Ken Berger of CBSSports.com broke the news: “Tuesday and Wednesday represent the last opportunities to bargain this week with several key members of both sides’ negotiating teams observing Rosh Hashanah on Thursday and Friday.” “The precise composition and format for the negotiations is still being determined due to a scheduling conflict of at least one key member of the parties that have made progress in small-group settings since Aug. 31. Once that is resolved, the goal is to continue with the small-group
Heisler Column: Goodbye mid-level, hello NBA season
By Mark Heisler Gee, already? After a one-month stalemate, a year of posturing, hints of contraction, et al., NBA owners and players began to engage last week…. Almost. The owners reportedly bumped their offer up… by like 1 percent. Hey, these things proceed at their own excruciating pace, and it was still early to expect anyone’s best offer. There was David Stern’s usual foreshadowing (“The calendar is not our friend”) and his usual light moment, even as darkness gathered (“We told them we wouldn’t say anything,
Carmelo Anthony had surgery on knee, elbow
From Marc Berman of the New York Post: “Maybe the delayed training camp won’t be so bad for Carmelo Anthony. He revealed more elements to his mysterious offseason, disclosing last night he had knee and elbow surgery simultaneously in May. Anthony disclosed the surgeries after playing 48 minutes and dropping 31 points with 17 rebounds last night at the sweaty Palestra. The Knicks never announced the procedures. Melo said he had arthroscopic surgery on the left knee and an elbow procedure, as he suffers
Lockout update: Hunter: “I don’t think they’re ready to do a deal”
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — The NBA will announce the postponement of training camps and exhibition games Friday, according to union director Billy Hunter, who dismissed the forthcoming move as the league “playing semantics.” In an exclusive interview with SheridanHoops.com, Hunter said the league has made “glacial” movement recently in the amount of aggregate dollars they are willing to devote to player salaries, but those proposals have been hypothetical rather than formal. “In general, we haven’t made any progress,” Hunter said. “I really
NBA Lockout Update: Generous amnesty provision?
By Chris Sheridan NEW YORK — Negotiations to end the NBA lockout are resuming today in Manhattan with all the heavy hitters in attendance, so there will be some news before the end of the day. Stay tuned on that front. In the meantime, chew on these two articles: In the Oregonian, columnist John Canzano reports an amnesty provision could be part of the new labor agreement, and it would provide some serious cap flexibility leaguewide: “Two NBA sources told me Tuesday that they believe
Heisler column: Only Stern knows true timetable
By Mark Heisler Mama, put my guns in the ground, I can’t shoot them anymore. That long, black cloud is comin’ down. Feel like I’m knocking … Oh, not yet? This just in: The NBA season, preseason, training camps and even the pre-camp media days aren’t over yet! As for those hopelessly stalemated talks with rifts reportedly opening on both sides? Yeah, right. Everything you’ve seen and heard to this point is play-acting. As far as actual negotiations, neither side has even started yet. Given the NBA
Report: Chris Kaman staying in Kaunas
The Website sport24.gr is reporting that Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman has agreed to a one-year contract with Zalgaris Kaunas with an NBA out that will allow him to return to America when the lockout ends. More here from RealGM.com. Kaman averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds for Germany, which was eliminated in the second round of EuroBasket. Zalragis Kaunas has already signed Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson to a similar deal with an NBA out clause.
Exclusive: Krstic has $1M buyout with CSKA Moscow
By Chris Sheridan KAUNAS, Lithuania — Contrary to prior reports, Nenad Krstic does have a buyout clause in his two-year contract with CSKA Moscow, and it’ll cost him $1 million to return to the NBA for the 2012-13 season. Krstic revealed the buyout terms Friday in an exclusive interview with SheridanHoops.com following Serbia’s 87-77 loss to Greece in a classification game at EuroBasket. The loss cost the Serbs a chance to qualify for the 2012 Olympics at next summer’s pre-Olympic tournament in early July. “Actually I