NBA and players’ union agree to extend CBA opt-out period, sources say

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have agreed in principle to extend the December 15 deadline by which each side must announce plans to exit the collective bargaining agreement at the end of the 2022-23 season, sources told ESPN on Friday .

Talks on a new CBA are underway, and formal ratification of an extension – likely by February – is expected to come at a virtual Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday, sources said.

The current seven-year CBA expires after the 2023-24 season, but the possibility of either side pulling out of the agreement leaves the NBA vulnerable to a July 1, 2023 walkout. Pushing the date to notify the other side of one The opt-out allows the league and union to continue to strive for a new, long-term collective agreement.

In talks, the NBA is pursuing the introduction of a spending cap, a systemic change that has met significant opposition from unions, sources said.

In the wake of big-market competitors like the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, and LA Clippers racking up massive wage bills and luxury tax penalties, the NBA is proposing a system that would replace the luxury tax with a hard limit that teams would not exceed could pay salaries, sources said.