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Good morning, folks. Once again, we’ve made it through another week. This one was longer than most others, but we’ve got some great news to lead us into the weekend.
Of course, that being that the NBA has settled on a Dec 22 start date, a 72-game regular season, and various other details that we’ll get to.
We discussed the Dec 22 start date on Wednesday, so we won’t hit on that much more here, other than the fact that there was simply no chance the league was going to budge on that.
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
Lifting the trade moratorium slightly prior to the draft makes sense. There’s no point in making teams wait until draft night to begin agreeing to trades. With any luck, we’ll start to hear some legitimate trade buzz very, very soon.
The NBA and NBPA are expected to discuss moving up the start of free agency as early as possible to accommodate players joining new teams so close to a Dec. 1 start of training camps, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 6, 2020
You want chaos? Well, damn it, I’ll give you chaos. I’d assume that part of the reason for moving up free agency is that free agency has basically already started in the shadows. Teams, other than the Lakers and Heat, have been off for a looooooong time. I refuse to believe teams haven’t already started to negotiate deals in the shadows.
What makes this really exciting is that changing the order of operations means teams may begin to fill holes on their roster before the draft. To me, that’s going to make the draft much more interesting.
Unfortunately, the NBA wants to ruin our fun.
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
Nevertheless, this is something I’d like to see in the future. I honestly think it makes more sense to run free agency first, and then follow it with the draft than vice versa. Mostly, though, the idea of monster free agents remaining unsigned at the time of the draft, but being eligible to sign at any moment, is a super interesting idea and opens up cleaner, easier sign-and-trade alternatives.
Lastly, here’s a few financial updates.
The NBA and NBPA will now work to finalize health and safety protocols for the 2020-21 season. Sides are discussing a 17-to-18 percent escrow of player salaries over the next two years — with the hope the withholding amount is down to normal 10 percent in 2022-23. https://t.co/fuv9otV3vl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 6, 2020
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