Latest On Collective Bargaining Agreement Talks

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association should finalize the terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement within the next few weeks, reports Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. A source familiar with the CBA negotiations tells O’Connor that a new agreement could be reached “just after Thanksgiving” or in “early December.”

According to O’Connor, negotiations between the league and the players’ union have gone smoothly so far, since there has been a good working relationship between commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, and both sides are in agreement on keeping the players’ share of basketball-related income at about the same rate it’s at under the current CBA.

O’Connor’s piece also features several more new details about the upcoming CBA, so let’s round those up…

• According to O’Connor, the preseason schedule is expected to be cut down a little, perhaps to accommodate an earlier start to the regular season. That would allow schedule-makers to include fewer back-to-backs for teams during the season, and would make it easier to avoid any four-games-in-five-days stretches.
• The NBA is expected to make changes to its domestic violence policy and its drug testing procedure. There has been a lack of consistency when it comes to suspensions and other penalties for domestic violence, so the new CBA figures to feature a more detailed and thorough policy.
• While the players are still expected to get about 49-51% of the NBA’s basketball-related income, there will likely be an expanded definition of what constitutes BRI, per O’Connor.
• Meanwhile, ESPN’s Marc Stein also has another update on the new CBA, writing that D-League salaries are set to increase significantly. Currently, D-League player salaries range from $19-26K, but the new CBA will increase those rates to something in the neighborhood of $50-75K, according to Stein. Two-way contracts are also expected to be a part of the new CBA, increasing NBA roster size from 15 players to 18.