We've been pretty spoiled thus far this offseason. It has been one exciting news story after the next. What that means on the court will have to wait until the games begin. But imagine if the games didn't begin. The next couple of months should be pretty quiet. Imagine that quiet continuing on indefinitely. That's what's going to happen next summer if things don't change drastically.
The owners are pushing for a radical change in how the NBA's financial structure -- a hard salary cap, shorter contracts with not all of them guaranteed, some restrictions on player movement and more. The players basically like things the way they are now. Whatever they talked about for more than three hours in Manhattan, neither side was moving off those basic principles, which are so diametrically opposed. The current CBA can run for another couple years but the owners can -- and will -- opt out of it by the end of this year and force a new CBA for next season. I'll say again -- we are headed to a lockout next summer. This is not a maybe thing if you talk to people in NBA front offices. Everybody on both sides privately expects it. The only question is will it cost regular season games and if so how many.
Man, I'm going to have to get REALLY creative if that happens. I might have to start blogging about college basketball and some Euro leagues.
By the way, I found a cartoonist's depiction of the "negotiations" between the two sides. I think that looks about right.