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The NBA and its Players Union have agreed to extend the deadline for declaring exit from the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the two sides have pushed off the due date to Monday. This is the fourth time the deadline has been extended.
The NBA and NBPA are extending today’s deadline to Monday for either side to serve notice on terminating the collective bargaining agreement, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Sides will continue working to finalize CBA issues.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 7, 2020
Multiple issues are at stake in these negotiations. The most critical is how to determine the league’s salary cap level and other financial issues coming off of a year which featured an unprecedented season stoppage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Terminating the CBA would throw the new season into turmoil. Should either side declare an “opt-out” on the 6th, the actual date of expiration would fall in mid-December, just days before new season is scheduled to start.
Smart money says that the two sides will reach an agreement. Too much money is at stake for them to falter at this point. But they’re now down to brass tacks: how much money will be withheld from player salaries during a shortened, fan-free season. Unlike start date or health provisions, that issue is harder to negotiated, as each bit of “give” from one side costs the other correspondingly.