NBA, players agree to terms for 2020-21 season, including salary cap, free will

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association released a joint statement late Monday evening, announcing that the two sides had in principle reckoned on several critical issues regarding the 2020-21 season.

Among the new points agreed is that free agent negotiations will begin November 20 at 6 p.m. ET and purchases can take place starting at 12:01 am ET on November 22.

There is still no date for lifting the moratorium on trafficking, but sources told both ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and New York Times’ Marc Stein that it should be lifted two or three days before the draft.

The salary cap ($ 109.1 million) and the luxury tax line ($ 132.6 million) will effectively remain the same for 2020-21 as they were for 2019-20. Subsequent seasons under the existing collective bargaining agreement will see both the maximum limit and tax lines increase by a minimum of 3% and a maximum of 10%.

If there are major decreases in basketball-related income (BIS), team tax payments will also decrease by a proportionate amount.

The two sides also reached a compromise on the escrow system used to balance the BIS. Any salary reductions deemed necessary beyond the standard 10% deposit will be distributed this season and potentially the next two as well. No wage reduction will exceed 20% in any season.