The NBA and its players union announced Monday they have extended the early opt-out contract deadline on their current deal from Wednesday to March 31 as talks on a new agreement continue.

The ongoing seven-year collective bargaining agreement between the league and the National Basketball Players Association expires after the 2023-24 season.

But if either the NBA or the union decided to opt out, the deal would end on June 30 after the current campaign.

That means trades, free agency and other league business would shut down with a lockout by owners likely and there would be a risk of missing regular-season games starting next October.

But negotiations were going well enough that the NBA and union pushed back an earlier December 15 deadline to February 8 to avoid the risk of opt-out issues.

Read the full story on sportsdesk.com.mt...

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