Tag: 2020-21 nba season

NBA, NBPA modify CBA for 2020-21 season; may have big impact on Celts

With the NBA and NBPA agreeing on a plan to modify the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement to start the 2020-21 season, a number of changes may impact Boston.

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have agreed to a modification to the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in order to begin the season on December 22nd according to a memo circulated by the league.

The most important points include the formal approval of the start date, a 72-game schedule, a $109.1 million salary cap and a $132 million luxury tax, and free agency beginning on November 20th, two days after the 2020 NBA draft, and signings to be allowed two days after that on November 22nd.

It also includes keeping the escrow system used to prevent overpaying players in the event of a shortfall, but with the potential for raising it up to 20% in future seasons to make up for any discrepancies.

Interestingly, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski details that the moratorium on trades will likely be lifted along with options dates being set a few days before the 2020 draft.

Meaning teams will have a better idea of how free agency and team-building through the draft might be affected.

For the Boston Celtics, this is impactful for several reasons.

Most importantly, it will allow them to shift draft-night plans to account for whether they believe players like Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter should be on their rosters when the coming season ends (more on that shortly).

And for a team with three first round picks it can’t really use, that could really do a lot for the team in terms of helping them decide whether to deal some or all of them away for veteran help.

The news also means Boston is almost certain to be a taxpaying team, barring Hayward opting out and leaving in free agency.

It removes much of the incentive for Hayward to sign out and opt in at a lower rate to avoid getting hit with a 20% escrow withholding rate no longer under consideration for this season, according to Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith.

Meaning an opt-out is a clear sign he plans to leave the team.

The most important issue is that this means Boston will now know what they have to work with come draft night, and could use Hayward’s and Kanter’s salary, again per Smith, to be included in a trade before the draft so long as they opt into their current deal.

The Celtics being in position to move Hayward and/or Kanter on draft night is not an option in a normal offseason.

Typically, the draft happens first and then players opt into or out of their current deals, shifting the balance of power firmly in the direction of Boston’s front office.

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NBA’s historically-short offseason a lingering concern around league

It is not without concern that the NBA moves towards a Dec. 22nd start to the 2020-21 season, with issues from soft tissue injury to COVID-19 protocols looming.

Despite the successful vote for the NBA to start the 2020-21 season on December 22nd, there is considerable concern about the lack of time between the last season and this coming one for several reasons, reports ESPN’s Baxter Holmes.

At just 71 days, it would be the shortest break between seasons of any major North American sport, and presents unique challenges given the ongoing pandemic which upended the league’s usual schedule this past March.

“It’s going to be especially challenging to not only get ready to play Dec. 22 or whatever but to maintain that for a period of four or five months,” related one team’s athletic trainer to Holmes on condition of anonymity.

And it isn’t just concern about conditioning, or even player injury given the short turnaround.

There’s also concern regarding safety precautions in games being played outside of a “bubble” environment — and how reintroducing travel, even in an abbreviated fashion limiting multiple trips to the same market, could complicate things.

Teams which played late into the Disney restart will have to weigh the risks of playing key players with little time to have rested, and teams who were eliminated early — or did not make the trip — could in some instances be even worse off.

Health protocols and having fans in arenas are among several issues still being negotiated, and ESPN anticipates decisions that may add clarity by or before Thanksgiving based on feedback from multiple league sources.

With the pandemic worsening in much of the country, and one of the league’s teams — the Toronto Raptors — potentially needing a temporary home in the U.S. due to international travel restrictions, there may yet be hurdles to such an outcome.

But we’ll grant the league credit after the Disney bubble; even if this may be a more difficult challenge, the league has demonstrated it deserves our trust regarding the logistical capabilities needed to pull things off safely.

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NBA to begin season Dec. 22nd, potentially start free agency Nov. 19

The NBA’s 2020-21 season is officially set to begin on December 22nd, and several other important issues were decided Thursday evening.

It’s officially set with the vote behind them — the NBA will start its 2020-21 NBA season on December 22nd, per multiple sources.

The league and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have worked out a plan to play a 72-game season beginning on that date three days in advance of Christmas that will save up to $500 million in potential revenue for the league according to the Athletic’s Shams Charania.

It will also allow players to represent their home countries in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with no overlap of season while allowing a return to a closer-to-traditional league season schedule.

Free agency is expected to start soon after the draft to enable players to acclimate to their new teams if they change clubs in the period.

Perhaps as early as November 19th or 20th, with training camp set to begin on December 1st.

A plan to up player salary escrow — withheld to ensure a 50 – 50 split between team owners and players — to about 17 or 18% for the next two seasons to offset potential revenue loss is also expected.

Safety protocols for the pandemic are still under review, but expected to move forward with daily testing among other precautions.

The salary cap for the coming season is expected to remain at $109 million; no word on the tax rate but Charania has previously reported that it is expected at about $132 million.

The trade moratorium is expected to be lifted on November 16th — two days before the draft.

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Report: NBA, NBPA expected to agree on 12.22 start to 2020-21 season

The league and the Players Union are expected to support a plan to start the 2020-21 NBA season on Dec. 22nd in a vote on Friday.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…and no, this isn’t the start of the popular carol, but rather word that a consensus for a December 22nd start to the 2020-21 NBA season is anticipated by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Tweeting that at a Board of Governors’ meeting Thursday the league will share progress on that goal with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and team representatives, who may meet as soon as that afternoon.

He also notes  that they are “expected to get a consensus on approving a Dec. 22 tip,” notably.

The date is important to avoid the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, which would in turn have a dramatic effect on player salaries.

An alternative start date of January 18th was broached and was to be voted on Thursday evening or Friday according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, and it seems Woj believes the December date will ultimately carry the day.

Other issues under consideration are a number of revenue-generating possibilities related to gaming and alcohol sales, and a revamped version of the Disney restart play-in tournament.

The amount of player salary escrow — withheld each year to protect against shortfalls in league revenue — and how it will be applied in future seasons will also be under negotiation.

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Adam Silver: ‘time is running out’ for Christmas start to 2020-21 season

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes time is running out to get a deal in place to start the 2020-21 season before Christmas to save hundreds of millions in revenue.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver related to all 30 of the league’s general managers on a conference call that “time is running out” to secure a start date ahead of Christmas Day that would save the league “hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue,” per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.

The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and league continue negotiations after extending the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) deadline a fourth time this past Friday.

But, ESPN reports waning enthusiasm an agreement can be reached in time to salvage a plan for a 72-game season to start December 22nd given the need to start training camps on about December 1st to make the plan feasible.

There is still optimism a deal could be reached as the NBA looks to increase revenue streams to franchises via expanded sports betting, hard alcohol and casinos that could reportedly boost revenue by $80 – $100 million.

Another element up for discussion is a retooled version of the play-in tournament used in the Disney bubble.

This iteration would differ by involving seeds 7-10, with the seventh and eighth seeds playing to secure the seventh seed, and ninth and tenth seeds battling for a shot at stealing the eighth seed from the loser of the game to decide the seventh seed in a subsequent contest.

The NBA and NBPA have until Friday, November 6th to resolve their differences.

They include key issues such as how much player salary will be held in escrow until it is known how much revenue the league loses due to ongoing pandemic-related issues.

It will also address where the luxury tax and salary cap levels will be set in the coming and near-term future seasons among other, related concerns.

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NBPA executive director doesn’t see Friday as ‘drop dead date’

NBPA executive director Michele Roberts doesn’t see Friday as a date that is set in stone for the players to improve a new plan.

Friday is the current deadline for the NBA and the NBPA to agree to changes to the current collective bargaining agreement, including financial adjustments and other modifications to the schedule for the 2020-21 season. Reports for the past week have pegged a start date just before Christmas Day as the scenario the NBA’s Board of Governors, but from the words from NBPA executive director Michele Roberts to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, expecting an agreement to come on Friday is a little unlikely.

“The union and the players are analyzing all of the information and will not be rushed,” Roberts told The Athletic. “We have requested and are receiving data from the parties involved and will work on a counterproposal 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.”

Reports coming from earlier this week on the player’s side indicated a significant portion of the players, including stars, were pushing for a start to the season on January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Report: Christmas week start to 2020-21 season, late July end proposed

A Christmas week start to the 2020-21 NBA season might be in the works; what changes are under consideration and how might it affect the Boston Celtics?

The NBA offseason might have just gotten a lot shorter.

And for the basketball addicts among us, this is an unambiguously good thing; multiple sources are reporting that the Board of Governors meeting held today by the league resulted in a consensus push for a start as close to Christmas as possible.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports the season is planned to end before the July 23rd projected start date of the Tokyo Olympics, allowing players to participate and pushing the league back towards its usual calendar range.

Charania also notes the league aims for a 72-game schedule to begin on December 22nd, with a plan to have travel reduced by scheduling multiple games per visit between clubs on the table.

The play-in tournament model used for eighth seeds in the Disney bubble will also likely be employed.

While the fewer games might otherwise be a boon for older players like Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker, it’s quite possible the frequency those games will come at the expense of the benefit of having fewer games to play.

Many details remain undecided about the coming season, and much could change between now and late December.

For now however, we are starting to see the first tangible outlines of how the 2020-21 season will go.

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NBA in discussions to start before Christmas, have 70-72 game season

According to reporting from multiple outlets, the NBA Board of Governors has outlined a plan for a 70-72 game season to start in December.

It appears that reality has set in for the NBA that the next season will also be severely impacted by the pandemic and that the best thing to do is preserve the league calendar in hopes of coming back stronger in the 21-22 season. That could mean starting even a few days before Christmas Day.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania was the first to report the NBA’s consideration of a December 22 start date and a shortened schedule, taking the typical 82-game season down to 70-72. Most local television contracts need to hit the 70-game mark to be fulfilled and upholding television contracts, both local and national, seems to be the only thing within the league’s control right now.

It does look like the NBA will be planning on doing travel differently since the pandemic is ongoing and positive COVID-19 cases in most states are still rising.

Woj also reported that the All-Star Game and All-Star Weekend, scheduled for Indianapolis in 2021, is a potential sacrifice for the NBA, particularly while there is still no vaccine readily available.

The NBA and the NBPA currently have a deadline set of October 30 for making an agreement on modifications to the current collective bargaining agreement to address the challenges created by the virus.

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Adam Silver shares the 2020-21 season might start in another bubble

The 2020-21 NBA season may end up playing out in another bubble, according to league commissioner Adam Silver, but advances in testing tech could bring back in-person games.

The NBA bubble 2.0 might just have to happen, according to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

The 2019-20 season will go down in history as the longest season in league history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a four-month hiatus taken to plan and organize the Disney bubble to finish the season.

Speaking to the media at the league’s NBA Finals media availability session, Siver shared that the league may need to use a bubble format at least to start the 2020-21 NBA season, though he remained hopeful gains in testing technology might make it possible to have fans in home arenas once again.

“I’m hopeful that as we continue to study advancements in testing that, for example, rapid testing could make a big difference in terms of our ability to potentially get fans in buildings,” shared Silver.

As for the start of the next season?

“I’ve said previously that the earliest we would start at this point is Christmas,” related Silver.

“That’s been a traditional tentpole date for the league, but it may come and go. I’ve also said probably the greater likelihood is we’ll start in January. But remember, if we start in January, it means training camps have begun roughly three weeks earlier, and part of the consideration is that for these players, as I said at the open, in the longest season in the history of the NBA, many of them have continued training throughout the break, Finals will end in roughly mid-October, and they need a break physically and mentally.”

“There’s no question about that,” he added.

Whichever way the start of the next season plays out, it’s going to be an absolutely monumental undertaking for the league to pull off.

Thankfully for us, they’ve already showed us it can be done — and while safely delivering a compelling product as well.

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Four former Celtics are in the 2020 NBA Finals, even if Boston isn’t