The National Basketball Association extended their partnership with ESPN and TNT after agreeing to a new nine-year deal, commissioner Adam Silver announced on Monday.

According to reports, the new deal is worth $24 billion or $2.66 billion per season -- a rate that is thrice the amount of the current television deal. The new contract will be in effect starting the 2016-17 NBA season and will run until after the 2024-25 season.

Silver said in a press conference that the decision to extend the deal two years before the current one expires proved that they are contented with their partnership with ESPN and TNT.

"We decided to renew our partnership two years early because they have been terrific partners, and they each share responsibility for the tremendous growth and popularity of our game," Silver said via USA Today.

Under the new deal, ESPN/ABC will broadcast 100 regular-season games and 20 NBA D-League games along with the NBA Summer League matches on ESPN networks. The network also earned more digital right for ESPN's official website and WatchESPN.

Both ESPN and ABC will televised a maximum of 44 playoff games, while ABC will continue to be the exclusive network for the NBA Finals. ESPN will still hold the rights to televise the rookie draft, draft combine and draft lottery.

"The NBA has never been more popular and it continues to grow under Adam's leadership," ESPN president John Skipper said in a statement. "By acquiring significantly more NBA content for both existing and yet-to-be created platforms, we will establish a vibrant, year-round NBA presence for fans."

On the other hand, TNT will televise 64 games per season, which is 12 more than the number of games under the current deal, while also getting additional media rights for their platforms like Bleacher Report.

The new deal is also expected to lead to a major salary cap increase for the 2016-17 season. The salary cap, which is currently set at $63 million, could jump to as high as $91.2 million, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports.

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James recently decided to sign a two-year deal with the Cavs to become a free agent in 2016, anticipating that he will get a better contract because of the new TV deal. Sources said that the maximum yearly salary could be $8 million higher than the current max deal scale.

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