There was a feeling within the NBA late last week that unless they were able to strike a new CBA, they were heading towards another lockout. As Carmelo Anthony said to ESPN, he was very unsure if a deal could be done prior to it expiring on Thursday. Well, there is no need to worry about the NBA facing a lockout as the two sides were able to agree on a new seven-year deal.
On Wednesday night after it was announced that the two sides have come to some sort of agreement, the NBA and the NBPA would end up releasing a joint press release announcing the new CBA. It still needs to be ratified by the players and team owners, but many people within the inner circle feel that there won’t be any reason this new CBA doesn’t go through.
Here is the statement that was released on Wednesday night by the NBA and NBPA regarding the new CBA:
The NBA and NBPA have reached a tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, pending ratification by players and team owners.
In order to give both sides enough time to review the terms of the agreement and vote to ratify, the parties have agreed to extend the mutual deadline to opt out of the existing CBA from Dec.15,2016 to Jan. 13,2017.
Specific terms will be made available at a later date.
This is phenomenal news for the NBA as it means there will be no lockout in 2017 and next season can go on without a hitch. However, what is interesting to note is that there has not been any specifics released regarding the new CBA. However, reports have been circulating that there may be salary increases in the D-League, and the preseason being reduced, thus allowing the regular season to start around October 15th of 2017.
More than likely, the specifics of the new CBA will be released to the public sometime in the future. But for now, the terms don’t matter as what really matters now is that the owners and players came to an agreement that would relinquish any thought of a lockout during the 2017 season.