Yesterday, both sides met for 15 hours in New York. Now, we’ve seen this movie before. The length of these meeting is by no way any indication of progress. But both sides seemed optimistic when the meeting broke at roughly 3am. They will be back at it this afternoon.
“We’re inching closer to a deal,” one person briefed on the talks told CBSSports.com on Wednesday.
With the owners dropping their precondition that the union agree to a 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI) before negotiations can proceed on system issues, the first item should be the easiest to solve. With the players seeking 52.5 percent of BRI and the owners dug in at 50 percent, the difference is only $100 million a year. Far more would be squandered by failing to get a deal and losing more games than already have been postponed or jeopardized.
Independent of my reporting several weeks ago that a 51.5-48.5 percent split in favor of the players — down from the 57-43 arrangement under the previous CBA — was where this negotiation was headed, a person in frequent contact with ownership told CBSSports.com this week that 51.5 percent is, in fact, the presumed landing spot for the players’ share. According to the source, one owner recently confided to associates that the union’s affinity for “odd numbers” and fact that 51.5 was a logical midpoint between the various “bands” each side has proposed signaled that such a split ultimately would get done.
Source: cbssports.com
