The Lockout & the Raptors: Players approve CBA, Owners too! (1944)

[Apollo]

BRI not a road block?

NBA, NBPA sources still believe if they can close gaps and agree on system issues -- tax, exceptions, etc., -- BRI will fall into place.

Source: Twitter @WojYahooNBA

Hunter: the sides didn't discuss BRI, just system issues.

Source: Twitter @WojYahooNBA

[Employee]

I am so not getting excited yet. Just being very very very cautiously optimistic.

[LBF]

once games actually start getting skipped, then we're going to see a real panic from the players. i think anyways, more players than owners that's for sure.

[mcHAPPY]

FYI:

Via HoopsWorld.com Twitter feed:

alanhahn Heard accomplishments yesterday: length of guaranteed contracts, mid-level exception and amnesty. Also got "solid answers" on BRI issues

[NoPropsneeded]

dont get your hopes up. They'll figure out a way to screw us over... again

[mcHAPPY]

Via HoopsWorld.com Twitter feed:

IraHeatBeat Odd moment: Agent just calls, asks if the lockout is over. Me: "Huh?" Agent: "That's what I've been hearing." Uh, OK. #stillwaiting
2 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

AlexKennedyNBA Earlier today, Suns player rep Jared Dudley tweeted that he's "hearing whispers about a deal being close." Other players have said the same.
6 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

[mcHAPPY]

I agree. If the Owners are going to dig in like this and games are going to be cancelled then they better darn will deliver or I'll view this all as a complete failure on their part.

Bloody freaking hell.... prepared to be disappointed:

Via Marc Stein Twitter:

BUT ... one sign-and-trade wrinkle sides still negotiating is whether teams over luxury tax will be allowed to partake in S-and-T deals
1 hour ago

STEIN_LINE_HQ Marc Stein
Example of "system" issue where NBA owners/players now agree? Sign-and-trades. WILL be allowed in new deal after fears they'd be outlawed

[Apollo]

I'm not going to comment on this until I hear an official story because some of this doesn't make any sense.

[Apollo]

Talks have slowed

Source said talks recently became "very slow", presumably on luxury tax stuff. Not getting any vibe about framework of deal tonight

Source: Twitter @NYPost_Berman

[Apollo]

No deal today

Talks btwn players/owners just ended. Will reconvene at 10:30 Friday (tomorrow).

Source: Twitter @Chris_Broussard

[Apollo]

Deal maybe Monday?... Maybe another meltdown?

Team execs I've spoken with optimistic for deal by Monday, but cautious. One says gut tells him "this will blow up one more time."

Source: Twitter @KBergCBS

People are taking shots in the dark. We need to chill for a bit.

[Bendit]

That S&T talk is troubling. However there might be a trade off with a hard cap which should mitigate it's effects (in terms of the frequency it could happen) or that teams over the cap might have to trade decent/expensive talent in return to make it work (match salary).

[planetmars]

Wojnarowski's take on the talks today

Wojnarowski laid out some points that were negotiated between the players and the owners today:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...r_talks_102711

Before tackling the revenue split, the biggest hurdle left to solving the system issues appears to be with the use of midlevel and bi-annual exceptions for tax-paying teams.

While details were still unclear how a punitive luxury tax system would work for teams exceeding the salary cap, one league source involved in the talks told Y! Sports on Thursday night: “The tax is not the issue. The exceptions are where the fight is.”

The owners have largely relented on letting players use their “Larry Bird rights” to re-sign with teams that are over the cap, but the owners don’t want to permit teams paying luxury tax to be able to sign players to the midlevel and bi-annual exceptions, a source said.

The two sides could be closing on a three-year maximum for signing players to the midlevel exception, starting at $5 million per season, sources said.

The two sides still have a litany of “B-list” items that they barely discussed in the process, including the draft age minimum, code of conduct for players, drug testing and pensions. Nevertheless, those items often fall into place quickly once the major issues are resolved in talks.

So far, the union has tried to tie the age minimum to changes in the rookie wage scale. The union wants high-performing players to be able to renegotiate contracts sooner than between their fourth and fifth years in the league. The NBA has proposed a bonus pool that could add as much as 20 percent to players’ rookie scale contracts for such accomplishments as Rookie of the Year and All-NBA teams.

The league can encourage players to stay in school longer if players don’t have to rush to the NBA to get the clock started on significant pay raises and free agency. The NBA wants American players to be at least 20 years old and two years removed from high school to be eligible for the draft. Under the previous labor agreement, the rule was 19 years old and one year removed from high school.

While the union would like to return to having high school players being able to enter the draft, they privately know that will never happen. In the end, they’re hopeful to keep the rule as it is.

The league and players union have moved closer to consensus on several important issues within the past two days. Sources said the sides have made significant progress on one of the labor fight’s most vexing obstacles: the luxury tax teams would have to pay for going over the salary. Nevertheless, there’s still a couple sticking points with the tax that need to be resolved.

From front-office executives to player agents, optimism is rapidly rising that there’s significant momentum toward reaching an agreement and saving most, if not all, of the 82-game regular season. Hunter said he “assumes” the full schedule could be saved if a deal is reached by “Sunday or Monday.” Stern said the league will work with the union to schedule as many games as possible.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the two sides didn’t discuss the split of revenue – a contentious issue in previous negotiating sessions – instead taking Hunter’s suggestion they “park” the discussion while negotiating system issues.

The players would be willing to move closer to a 50-50 split on basketball-related income (BRI) if they can maintain comparable exceptions to the ones they had in the previous labor agreement – and a luxury tax that doesn’t too punitively discourage big-spending teams from exceeding the salary cap, sources said.

I hope the players win that battle - for the Raptor's sakes in 2012

[Joey]

Stern: Groundwork Set for a Deal to be made TODAY.

From both the Horses Mouthes:

They are CLOSE. Today is the day to make it or break it.

Source

"I think we're within reach and within striking distance of getting a deal," Hunter said. "It's just a question of how receptive the NBA is and whether or not they want to do a deal."

Asked when the significant move would happen, Hunter noticed Stern sitting in the back of his press conference and said to ask the commissioner.

"Tomorrow!" Stern yelled out.

"There are no guarantees that we'll get it done, but we're going to give it one heck of a shot tomorrow," Stern said a few minutes later in his press conference. "I think that Billy and the union's negotiators feel the same way. I know that ours do."

"But I think (union executive director Billy Hunter) and I share that view, and we're looking forward to seeing whether something good can be made to happen."

This time, commissioner David Stern said the talks had produced enough familiarity and trust "that will enable us to look forward to tomorrow, where we anticipate there will be some important and additional progress -- or not."

Both seem to agree, and seems like they are at least on Civil terms once again.

Keep your fingers crossed boys. Today is the Day of Reckoning.

[Joey]

It's Go Time in NBA Talks: NBA.com

10:45 a.m.ish ET: The biggest day of the most miserable NBA offseason in years has arrived, with the promise either to send this offseason into new depths of unimaginable miserableness or — and this is the prevailing sentiment — get the league, and its fans, back to the business of basketball.

Key players for the owners and players are meeting yet again in New York in an attempt to fashion a collective bargaining agreement that both sides can live with. After more than seven hours of meetings Thursday, the two sides now are closer than they ever have been in the 120 days of the lockout. Both NBA Commissioner David Stern and National Basketball Players Association head Billy Hunter expressed optimism — as guarded as it might be — that an agreement could be reached this weekend, and maybe as early as Friday.

Both sides caution that much work is left to be done. But a lot of the back-and-forth on “system” issues, including the makeup of a new luxury tax system, was undertaken on Wednesday (during a 15-hour session) and Thursday. On Friday, the two sides are expected to tackle the split of revenue known as Basketball-Related Income.

At stake, immediately, is the survival of an 82-game season, a carrot that has helped each side get down to business this week. It’s still unclear if a full season of games can be pulled off. But both sides are expected to give it their best shots today. The New York Times reported on Friday that the NBA has asked teams to look into arena dates in late April, after the regular season normally has ended. That’s a sign that an 82-game schedule is still a possibility.