While there’s no guarantees it’ll derail the hoped-for Christmas week start to the 2020-21 NBA season, there are rumblings a later start might in the cards — and that may not even be the most important information buried in a new article by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Charania relates that Michele Roberts and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) are pushing back on committing to a projected December 22nd start date for the coming season.
The NBPA is instead planning to thoroughly review the proposal to start the season so soon after the end of the last, with players concerned about time away from family and safety protocols in a season that will be played outside a ‘bubble’ environment, among other issues.
Ahead of next deadline on NBA CBA, NBPA’s Michele Roberts tells @TheAthleticNBA: “The union and the players…will not be rushed. Given all that has to be resolved between now and a Dec. 22 date…it defies common sense that it can all be done in time.”https://t.co/9uuBAznV15
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 29, 2020
In what could have a significant impact on how the Boston Celtics and the other 29 teams in the league approach team-building in the offseason, Charania also revealed that multiple sources have shared that they expect the league’s 2020-21 salary cap to be set at $109 million.
More importantly, the Athletic analyst has heard the luxury tax will be set at $132 million.
The latter figure — several million below what was estimated as likely by many experts — could impinge on the plans of many teams around the NBA as they seek to avoid the expense both now and in the future when a repeater tax may prematurely punish a number of expensive rosters.
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