NBA Lockout: Players, Owners Closer to Deal Than Either Side Is Letting On

The NBA's Wednesday deadline of 5 p.m. for the NBPA to accept the league's labor proposal proved to be yet another artificial timetable that have become rather prevalent throughout this process.

With small contingencies from both the owners' and players' side meeting in New York for approximately 12 hours yesterday before emerging with separate press conferences, there is still plenty of hope as to why there is a deal to be made in the coming days.

In addition to the two sides agreeing to continue negotiating on Thursday beginning at noon, there was reportedly substantial progress made in the Wednesday session—at least enough to warrant another round of talks.

David Aldridge of TNT and NBA.com gave the most illustrative view as to what still remains going forward for the two sides to continue working.

The small groups on each side allows for the dissemination of (mis)information to be limited, and that's going to be largely beneficial toward bridging the once-seemingly insurmountable gap.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports believes that the two parties have undoubtedly moved closer to a heavily-anticipated labor deal, and while a deal may not be imminent, it certainly sounds as if it's coming.

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“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.”

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Cautious optimism has been overwhelmingly pervasive theme throughout this lengthy lockout.

While many are preaching doom and gloom, talking about players being ready to decertify the union, and others are thinking there won't be a season, that is not a topic to be read in this column.

Instead, there should be one thing the reader takes away from this—there is a deal to be made, and both sides know exactly that.

The role of union economist Kevin Murphy is not one that many have talked about or even understood in these negotiations, but his presence is critical toward getting a deal done.

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He and his former professor at UCLA, Ben Klein, worked with the NFL during the formulation of its Plan B free agency system. He teaches an advanced microeconomics class this term, is known to be a mean woodworker and is mired in his second go-round of NBA negotiations.

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Henry Abbott of ESPN's TrueHoop caught one of David Stern's final quotes of the evening, and it's one that deserves attention.

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Stern encouraged Murphy to show up, saying, "It will be a good day to be here."

It was late. Stern was tired. The comment was vague. It didn't sound like a real promise of a deal. But it certainly didn't sound like a guy preparing to blow apart the talks with a dramatically lower offer, either.

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As Abbott writes, while it's dangerous to read too far into that comment, it certainly sounds as if Stern is expecting something to happen.

Kurt Helin of NBC's ProBasketballTalk is another member of the party who believes that a deal is closer than either side is alluding to, and it's because of the reaction that the public would have to a positive report.

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Last time there was optimism about an NBA labor deal, David Stern was standing in the back of the union press conference joking with Billy Hunter, and the words “striking distance” were thrown around. Then it all blew up.

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This is what each side wants to avoid happening again.

Both know exactly what is at stake if they fail to come together on a deal, and the ramifications are much worse for both than compromising in the pursuit of finally lifting this lockout.

Don't read into the doom and gloom rhetoric, which has been widespread.

Despite the commissioner stating that "right now, we're not failing and we're not succeeding," it's awfully tough to draw anything from his words, considering that he's not going to divulge exactly what went down in that room.

Anything that weakens his ability to get as much as possible for the owners, who have already won this labor battle in blowout fashion, is not something that the public should expect to see.

Stern's deadline for the "reset proposal" to hit the table has been extended while the sides continue to hash out how to compromise on the most divisive issues remaining, but it's become fairly apparent that nobody in the room yesterday was ready to put the kibosh on the 2011-12 season.

Neither Stern nor Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver is going to give any potential insight and jeopardize their bargaining position—remember, this is not their first lockout.

The players have given more than enough to get this deal done, and the NBPA's proposal would shift a whopping $3 billion to the owners over a 10-year period.

In other words, that's $300 million per season—exactly what the league was claiming in losses on a yearly basis.

Bottom line: there wouldn't be a reason to meet on Thursday if there wasn't enough done on Wednesday to predicate a follow-up as necessary.

Each side wants to play.