After the NBA postponed the beginning of training camps and canceled 43 preseason games, there were rumblings that the players and owners would meet this week to negotiate towards a new collective bargaining agreement. According to reports, those meetings will take place on Tuesday and could carry over to Wednesday.
NBAPA executive directory Billy Hunter has canceled a regional meeting with players in Miami Tuesday so he could be in New York for the negotiation session with league officials.
Despite progress being made in each of the meetings between the players and owners, the lack of much movement from either side towards an agreement on a salary cap or how the league's revenue will be split it was feared that the stalemate could last well into the regular season.
While scheduling a meeting (or two) isn't going to erase all of those fears, it's a step in the right direction for the league. If a deal isn't struck by the first two weeks of October, there will be little chance to avoid losing regular season games.
These meetings are the only chance for the two sides to negotiate this week with members of the players and owners teams observing Rosh Hashanah on Thursday and Friday.