Salary Cap

NBA Sets Estimated Average Salary, Early Bird Exception For 2020/21

November 12th, 2020 at 4:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed today that the estimated average salary for the 2020/21 season will be $10,000,000, while the Early Bird exception amount will be $10,047,450, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter links).

The estimated average salary for a league year is defined as 104.5% of the average salary for the NBA’s previous league year, while the Early Bird amount is 105% of the previous average salary. Those figures are important for different reasons.

When a player signs a veteran contract extension, he can receive a starting salary worth either 120% of the final-year salary in his current deal or 120% of the league’s estimated average salary. So, extension-eligible players earning below $10MM in 2020/21 will be able to receive $12MM in the first season of a four-year extension.

As Marks notes, this would apply to players like Trail Blazers wing Gary Trent Jr., Nuggets guard Monte Morris, and Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham. If they want to sign extensions this fall that go into effect in 2021/22, they’d be eligible to receive up to $53.76MM over four years.

As for the Early Bird exception, it represents the starting salary that teams can offer to their own free agents using Early Bird rights, assuming that amount is greater than 175% of the player’s previous salary.

This will apply this offseason to free agents like Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo and Pistons big man Christian Wood. If their own teams want to re-sign them using Early Bird rights, the offers won’t be able to exceed $10,047,450 in year one. In order to offer a higher starting salary, those teams would have to use cap room (which the Pistons will have, but the Lakers won’t).

Because the salary cap isn’t increasing or decreasing for 2020/21, other values tied to the cap will remain unchanged. This applies to the maximum and minimum salaries, as well as the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, as we explained earlier in the week. The tax apron ($138,928,000) and the limit on cash sent/received in trades ($5,617,000) will also be the same in ’20/21 as they were in ’19/20.

NBA Minimum Salaries For 2020/21

November 10th, 2020 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Most NBA clubs will enter this year’s free agent period without any cap room, but each of the league’s 30 franchises will be on common ground in one respect: No team will be ineligible to sign a player to a minimum salary contract.

Teams with cap room available will have a little more flexibility to sign players to longer-term minimum salary contracts, but over-the-cap clubs will still be able to use the minimum salary exception to add as many players as roster limits allow, for contracts of up to two years. Unlike other exceptions, such as the mid-level or the bi-annual, the minimum salary exception can be used multiple times.

Undrafted free agents and late second-round picks are often recipients of minimum salary contracts, but there are plenty of veterans who end up settling for the minimum too. Because a player’s minimum salary is determined by how much NBA experience he has, many veterans will earn more than twice as much money as a rookie will in 2020/21 on a minimum salary contract.

Listed below are 2020/21’s minimum salary figures, sorted by years of NBA experience. If a player spent any time on an NBA club’s active regular season roster in a given season, he earned one year of experience. So any player with zero years of experience has not yet made his NBA debut.

These figures are the same as in 2019/20, since the NBA has artificially set its ’20/21 salary cap to match last season’s.

Here’s the full breakdown:

Years of Experience	Salary
0	$898,310
1	$1,445,697
2	$1,620,564
3	$1,678,854
4	$1,737,145
5	$1,882,867
6	$2,028,594
7	$2,174,318
8	$2,320,044
9	$2,331,593
10+	$2,564,753

Because the NBA doesn’t want teams to avoid signing veteran players in favor of cheaper, younger players, the league reimburses clubs who sign veterans with three or more years of experience to one-year, minimum salary contracts. Those deals will only count against the cap – and against a team’s bank balance – for $1,620,564, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience.

For instance, if Courtney Lee – who has 12 years of NBA experience – signs a one-year, minimum salary contract with a new team, that team would only be charged $1,620,564 for Lee’s contract. He’d earn $2,564,753, but the NBA would make up the difference. This only applies to one-year contracts, rather than multiyear deals.

If a player signs a minimum salary contract after the regular season begins, he’ll earn a pro-rated portion of the amount listed above. Those figures also only apply to players who are signing new contracts in 2020/21. Players who are in the second, third, or fourth year of a minimum salary deal will be earning a slightly different predetermined amount.

For instance, a player like Raptors guard Terence Davis, who has one year of NBA experience, will be earning a $1,517,981 salary in the second year of his contract, exceeding the $1,445,697 he’d receive if he were signing a new minimum deal this fall. More details on multiyear minimum contracts can be found at RealGM.

Values Of 2020/21 Mid-Level, Bi-Annual Exceptions

November 10th, 2020 at 11:49am CST by Luke Adams

The salary cap for the 2020/21 NBA league year has officially been set, with the league announcing that the cap will be $109,140,000 — the same as it was in ’19/20.

Under the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the values of the mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions are tied to the percentage that the salary cap shifts in a given year. Because the cap figure for 2020/21 doesn’t represent an increase or decrease, the values of the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions won’t increase or decrease either.

Listed below are the maximum annual and total values of each of these exceptions, along with a brief explanation of how they work and which teams will have access to them.

Mid-Level Exception (Non-Taxpayer):

Year	Salary
2020/21	$9,258,000
2021/22	$9,720,900
2022/23	$10,183,800
2023/24	$10,646,700
Total	$39,809,400

The non-taxpayer mid-level exception is the primary tool available for over-the-cap teams to add free agents. As long as a team hasn’t dipped below the cap to use cap space and doesn’t go over the tax apron ($138,928,000) at all, it can use this MLE, which runs for up to four years with 5% annual raises.

Mid-Level Exception (Taxpayer):

Year	Salary
2020/21	$5,718,000
2021/22	$6,003,900
2022/23	$6,289,800
Total	$18,011,700

If an over-the-cap team currently projects to be a taxpayer, or expects to move into tax territory later in the 2020/21 season, it will have access to this smaller mid-level exception for taxpaying teams.

If a team uses more than $5,718,000 of its mid-level exception, it is forbidden from surpassing the tax apron at any time during the league year. So even if a team isn’t above the apron when it uses its MLE, it might make sense to play it safe by avoiding using the full MLE and imposing a hard cap.

The taxpayer MLE can be used to sign a player for up to three years, with 5% annual raises.

Room Exception:

Year	Salary
2020/21	$4,767,000
2021/22	$5,005,350
Total	$9,772,350

Although this is also a mid-level exception of sorts, it’s colloquially known as the “room” exception, since it’s only available to teams that go below the cap and use their cap room.

If a club goes under the cap, it loses its full mid-level exception, but gets this smaller room exception, which allows the team to go over the cap to sign a player once the team has used up all its cap space. It can be used to sign players for up to two years, with a 5% raise for the second season.

Bi-Annual Exception:

Year	Salary
2020/21	$3,623,000
2021/22	$3,804,150
Total	$7,427,150

The bi-annual exception, as its name suggests, is only available to teams once every two years. Of the NBA’s 30 clubs, only four – the Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pistons, and Raptors – used it in 2019/20, so they won’t have access to it in 2020/21. The league’s other 26 teams could theoretically use it this season.

Still, even if a team didn’t use its BAE in ’19/20, that club doesn’t necessarily have access to it for the coming year. As is the case with the non-taxpayer MLE, this exception disappears once a team goes under the cap. It’s also not available to teams over the tax apron — using the BAE creates a hard cap at the apron.

The BAE can be used to sign players for up to two years, with a 5% raise after year one.

Note: Be sure to check out our Hoops Rumors Glossary installments for more information on the mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception.

NBA Maximum Salaries For 2020/21

November 10th, 2020 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

Now that the NBA has set its salary cap for the 2020/21 league year at $109,140,000, we have a clear idea of what maximum-salary contracts will look like for the coming season. Conveniently, with the cap unchanged from 2019/20, this year’s max deals will look a whole lot like last year’s.

We’ll likely soon be able to apply these numbers to contracts for free agents Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram. They’re also relevant for players who signed maximum-salary extensions in 2019 that will go into effect in ’20/21, such as Jamal Murray.

Listed below are the maximum-salary contracts for players signing contracts that start in 2020/21. The first chart shows the maximum salaries for a player re-signing with his own team — a player’s previous team can offer five years instead of four, and 8% annual raises instead of 5% raises. The second chart shows the maximum salaries for a player signing with a new team.

A player’s maximum salary is generally determined by his years of NBA experience, so there’s a wide gap between potential earnings for younger and older players. In the charts below, the “6 years or less” column details the maximum contracts for players like Ingram and Murray; the “7-9 years” column applies to free agents like Davis; and the “10+ years” column applies to the league’s most experienced vets, none of whom are particularly strong candidates for max deals this fall.

Here are the maximum salary figures for 2020/21:

A player re-signing with his own team (8% annual raises, up to five years):

Year	6 years or less	7-9 years	10+ years
2020/21	$27,285,000	$32,742,000	$38,199,000
2021/22	$29,467,800	$35,361,360	$41,254,920
2022/23	$31,650,600	$37,980,720	$44,310,840
2023/24	$33,833,400	$40,600,080	$47,366,760
2024/25	$36,016,200	$43,219,440	$50,422,680
Total	$158,253,000	$189,903,600	$221,554,200

A player signing with a new team (5% annual raises, up to four years):

Year	6 years or less	7-9 years	10+ years
2020/21	$27,285,000	$32,742,000	$38,199,000
2021/22	$28,649,250	$34,379,100	$40,108,950
2022/23	$30,013,500	$36,016,200	$42,018,900
2023/24	$31,377,750	$37,653,300	$43,928,850
Total	$117,325,500	$140,790,600	$164,255,700

There’s also one last category of maximum salary worth outlining for 2020/21. Sixers guard/forward Ben Simmons and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam both signed rookie scale extensions last year that would have been worth the maximum allowable starting salary for players with their experience level (25% of the cap).

However, because Rose Rule language was written into each player’s contract, and both Simmons and Siakam made All-NBA teams in 2020, they’ll be eligible for a slightly higher starting salary worth 28% of the cap. It’s a sort of pseudo-max, since the two stars could technically have received up to 30% of the cap in 2020/21 if they’d made the All-NBA First Team.

Here’s what Simmons’ five-year deal and Siakam’s four-year pact will look like:

Year	Ben Simmons	Pascal Siakam
2020/21	$30,559,200	$30,559,200
2021/22	$33,003,936	$33,003,936
2022/23	$35,448,672	$35,448,672
2023/24	$37,893,408	$37,893,408
2024/25	$40,338,144	—
Total	$177,243,360	$136,905,216

Finally, it’s worth noting that none of the maximum-salary figures listed above will apply to extension-eligible players whose new contracts would start in 2021/22.

This group includes players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is eligible for a super-max extension with the Bucks. It also includes veterans who have already signed maximum-salary extensions, like Damian Lillard with the Trail Blazers, and players who could sign rookie scale extensions in the coming weeks, such as Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Kings guard De’Aaron Fox.

Even if they sign new deals sooner rather than later, the exact value of their next contracts will depend on where the cap lands for ’21/22. The NBA has announced that the cap for next year could increase anywhere from 3-10% on this season’s figure, so there’s still a wide range of possible values for those future deals.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NBA, NBPA Agree To Amended CBA; Free Agency To Begin Nov. 20

November 10th, 2020 at 5:09am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have reached an agreement on an amended Collective Bargaining Agreement in advance of the 2020/21 league year, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps. The league and union issued a press release confirming the news.

As a result of the agreement, free agency will begin on 6:00 pm eastern time on Friday, November 20, less than 48 hours after the November 18 draft. After a brief moratorium, signings will officially be permitted starting on Sunday, November 22 at 12:01 pm.

Here are several of the other highlights of the new deal:

As expected, the regular season will begin on December 22 and there will be a 72-game schedule. The full schedule will be released at a later date.
The salary cap will once again be $109,140,000 and the luxury tax line will be $132,627,000. Those are the same numbers as in 2019/20. As a result, figures like minimum and maximum salaries and mid-level/bi-annual amounts will remain the same.
The NBA will reduce the luxury tax bill of taxpaying teams at the end of 2020/21 season by the percentage amount that the league’s Basketball Related Income falls short of its initial projections. For instance, a 30% decline in BRI would result in a 30% reduction of a taxpayer’s bill — say, from $10MM to $7MM. This should benefit projected taxpayers such as the Warriors, Nets, Celtics, and Sixers, among others.
The cap will increase by a minimum of 3% per year and a maximum of 10% per year through the rest of the current CBA. For 2021/22, that means the cap will be at least $112,414,200, and could be as high as $120,054,000.
The standard 10% of player salaries will continue to be held in escrow for the time being. Any necessary salary reductions will be spread out over next season and the following two seasons, but players can never have more than 20% of their salaries withheld in a single season.

The NBA’s transaction freeze remains in place for now, but the expectation is that it will be lifted early next week, perhaps two or three days before the November 18 draft, according to Bontemps and Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Once that freeze ends, teams will be permitted to formally finalize trades and other roster moves.

The league is also expected to soon announce new dates and deadlines for player/team option decisions, certain salary guarantees, qualifying offer decisions, and the expiration of trade exceptions.

NBPA Approves December 22 Start For 2020/21 Season

November 6th, 2020 at 6:52am CST by Luke Adams

The National Basketball Players Association board of representatives voted on Thursday night in a favor of an NBA proposal to start the 2020/21 regular season on December 22 and play a 72-game schedule, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of The Athletic.

A number of players had been advocating for a later opening night, given how long the 2019/20 season ran, and January 18 was the other start date being considered. However, the NBA estimated that a pre-Christmas start would save up to $500MM and $1 billion in revenue, and a mid-January start would have resulted in a shorter season (around 60 games). As a result, the players ultimately came around on the league’s plan.

The result of the NBPA’s vote doesn’t make the December 22 start date official. As the union indicated in a statement confirming the news, there are still additional financial and logistical details to be negotiated. However, both sides are confident that agreements can be reached on those issues.

As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, determining what portion of player salaries will be placed into escrow is one important issue the NBA and NBPA need to resolve. According to Charania, the two sides are discussing an escrow in the 17-18% range for player salaries over the next two years, in the hopes that that amount can be reduced to the usual 10% by 2022/23. That would help cushion the blow of the lost revenues for players, spreading the hit over multiple seasons rather than having them bear the brunt of it in ’20/21.

Negotiations between the NBA and NBPA on that subject and other financial issues are expected to extend into next week, sources tell Wojnarowski. Once the two sides reach a formal agreement, the league can lift its moratorium on transactions, allowing teams to conduct trades and other roster moves before the November 18 draft. The transaction freeze is expected to end by November 16, per Charania.

The league and the union hope to open free agency as quickly as possible after the draft, since there will be a very short window before teams have to open training camps on December 1, says Wojnarowski. The start date for free agency still isn’t official, but seems likely to fall within two or three days of the draft.

The salary cap for the 2020/21 season is expected to remain unchanged, with the NBA and NBPA artificially setting at $109.141MM despite projected revenue losses. The league and the union are discussing the possibility of agreeing to have the cap increase by 2% annually for the remainder of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, per Charania (Twitter link). That would mean a cap of $111.324MM for the ’21/22 campaign.

Meanwhile, the league and the union will also have to agree to a set of safety and health protocols as they look to play the 2020/21 season in teams’ respective home arenas rather than in a single-site bubble, even as the number of coronavirus cases around the U.S. continues to rise. Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook were among the players who said on Thursday’s call that they want to view the official health and safety measures before fully committing to the season, sources tell Charania.

According to a Thursday report, there’s hope that – at least in some markets – fans will be able to attend games in person with limited capacities and strict safety regulations in place. If that’s possible, it would help offset some of the league’s projected revenue losses.

The NBA will have to decide soon where the Raptors will be playing in ’20/21, since there are still significant restrictions in place on cross-border travel between the U.S. and Canada. Newark has been one of several cities discussed as a possibility.

While the league hasn’t yet finalized a schedule for 2020/21, Charania previously reported that the expectation is the season will run from December 22 through mid-May, with the NBA Finals finishing around July 22, just in time for the start of the Tokyo Olympics.

The league is expected to reduce teams’ travel by 25% and there will likely be a six-day All-Star break in early March, though it’s not clear if an All-Star Game will actually be played. The NBA is also hoping to conduct a play-in tournament for the final two seeds in each conference.

Play-In Tournament Could Decide Bottom Seeds In Each Conference

November 2nd, 2020 at 8:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A play-in tournament to decide the final two playoff spots in each conference seems likely, Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN report.

The tournament being discussed would include teams with the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th best records. A 7 vs. 8 matchup would decide the No. 7 seed in the conference playoffs. The winner of the 9-10 game would then face the loser of the 7-8 game to decide the No. 8 seed.

The tournament would create another revenue stream for the league, which is trying to find ways to make up for last season’s losses due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the likelihood of having few or no fans in the stands for at least a portion of next season. Having more teams participate in the proposed format could also decrease some teams’ desire to tank.

There are concerns of unfairly penalizing a team in the No. 7 slot that has a strong record. However, no standings trigger has been discussed to date.

Commissioner Adam Silver said negotiations between the league and Players Association had reached a critical stage with an increasingly short window to reach an agreement to allow for a December 22 start.

In other developments regarding negotiations, per the ESPN duo:

The league wants to expand guidelines on sports betting, hard alcohol and casinos in order to generate $80-100MM in revenue.
Significant increases in the escrow withholding on players’ salaries has been discussed. That includes the possibility of spreading out the players’ losses over multiple seasons, most likely three, so that they don’t take such a substantial financial hit in one year. If that’s the case, the salary cap and luxury tax levels would need to be set over the next three years.
The league recently told teams that 40% of Basketball Related Income (BRI), which is split between the two parties, could be lost without gate receipts this season.

Deadline For Terminating CBA Extended Once Again

October 30th, 2020 at 8:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

8:46pm: An NBPA statement issued to Charania (Twitter link) strikes an optimistic tone regarding negotiations: “Each of us has a stake in doing what’s fair, what’s best for our business and what respects the rights and interests of all stakeholders. We are confident we will get there.”

Meanwhile, Wojnarowski reports in his full ESPN.com story that the NBA fears delaying opening night to mid-January could result in potential losses of $500MM to $1 billion next season and beyond.

8:01pm: The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are once again extending the deadline for either side to serve notice on terminating the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new date is now next Friday, November 6, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

This the fourth time the two sides have agreed to extend the deadline, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. They are trying to hammer out modifications on the CBA, including next season’s salary cap and luxury tax thresholds. Discussions will continue this weekend, Wojnarowski adds.

The decision has been confirmed in an NBA Communications press release. If either side provides notice to terminate by November 6, the CBA will terminate on December 14 unless the parties agree otherwise.

The start of next season remains a point of contention, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The league is pushing for a pre-Christmas start, which would allow its TV partners to broadcast Christmas Day games. The NBPA still prefers a mid-January start date, most likely the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The league reportedly considered countering with a reduced 50-game season and significant reductions in salary if the NBPA insisted on the January start. However, a 50-game proposal hasn’t been put forth at this point, Wojnarowski reports in another tweet. Playing fewer games in the event of a January start hasn’t been raised but a 72-game schedule has been proposed with the December 22 start.

The league’s Board of Governors last week recommended the December start in part so that the 2021/22 season could begin at its normal starting point in late October.

Escrow withholding on player salaries due to reduced revenues without fans in the stands has also been a sticking point, Wojnarowski adds.

Roberts: NBPA “Won’t Be Rushed” On NBA’s Proposal

October 28th, 2020 at 9:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA and NBPA agreed earlier this month to push back the deadline that would allow either side to terminate the Collective Bargaining Agreement to October 30. However, with that deadline just two days away, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts tells Shams Charania of The Athletic that the players’ union expects negotiations to continue beyond this Friday.

“The union and the players are analyzing all of the information and will not be rushed,” Roberts said. “We have requested and are receiving data from the parties involved and will work on a counter-proposal as expeditiously as possible. I have absolutely no reason to believe that we will have a decision by Friday. I cannot and will not view Friday as a drop dead date.

“While we are all anxious to resolve these and other substantive issues outstanding between the parties, we plan to proceed at a pace that provides our players ample opportunity to determine the best way to proceed.”

The players, led by the NBPA, are currently reviewing the league’s proposal to begin the 2020/21 season on December 22. The plan is expected to require teams to begin training camps on December 1, which is just over a month away. The NBA Finals came to an end just two weeks ago, and Roberts suggested in her comments to The Athletic that the players are feeling rushed by the process.

“Given all that has to be resolved between now and a December 22 date, factoring that there will be financial risks by a later start date, it defies common sense that it can all be done in time,” Roberts said. “Our players deserve the right to have some runway so that they can plan for a start that soon. The overwhelming response from the players that I have received to this proposal has been negative.”

According to Charania, the NBA told teams on Wednesday that talks between the league and the players have been “productive” so far, and Roberts tells The Athletic that she believes the two sides are close to an agreement on salary cap figures for the 2020/21 season. The cap and tax are expected to remain right around $109MM and $132MM for next season, Charania reports.

However, the league and the union still need to bridge the gaps on issues such as how much player salary will be held in escrow in ’20/21, as well as the proposed December 22 start date, sources tell The Athletic.

According to Charania, commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged on Wednesday in a conversation with team presidents and general managers that the proposed turnaround is quicker than the NBA anticipated or planned, but said that the league’s TV partners have been pushing for a return to the NBA’s usual October-to-June calendar as soon as possible.

“We’re being strongly encouraged by our partners to work closely to a traditional season,” Silver said, per Charania. “It’s almost disconcerting we’re deep into planning for next season so soon. But the sooner we can get back, the better.”

Charania adds that if the players ultimately accept the NBA’s proposed timeline and report to camps at the start of December, the NBA hopes to conduct three-to-four preseason games to allow teams to “reset their arenas” for the regular season. A number of days at the start of camps would also be set aside for coronavirus testing before team activities are permitted, says Charania.

Latest Details On NBA’s Finances, Plans For 2020/21

October 28th, 2020 at 3:17pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s revenues dropped 10% to $8.3 billion during the 2019/20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and the controversy with China, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.

Those losses included $800MM in gate receipts and $400MM in sponsorships and merchandise, sources tell ESPN. The losses related to last year’s spat with China over Daryl Morey‘s tweet in support of Hong Kong protestors were estimated at $200MM.

The NBA did manage to recoup approximately $1.5 billion in revenue by restarting and completing the season during the summer, according to Woj and Lowe, who note that the bubble’s expenses totaled $190MM.

As Albert Nahmad and Eric Pincus point out in a Twitter thread, it sounds as if ESPN’s report is referring to gross income, since basketball related income (BRI) – which is used to determine the salary cap – was never projected to exceed $9 billion.

While the 2019/20 revenue losses are significant, the losses for ’20/21 will likely be more substantial, since the pandemic figures to affect the entire season rather than just the tail end of it. The NBA has told teams to prepare for a potential 40% loss of total revenue if fans can’t return to arenas, according to Wojnarowski and Lowe.

ESPN’s latest report on the state of the NBA includes a few more noteworthy details, so let’s round them up…

The expectation remains that the NBA and NBPA will look to artificially inflate the 2020/21 salary cap to keep it around its current level of $109MM, sources tell ESPN. Following the usual formula and linking it directly to league revenue would result in a drop to about $90MM, according to Wojnarowski and Lowe.
Amid rumors that some NBA players are pushing for a January 18 start to the 2020/21 season, Wojnarowski and Lowe refer to that possibility as an alternative that is “less palatable” to the league than its December 22 proposal. A mid-to-late January start would push the completion of the season into September, forcing the NBA to compete with the Tokyo Olympics and the start of football season, ESPN’s duo observes.
As the NBA plans its 2020/21 season, it is open to the idea of setting up regional “pods” and reducing inter-conference games in order to cut back on teams’ travel, per Woj and Lowe. While the league is hoping to have its teams play games at their home arenas, it’s also open to a modified bubble environment similar to what the MLB did during its postseason, sources tell ESPN.
The NBA is considering releasing its schedule for next season one half at a time in order to maintain flexibility in the event of postponed games and coronavirus outbreaks, according to ESPN. While the All-Star Game may not take place, the league still may look to schedule a mid-season break, which could also be used as a window to make up some postponed games.

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