Report: CBA includes 'Kevin Love rule' to help teams keep multiple stars

The NBA continues to combat the formation of superteams by granting incentives to supposed "homegrown" players.

The upcoming collective bargaining agreement, agreed to by the NBA and NBPA earlier this week, grants teams two "designated player" slots, sources told ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

Under the old CBA, teams could only pick one "designated player" to receive a five-year contract following that player's first trip to free agency. That forced teams with multiple star players into making difficult decisions - most famously in the case of Kevin Love.

The Minnesota Timberwolves elected to save their "designated player" slot for point guard Ricky Rubio, leading a slighted Love to sign for only three years. When things went south in 2014, Love demanded a trade and promptly joined a superteam with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Having two "designated player" slots theoretically alleviates this dilemma of favoring one star player over the other. Funnily enough, this rule immediately impacts the Timberwolves the most, as it allows them to offer five-year contracts to both Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns once their rookie deals come up.

Rule changes, however, can only go so far to prevent slipups like picking Rubio over Love in the first place.