After rejecting David Stern's latest offer, the NBA owners and players met again on Wednesday and Thursday to see if they could work out their differences. While Wednesday came and went without a deal in place, most signs indicated progress toward a deal was achieved:
"We can get there in the next day or two," one high-ranking league official briefed on the talks said. "But it’s still a volatile process, and egos can still get in the way. …But there’s a lot of reason to be hopeful."
According to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, movement was made on three system issues in particular.
David Stern's ultimatum deadline was Wednesday night, but that passed and Stern said the clock was stopped while the two sides continued to negotiate matters today. While Stern hasn't presented the owners with any final draft of a deal, Stern reportedly had a briefing call set with the NBA owners' labor relations committee for Thursday night and it is believed that the momentum is swinging toward a deal getting done.
Thursday's meetings broke without a deal in place, but an offer was put on the table for the union. Billy Hunter said, 'it isn't the greatest proposal,' but he feels obligated to take it to the players. If the union takes the deal by Monday or Tuesday, Stern says there can be a 72-game season which would start on December 15.
Stern suggested that this would be the last proposal before reverting back to the hard cap and 47-percent BRI for the players, the above-referenced ultimatum he had previously set for Wednesday night.