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The NBPA player rep vote has completed, approving a December 22 start/72-game regular season, source tells ESPN. Next up: NBA/NBPA finishes financial terms on amended CBA, which will take into next week. Expect trade moratorium to be lifted shortly prior to Nov. 18 Draft.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 6, 2020
Roughly twelve hours ago, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the NBA and the player’s union had agreed to terms regarding the 2020-21 season. While the negotiations will continue and the specifics regarding the salary cap and luxury tax are still to be determined, we are going to have Milwaukee Bucks basketball very soon.
The league and players are still negotiating financial terms of an amended collective bargaining agreement, and those talks are expected to extend into next week, sources said. Once a formal agreement is reached, the league will lift a moratorium and reopen the league for business on trades prior to the draft.
The league believes that a Dec. 22 start that includes Christmas Day games on television and allows for a 72-game schedule that finishes before the Summer Olympics in July is worth between $500 million and $1 billion in short- and long-term revenues to the league and the players, sources said.
Sources The NBA and NBPA are discussing a minimum of 2 percent annual growth in the salary cap and luxury tax for the duration of the collective bargaining agreement. Cap is expected to be $109M this offseason.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 6, 2020
To be clear, the offseason is not imminently starting, because not all of the terms have been agreed to. There is still much to decide regarding the financial benchmarks each team will adhere to, the calendar of offseason events (besides the draft, which is November 18), and how the league will operate safely in a world still reckoning with the coronavirus pandemic. The NBA is going to have to be flexible to achieve their goals, which are largely financially motivated but also a welcome development for basketball lovers everywhere.
First, there won't be finalized deal between NBA/NBPA until just prior to draft. Teams would be managing FA and draft simultaneously. Also, switching order starts new salary cap year earlier, offering some teams edge in draft-related trades that otherwise wouldn't be possible. https://t.co/GLUZzGROJU
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 6, 2020
In the meantime, we at least know what milestones we have coming up. The NBA Draft is in less than two weeks, and the start of the 2020-21 NBA season, for better or for worse, will happen in less than seven weeks. As more news comes out, we’ll be sure to provide updates and our analysis on what this means for the Bucks.