The NBA and the players’ union have reached a preliminary agreement on the start of the 2020-21 season and an amended collective agreement, both parties said Monday night.
The agreement stipulates that the free office starts at 18.00 hours. And on Friday the 20th. November, two days after the NBA project next week.
As agreed last week, the regular season starts on December 22nd and the program consists of 72 games.
The salary ceiling has been set at $109.1 million. The luxury tax would amount to 132.6 million dollars. The $20 million is the amount for the 2019-20 season, before the competition’s finances are hit hard by the current COWID 19 pandemic. The teams have calculated that both figures would remain unchanged for some time next season, as it would be better for teams and players to avoid a sharp reduction in the wage limit for the next season due to an unexpected drop in revenues.
It is guaranteed that the wage ceiling will be raised by at least 3% – and no more than 10% – per year during the remaining term of the collective agreement.
Both parties also reached a compromise on the deposit system to spread the losses over several seasons. This leaves a typical 10% deposit. If players’ salaries have to be reduced by more than 10%, losses will be spread over this and the next two seasons – and players will never be able to keep more than 20% of their salary for a season. Both sides hope that in the coming seasons, once the pandemic is over, the league will be able to return to a normal financial situation.
Sources also indicated that in an effort to reduce the tax burden on teams that had planned pay limits and that the luxury tax continues to rise steadily, the NBA will reduce the luxury tax for teams at the end of the 2021 season by a percentage that basketball league revenues are lower than originally planned.
For example, if it is reduced from the planned $8.45 billion to $5.9 billion – a reduction of 30 percent – the Golden State Warriors’ bill for luxury taxes will be reduced from $60 million to $42 million.
Another way to reduce taxes on luxury goods could benefit the Golden States – perhaps by taking advantage of the $17.2 million trade exemption that Andre Igudala received from this trade last summer. If the Warriors had bought a player for such a large amount in return, their tax bill would have risen to $149 million. However, lower sales in the whole league could lead to a reduction to $45 million.
Currently, four teams – the Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers – are subject to the luxury tax, although this number is likely to increase as the limit and tax will now remain the same.
It is unlikely that the teams will receive the official league numbers at the end of the week, once a final official agreement has been reached. The League’s current corporate moratorium is also expected to be lifted early next week, just before the NBA project is scheduled for the League’s 18th annual meeting. The month of November is planned.
This will result in a hectic and compressed off-season and the free agency is expected to start shortly after the project – all less than two weeks before rates start on January 1st. December.
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