Report: NBA to freeze transactions during coronavirus suspension

The National Basketball Association and its players are expected to agree upon a nearly month-long moratorium that will freeze all basketball business transactions, reports The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

Such a move will make teams unable to change their rosters through signings or pick up player options. It would keep options from elapsing and freeze 10-day contracts, according to Charania.

The moratorium is planned to be backdated to Thursday, March 12, and go until April 10, the date at the end of a minimum 30-day suspension of league action caused by a response to the coronavirus pandemic. The league will reassess the moratorium on April 10.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver told fans in a letter Thursday that the league would postpone play for at least 30 days.

Players will earn their next paychecks in full to begin the suspension, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

There is, however, a provision in the current collective bargaining agreement that says players might not receive a portion of their salaries if the 2019-20 is canceled altogether.

The NBA Players Association sent a memo to players to remind them of the provision, but there has been no discussion atop the league and its owners about triggering it, Wojnarowski adds.

The spread of coronavirus and response from the league will have to play out before that discussion comes up, if it comes to that.

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