NBA closing in on a new labour deal for 2017

NEW YORK — This season hasn’t started and NBA commissioner Adam Silver already has good news about next season.

It appears there’s no chance it will be affected by a work stoppage.

Silver said Friday the league and players have made “tremendous progress” toward an extension of the collective bargaining agreement.

Silver said he hopes a deal will be completed soon.

“We are not done. Done as we say as bargainers in terms of ultimately having a completed collective bargaining agreement, but we’re on our way toward getting an extension done of this collective bargaining agreement,” Silver said. “I’m very pleased to report that.”

Silver said the process was far different than the contentious negotiations of 2011, which led to a lockout and a 2011-12 season that was shortened to 66 games.

This time, the sides have been meeting for a few months and seem eager to make a deal long before Dec. 15, when either side can notify the other of its intention to opt out of the 10-year pact, which expires in June 2021.

If either side chooses to opt out, the deal would end on June 30, 2017.

The sides met Wednesday, the day before owners began their two-day pre-season meetings. They received an encouraging report on the status of the talks.

“We’ve made tremendous progress and I’m pleased to report that,” Silver said.

An agreement wasn’t reached in 2011 until Thanksgiving weekend, and 16 games from each team’s schedule had been shaved before the season opened on Christmas. The players’ guarantee of basketball-related income was reduced from 57 per cent to about 50 per cent.

The sides aren’t fighting over money this time, not after the national TV deals worth more than $2.6 billion annually sent revenues soaring and the salary cap skyrocketing.