Players and league reportedly are still negotiating financial terms of an amended CBANBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The NBPA's board of player reps voted to approve a Dec. 22 start and 72-game regular season on Thursday night, and the league and union are "planning to discuss the opening of free agency as quickly as possible" after the Nov. 18 NBA Draft, according to sources cited by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. The opening of free agency would "accommodate player movement with such a short window to the opening of training camps on Dec. 1." Sources also said that the league and players still are "negotiating financial terms of an amended collective bargaining agreement, and those talks are expected to extend into next week." Once a formal agreement is reached, the league "will lift a moratorium and reopen the league for business on trades prior to the draft." Sources said that the league believes a Dec. 22 start is worth between $500M-1B in "short- and long-term revenues to the league and the players." The NBA has "pushed to Friday a deadline that keeps open the option of terminating" the CBA, which would "essentially blow up the league's financial structure that allows for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI) under the provisions of the CBA" (ESPN.com, 11/5).
SEASON TO FINISH BEFORE TOKYO GAMES: In N.Y., Marc Stein notes the proposed schedule "calls for training camps to begin Dec. 1." The regular season would be 10 games "shorter than usual" and would "run through mid-May, with the playoffs lasting into July." The NBA's goal is to complete the season "before the Tokyo Olympics," which are scheduled from July 23-Aug. 8 in '21. That "would allow the league to avoid direct competition with the Olympics" and set up the '21-22 season to return to the league's usual October-through-June pattern. Meanwhile, there were "unresolved talks about a new array of coronavirus protocols that will be needed because teams are planning to play in their home markets rather than in a restricted-access bubble" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/6).
TRAVEL CONSIDERATIONS: THE ATHLETIC's Shams Charania cites sources as saying that the NBA will play in home markets, reduce travel by 25%, and "significantly reduce cross-country travel especially early in the season" (THEATHLETIC.com, 11/6). In L.A., Dan Woike writes there were "pockets of NBA players who wanted a longer offseason -- even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said a December start seemed unlikely -- but the financial concerns of an even further abbreviated season were too great to extend the offseason." And Woike notes some league officials could argue that "eight teams haven’t played since March and more than half the league was done playing by Sept. 1" (L.A. TIMES, 11/6).
READY OR NOT: ESPN’s Rachel Nichols said team owners have "come to terms with what we frankly have been saying on this show for months. That the TV contract is the financial lifeline for a league that can’t just sit around and wait for a meaningful amount of ticket-buying fans to be allowed in its buildings.” Nichols said what games will look like on TV is "going to be important if you want the ratings to bring in the advertising revenue" (“The Jump,” ESPN, 11/5). ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: “The NBA offseason may not be official yet, but in talking to executives around the league, it’s in full swing. Trade talks are in full swing, some free agency negotiations, even though technically they’re not supposed to start, have started. The process of playing on Christmas has officially started across the league, and that’s where we’re headed” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 11/6).
