined will not be allowed to add replacement players, ESPN reported.

As of this writing, the NBA has already postponed seven games. Unless they do something, that number could swell, raising questions on whether the NBA can successfully finish the 2021-22 season.

Given the threats of the COVID-19, it is the best that the NBA can do for now. It is a resort that may or may not work for the team.

Conversely, it provides new hope for free agents or players who have not been utilized that much during games. In the end, all ambitions of teams hoping to make it to the postseason are compromised.

Hence, replacement players need to be selected with extreme caution. It was not mentioned up to when this agreement would last but is likely to stay in place until the COVID-19 problem simmers down.