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

[GarbageTime]

At least I can thank Billy and the players for ensuring we get a true hard cap in the NBA.

unless I missed something, I thought a true hard cap isn't even on the table?

[mcHAPPY]

unless I missed something, I thought a true hard cap isn't even on the table?

The flex cap is close enough to a hard cap which is what will be on the table after 5pm tomorrow.

The owners are going to crush them if this is not done by tomorrow.... crush them.

[mcHAPPY]

Tweet of the Lockout!

Jonathan Feigen via Twitter.com:

Billy Hunter still certain the NHL owners are bluffing and would never cancel an entire season.

Gold.

[mcHAPPY]

Tweet of the Lockout!

So good, I have to put it in both threads.



Jonathan Feigen via Twitter.com:

Billy Hunter still certain the NHL owners are bluffing and would never cancel an entire season.

Gold.

[mcHAPPY]

Bill Clinton is giving players out copies of his new book, "Back to Work." What a gong show this has become.

NYPost_Berman Clinton handing out his book "Back to Work" to some players. Surreal.

[Prime]

No deal

[Apollo]

Rejected...

Union president Derek Fisher says his orders from NBA players are clear: No deal.

"The current offer on the table from the NBA is one that we cannot accept," he said Tuesday.

Instead, the players said they will ask for another meeting with the owners before commissioner David Stern's Wednesday afternoon deadline.

Stern has said that if the players don't take the current deal by then, the league's next offer will be much worse.

The players insisted they will not be forced into taking a bad deal by an ultimatum.

"The players are saying that we understand their position, but unfortunately we're not intimidated by that," union executive director Billy Hunter said.

The union did not conduct a formal vote of the 46 players assembled in the room Tuesday, but sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the group reached more of an informal "everyone agrees" position that authorizes Hunter and Fisher to accept a 50/50 split of basketball related income in future negotiations as long as the league makes some concessions on certain system issues.

After Tuesday's meeting Fisher said that without concessions "we don't see a way of getting a deal done between now and end of business" Wednesday.

Sources on the league side, however, continue to dispute Hunter's stated belief that the owners will improve upon Saturday's last offer.

"It's sad," one ownership source told ESPN.com on Tuesday. "I think they've seen their best offer."

Source: ESPN.com

[ezz_bee]

To me it sounds like the NBAPA is trying to get one last bargaining session, get a couple of face saving concessions and make a deal. This is first time I've seen the NBAPA agree to a 50/50 split, so even though they are rejecting the offer they are still moving closer to the owners position.

I do think that there is still a chance that a deal gets done tomorrow. If it doesn't I think i'm going to forget about the NBA completely for awhile.

[Apollo]

Let's NBA

A strong contingent of foreign players, including big names like Pau Gasol, are trying to convey to union leadership their willingness to accept the deal, sources said.

Union leadership already had publicly stated the current deal wouldn''t be presented to the roughly 450 NBA players for a vote and that Tuesday's meeting was merely to review options and plot the next move. However, this movement of foreign players is another example of minor cracks in the players' solidarity that began emerging late Monday.

Source: Chicago Tribune

[mcHAPPY]

MrMichaelLee David Stern told NBATV there was no wiggle room on owners' offer as of Sun & there are no immediate plans to cancel games through Christmas

JerryZgoda Players finally willing for 50/50 split if...When asked about wiggle room on system, Stern told NBA TV "there was none left" as of Sunday

PDcavsinsider As to another possible meeting, Stern says he will take Hunter's call, but that his actions are guided by NBA's labor relations committee

SpearsNBAYahoo Unless NBA Labor Relations Committee says otherwise, Stern doesn't seem interested in tweeking current labor offer before 5 PM Wednesday.

.

If it weren't so serious, it'd be funny. For months, it seemed that a small but vocal group of hard-line owners were running the NBA's bargaining strategy with the players, but when it came time to make a deal, the moderates would take over.

As it turns out, the opposite is true.

It turns out, the proposal that's on the table for the National Basketball Players Association to accept by 5 p.m. ET is the moderate one. The hard-liners take over at 5:01 if the players reject it.

The New York Times has the details of a letter commissioner David Stern sent to union chief Billy Hunter on Sunday outlining the terms of the league's ultimatum and shedding light on details of a so-called "reset" proposal that will be forwarded to the players if they don't capitulate. The most onerous of those details are a 47 percent share of BRI, a hard salary cap, a rollback of existing contracts and a reduction in maximum salaries -- not to mention a $3 million mid-level exception (down from last season's $5.8 million), and three- and four-year contracts for non-Bird and Bird free agents, respectively (down from five- and six-year deals in the previous agreement).

Pretty sure there's something in there about meteor showers, mass floods and flames from the seventh circle of Hell rising up and engulfing one continent at a time until the Earth is transformed into a charred, oozing marshmallow. Read the fine print.

The driving force behind this reset offer is a group of hard-line owners who needed a tireless and significant working over by Stern in recent weeks to get them to agree to offer the players a 50 percent share of BRI and a system that technically has no hard team salary cap. According to multiple people familiar with ownership dynamics, the effort Stern had to engage in to rein in the hard-liners and make the proposal that is on the table until 5 p.m. Wednesday should not be underestimated.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1...t-backing-down

[mcHAPPY]

Jared Dudley: Some fans believe owners deserve more then players.. Ok don't they get more after selling the team? Making hundreds millions of dollars Twitter

Jared clearly is not aware of how many teams have been sold at a loss these last few years.

[Apollo]

I always laugh at how they completely blow off things like operating expense.

[mcHAPPY]

¶ The midlevel exception will be set at $2.5 million for taxpaying teams, with a maximum length of two years, and cannot be used in consecutive years. Its value will also grow at 3 percent annually.

Personally, this is what I hope the owners do not cave on and the Carmelo Anthony rule.

I read somewhere (anyone know where the source would be? I can't find it) that there have only been 5 or 6 sign and trades done with luxury tax teams in the last 6 years i.e. during last CBA. It sounds like a non-issue to me.

[Bendit]

The PA is really doing a disservice to the membership by not having a anonymous/secret ballot vote of at least the player reps to gauge an un-intimidated position of whether the entire membership would like to vote on the proposal. Or is it a bluff to get to 11:59 because Hunter & Fisher already know?

Re the Wolves player rep not really knowing what his team's position is on the matter is laughable. 15 players he cannot keep on speed dial 24/7 in a situation like this? Nice.

[planetmars]

I read somewhere (anyone know where the source would be? I can't find it) that there have only been 5 or 6 sign and trades done with luxury tax teams in the last 6 years i.e. during last CBA. It sounds like a non-issue to me.

I found a source here:

CBS Sports’ Ken Berger is reporting that exactly FIVE sign-and-trade deals have been done in the last six years by Luxury Tax teams, not exactly a huge shift in power or dollars.