Owners approve new NBA labour deal

A new labour deal in the NBA is on the verge of being finalized, after owners voted Wednesday to approve a proposed seven-year collective bargaining agreement that was tentatively agreed to last week.

The owners’ vote was unanimous and the players are expected to finish casting their ballots in the coming days, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the NBA nor the National Basketball Players Association has revealed specifics about the voting process publicly.

Teams met by teleconference on Wednesday to discuss and approve the proposed deal. Players were recently emailed information about the CBA from the union and were intending to have their ratification vote completed electronically by Friday, one of the people involved told AP.

In both cases, the voting processes are no more than formality. When the sides agreed last week, there was no question the required votes to ratify would come from both sides. And if the player vote gets done as planned, the league’s showcase day — Christmas, with five games Sunday — could be even a bigger celebration than usual.

“This deal was a partnership, for both sides and is about the game overall, what it was, what it is now and its future,” Chicago guard Dwyane Wade told AP on Wednesday.

The league and the union spent months working on a new deal that ensures labour peace for at least the next six seasons.

Salaries and revenues are expected to continue soaring, thanks in part to a new television deal that’s pumping $24 billion into the league’s coffers. The average player salary is expected to hit $8.5 million next season and rise to $10 million by 2020-21 under the new terms.

Maximum salaries could exceed $40 million per season soon, with Golden State’s Stephen Curry — the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP — potentially in line for an extension this summer that would pay him more than $205 million over the next five seasons.

Other details of the new proposed CBA include significant increases in values of rookie-scale contracts and minimum salaries.

Regular seasons will start a week earlier than usual to allow for more days off and fewer back-to-backs.