NBA, NBPA Likely To Extend CBA Opt-Out Deadline

According to The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, there’s a good chance the Feb. 8 deadline for either the league or the National Basketball Players Association to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement will be pushed back again.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told a press conference in Paris, France on Thursday that negotiations are underway. NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio was also in Paris for the Bulls-Pistons game, but negotiations were taking place in the United States.

“Our colleagues are back in New York negotiating as we speak,” Silver said. “They have been meeting all week, going issue by issue and trying to resolve the issues that separate us. I would say, though, that I think we’re starting from a very solid base.

The original withdrawal date was December 15, but the league’s board of governors and players’ association agreed to an extension.

“There is a strong sense of partnership between the players and the league,” Silver said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have disagreements.”

The current CBA, which came into effect in 2017, extends until the 2023/24 season. However, the league and the players’ union hold a mutual option to end this agreement at the end of the league year 22/23 (June 30).

The new collective agreement is expected to allow players to enter the draft right out of high school. The current rule that players must be 19 or one year out of high school was instituted in 2006.

League owners have pushed for an “upper spending limit” that would significantly tighten rules on how much teams can spend each year on their roster, effectively serving as a hard cap to replace the current luxury tax system.