The NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced Thursday that the league's new collective bargaining agreement has been signed by both sides. The seven-year pact will run through the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.

Thursday's news represents more of a procedural formality than anything. On Dec. 23, USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reported the agreement became official when the NBPA ratified the new CBA. 

According to an official memo from the NBA, players' share of basketball-related income will not change over the next CBA's lifespan. Instead, it will remain in what the league has termed the "49 percent to 51 percent band."

Furthermore, both sides own opt-out clauses that they can exercise following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

And as NBA.com's David Aldridge reported when the sides first reached a tentative agreement, compensation will rise for players across the board.

Officially, contracts signed with the mid-level exception or bi-annual exception will increase by 45 percent from the previous CBA to adjust for the rising salary cap. Additionally, the league announced rookie-scale contracts will rise by 45 percent, with increases scheduled to be implemented over a three-year period. 

The 45 percent raise will also apply to veteran-minimum contracts.

Perhaps most important, though, is the league's new designated veteran player extension. The new CBA states players "with one year or two years left on their contracts who have seven or eight years of service in the league and have never changed teams" will be eligible if they "meet certain performance criteria."

Players need to have been an All-NBA Team member or Defensive Player of the Year in the season prior or in two of the previous three seasons. A player who has earned MVP honors in one of the previous three seasons can also take advantage of the designated veteran player extension and earn up to 35 percent of his team's salary cap.

If recent reports are any indication, it won't be long before players start to take advantage of the new rule and cash in.

According to CSNBayArea.com's James Ham, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins "intends to sign a massive, max-money extension, estimated at roughly $207 million" once free agency opens July 1.