After locking out players for 149 days, NBA owners appear to have reached a tentative deal with them for a shortened season beginning Christmas Day.
The two sides held another marathon 15-hour negotiation session Saturday, lasting until nearly 4am this morning.
The deal is reportedly for 10 years and features a 50-50 division of revenues, although it still needs to be ratified by the players and owners.
“We want to play basketball,” says Commissioner David Stern. The season will be just 66 games, instead of the usual 82, with training camps starting Dec. 9.
•Players and owners will basically share a 50-50 split of basketball-related income, although a late concession allows the players a good chance to get a 51% cut during the first six years of the deal if overall revenue reaches a trigger level.
•Teams can use the full mid-level and sign-and-trade exceptions to acquire players and go $4 million over the luxury tax threshold each year without penalty.
•Teams not paying luxury taxes can offer four-year, $20-million mid-level exception contracts.
•There will be no rollback in minimum salaries or rookie pay scale, and no limit on player options.
•Rookies who outperform their first contracts can receive higher maximum salaries when they sign extensions (think Derrick Rose).
Will the All-Star game be played in Orlando as scheduled?
Yes, though the date could change.
How deep into June will the season go?
Preliminary indications are that the regular season would last until the final week of April, with the NBA Finals concluding by the end of June.
Talks broke down two weeks ago, with the players’ union beginning the legal process of disbanding and filing suit agains the NBA, and Stern calling the situation a “nuclear winter.” “All I feel right now is ‘finally,’” says Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade.
