(AP) - It’s official: The NBA is coming back Dec. 22.
The NBA’s board of governors unanimously approved Tuesday the financial terms and oth-
er parameters that were negotiated between the league and its players. Those talks were com- pleted late Monday night, when the league and National Basketball Play- ers Association announced they are in agreement on a revised collective bar- gaining agreement for this coming season — setting the stage for a frenzied few weeks before games resume.
Teams will play a 72- game schedule, which will be revealed in the coming weeks. The league said a new system will be used to ensure that the split of basketball-related income continues, one of the biggest deals that had to be worked out with the union because the cur- rent agreement between the sides had a great deal of language that needed reworking because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Negotiations with free agents will be allowed to begin at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20, with signings permitted starting at 12:01 p.m. on Nov. 22 — an extraordi- narily fast window for the NBA, which typically has about a week spanning the start of talks and the beginning of signings. But with training camps this year beginning Dec. 1, both sides evidently feel there isn’t a need to draw out the process any longer than necessary.
Many rosters could be considerably reshaped by then, with trades likely to be permissible again in the coming days — the exact details there still being worked out — and the NBA draft set to take place Nov. 18. Player and team options likely will be settled around that same time. Free agency starts two days after the draft, with around 100 players set for unrestricted status.
There are countless other issues to work out, such as all the health and safety protocols now that games won’t be played in the safety of a bubble and teams will be traveling to various cities once again. And those talks are con- tinuing, the league said.
Players were tested daily in the bubble, and nobody tested positive because of the very strict protocols. It’ll be much tougher to avoid a COVID-related issue with the league back to some sort of normalcy this season.