Larry Coon, ESPN.com's salary cap expert, has a great (tentative) Collective Bargaining Agreement breakdown which includes reference to a so-called "Greg Oden Rule." ---------------------------------- 2011 CBA: Players can qualify for a better qualifying offer by meeting certain criteria. High-drafted players might receive a lower qualifying offer by failing to meet the same criteria. Who benefits? The higher qualifying offers help ensure that lower-drafted players who become starters or regular rotation players receive a salary that is in line with their performance. Conversely, the lower qualifying offer for underperforming high draft picks helps protect teams. For instance, rather than submitting an $8.8 million offer to retain the rights to Greg Oden, Portland would be able to offer much less. In fact, I fully expect this to be nicknamed the "Greg Oden Rule." ---------------------------------- ed: text edited, bumped to front page