Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Negotiators met for more than 15 hours, finishing past 3 a.m. ET Thursday, and sources said talks centering on the system issues resulted in 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. Negotiations will resume at 2 p.m. ET Thursday.
“They need [Thursday] to punch it over end line,” one source briefed on the talks told Y! Sports.
Yahoo: NBA, Players make progress towards a deal
The bottom line is that this isn't easy, but it's doable if the league is willing to phase in its vision for competitive balance — and if the union is willing to trade some system restrictions for a more favorable BRI split than the 50-50 offer they've thus far been unable to accept. With further cancellations threatening to wipe out $1 billion or more when the fight is about pocket change by comparison, we have reached the fourth quarter of these negotiations. We have arrived at the time for big-time horse trading and compromise, the point where logic and reason must rise to the top.
NBA deal finally there to be done if logic prevails
I don't want to dive into analysis, because every bit of good news has been followed by something unsettling, so pardon me if I wait for the other shoe to drop.
Both sides came out of last night talking about progress. Even Derek Fisher had this to say:
The deal will have to be done today to make that happen, really. And we've been here before. I would have sworn a deal was going to get done two weeks ago. And now I'm sitting here maybe more hopeful than anything, thinking a deal is going to get done today.
I guess it's the hopeless romantic in me.
The rest of the links:
CSNNE: Progress made after 15 hour bargaining session | Garnett still plans to play in World All Star Classic | WEEI: Rondo: Lockout is "boring" | Garnett, Pierce, Rondo to play in exhibition
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