The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to pay $44.3 million of a $100 million renovation of Target Center. The City of Minneapolis will pay $50 million, while AEG is still negotiating the remaining $5.7 million.

The Wolves hope a deal will be approved next month formally by the City Council.

The Wolves are the primary tenant of Target Center.

The NBA's current deal with ESPN expires after the 15-16 season and there are rumors that Fox will make a strong bid to acquire the broadcast rights in order to help Fox Sports 1.

John Skipper, president of ESPN, is intent on keeping the NBA.

“There are plenty of live sports rights, but the ones that make a difference are scarce,” said Skipper.

Skipper also called the NBA a "critical product" for ESPN.

Bob Myers was a player agent under the NBA's previous collective bargaining agreement and is a general manager with the Golden State Warriors under the new, more restrictive version.

"I think people are being more fiscally responsible and maybe a bit more conservative," said Myers. "Teams were not as aggressive on spending. The top-of-the-line free agents weren’t able to demand high-level compensation, though some of that middle class did get compensated as normal.

"Overall, though, I think a pretty decent portion was paid less than in the past."

The Warriors have never paid the luxury tax, but Myers indicates that their current ownership could pay it in the future.

"Our opinion, and I think most teams recognize there are only so many dollars to spend and the luxury tax is very punitive. Fortunately for me and our front office, we work with an ownership group that is willing to go into the tax if it makes sense competitive-wise.

"But that doesn’t mean you go in just to go in; there has to be a purpose to it."

Chris Paul has been voted president of the National Basketball Players Association.

Paul will replace Derek Fisher.

Paul had been serving as vice president of the union.

Roger Mason will serve as first vice president, while Steve Blake and Anthony Tolliver are vice presidents as well.

The NBA has been monitoring the ongoing developments of the Biogenesis case, but Adam Silver has said that the league is not aware of any involvement of players with the clinic.

“We’ve been actively working to understand the situation and to the extent possible to learn what is being uncovered by MLB’s investigation,” Silver said. “We are not aware of any involvement by NBA players.”

The NBA has the same three-strikes penalty structure as MLB, with a 20-game suspension for a first PED offense, followed by 45 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. All players are subject to six random tests each year, with four during the season.

Improving the testing of NBA players is unlikely to be agreed upon while the union leadership remains in limbo.

“It’s why, even in the collective bargaining agreement, this was not a point of contention,” said Silver. “Both for the player representatives and the owners who participated, this is an issue where it is in everybody’s interest to have state-of-the-art drug testing, and to have a level playing field for all players, because we recognize it’s not fair for a player to believe that in order to compete, and in order to keep his job, he has to do something that one could potentially harm his body and number two could potentially get him in trouble.”

LeBron James has decided not to run for president of the National Basketball Players' Association.

James was considering running as Derek Fisher's term expired.

James instead may support the candidacy of James Jones, who also plays for the Miami Heat and is currently the treasurer.

The union is holding its summer meeting in Las Vegas next week.

The NBPA doesn't currently have an executive director or a president.

Adam Silver was asked on Wednesday what he felt the offseason from the Brooklyn Nets means for the NBA's still relatively new collective bargaining agreement.

“I would say it’s no secret that we went into collective bargaining seeking a hard cap,” said Silver.

“So, for the long-term health of the league, we would rather do more to level the playing field among our teams, so the teams that have disparate resources are all competing with roughly the same number of chips so to speak."

The Nets have a payroll over $100 million next season and an anticipated tax bill at approximately $87 million.

“What I’ll add is that what we’ve seen with the Nets, ultimately there’s no prohibition if you’re willing to pay a very substantial tax — there’s no prohibition on signing the players they did, but the new rules also dramatically limit those players that are available to sign, especially once you move into the tax. So we’ll see [what happens].”

The Nets were limited in who they could acquire and also had to give up several first round picks to acquire Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

“There’s a correlation between the ability to spend and success on the court,” said Silver. “It’s far from a perfect correlation, however, so we’ll see how it plays out.

“But, so far, they are playing by the rules, and we’ll see whether that brings them the success they are hoping for.”