A new CBA between the NBA and NBPA is "likely to be agreed upon, if not formally ratified, in the next few weeks," according to David Aldridge of NBA.com. The new $24B television deal that runs through '25 has "created some breathing room, for both the league and the union, and made splitting an economic pie that is expected to rise" from its current $4B to $8B by the time the proposed CBA ends "much easier." If player salaries "have gone to Pluto, franchise valuations have reached the outer limits of space, with teams making more and more money from local TV deals, and the league locking in numerous high-profile and high-revenue deals in the last couple of years." In addition, the "enhanced revenue sharing plan that was put in place among teams" in '11 has "stabilized several teams that were among the worst-performing before the lockout, with high-revenue teams taking a portion of their local TV deals into a pool for lesser performing teams." The national TV money has made negotiations between NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA Exec Dir Michele Roberts "much less contentious than those between" former Commissioner David Stern and former NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter. Silver and Roberts are "working in a different time, and have been willing to give one another the benefit of the doubt as they build their relationship." Both are "strong-willed, but don’t have the sense/need for the dramatic flourishes of their predecessors." As with any negotiations, things can "change suddenly -- and badly." However, there is "no sense at present that there are major points of contention between the two sides." There have been "months of behind-the-scenes negotiations" involving the union’s Executive Committee and the league’s Negotiating Committee (NBA.com, 11/28).
