There have been multiple positive reports on the progress of Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations between the NBA and the players’ union within the last week, with Adrian Wojnarowski suggesting last Thursday that both sides are optimistic about reaching a deal within the next few weeks. Commissioner Adam Silver followed up over the weekend by publicly expressing optimism about the CBA talks.
Speaking again today from China about CBA negotiations, Silver indicated that the league will resume labor talks with the NBPA next week, per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link). “Both sides are very engaged and eager to get a deal done,” Silver said.
Here are a few more notes and updates on the league’s CBA:
- Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders identifies a few areas of the CBA that may be addressed and tweaked in the next agreement. In Pincus’ view, the two sides should attempt to further incentivize in-season veteran contract extensions, and should ensure that salary scales like the mid-level exception and the rookie scale are tied to salary cap increases. Expanding the NBA’s draft and D-League could also be on the docket.
- Count LeBron James among those who are “very optimistic” about a new labor agreement being reached soon, as Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com details. “The most important thing is that our game is as big as it’s ever been,” said James, an executive vice president for the players’ union. “And we want to continue that, and a stoppage of play will not continue that.”
- In a piece for The Washington Post, Tim Bontemps makes a point similar to LeBron’s, writing that the NBA and NBPA need to turn their positive momentum into a new deal in order to avoid jeopardizing the NBA’s current success.