The NBA and the NBPA have once again pushed back the deadline for either side to serve notice on terminating the Collective Bargaining Agreement, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the deadline will be moved from today to Monday, November 9.
This the fifth time the two sides have agreed to extend the deadline, including the third time in the last three weeks. The league and union continue to work toward finalizing modifications to the CBA, including establishing new free agency dates and deadlines and determining how much player salary will be held in escrow for the next couple seasons. Those discussions will likely continue this weekend.
The NBA and NBPA cleared a key hurdle late last night, when the players’ union voted to approve the December 22 start date for the 2020/21 season proposed by the league. With a pre-Christmas start and a 72-game season tentatively agreed upon, the two sides can focus on figuring out the outstanding logistical and financial issues, as well as the health and safety protocols for the coming season.
If the league and the union are still negotiating on those issues by the end of the day on Monday, it’s a safe bet that the CBA termination deadline will be extended by a few more days. However, there’s an expectation that an agreement will be in place before the end of next week, with the November 18 draft fast approaching.
I hope everyone can just get a long…that’s seriously all I’m asking for