HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

The likelihood of a lockout remains but the owners and players are starting to inch towards resolution.

Further meetings as the June 30th deadline nears has led to increased efforts to get a deal done.

There’s still a good possibility the rhetoric turns nasty but the union is slowly inching towards the revenue split the owners are looking for.

The introduction of a “flex” cap by the owners was a sizable step towards “status quo” which is something the players have fought for from the start.

The caveat for the players is that the new proposal limits how far a team can go over the cap.

For example, the Los Angeles Lakers had about $90.4 million in payroll this last season, using various mechanisms over the years to climb roughly $3.4 million over the cap.

The owners’ proposal actually lifted raised the cap to $62 million but included a line (unclear where exactly) that a team like LA would not be able to cross.

For the sake of argument, say this flex cap turned hard at $75 million, the Lakers would need to trim about $15 million in payroll.

That’s where the players object and view the owner’s proposal as a variation on the hard cap – but a hard cap nonetheless.

Whatever the result, the limitations are expected to be graduated in so the Lakers wouldn’t have to turn to General Manager David Kahn of the Minnesota Timberwolves and dump a player like Pau Gasol (or as SI.com’s Sam Amick reports, Andrew Bynum) to allow for the new CBA.

As previously reported by HOOPSWORLD, an NBA executive admitted that the league is aware that a hard cap will likely cost next season.   Owners have already backed off non-guaranteed deals, are moving away from the hard cap and will likely concede on salary rollbacks as well.

To get to that point, the players are going to have to give a bigger piece of the overall pie to the owners through the Basketball Related Income split that will come off the net (as opposed to gross in the current system).

The rest will be details on maximum salaries, years, amnesty clauses, revenue sharing and the like.

A flex cap might even the playing field for smaller market teams but then so might revenue sharing in its stead.

If the players can’t get over the hard(er) cap as proposed, the revenue split on a lost season is just fractions of zero.

Spero?

The Lakers sent out a release on Tuesday announcing their broadcast team for the coming season.

A quick scour through the copy and the name Spero Dedes was conspicuously absent.

Dedes has done a rock-solid job on radio for the team and was slated to take over for the departing Joel Meyers.

The Lakers had opted not to bring back Meyers and a verbal agreement towards the end of the season had Dedes joining Stu Lantz on television with Bill Macdonald joining Mychael Thompson on radio.

Instead Dedes went in a different direction, leaving to take the New York Knicks play-by-play job, which was apparently a dream opportunity for Spero.

So Macdonald, on a one-year deal, gets the bump-up to television.

KCAL sideline reporter and 710 ESPN personality John Ireland in turn will step into Dedes’ shoes on radio.

Of course Fernando Gonzales and Jose “Pepe” Mantilla will be back on Spanish radio.

LA’s loss is NY’s gain as Dedes is one of the best.

Will the Clippers Get Their Small Forward?
The pool of players the Los Angeles Clippers would like to have before July (Danny Granger, Rudy Gay, Nicolas Batum and Andre Iguodala) includes really only one player who has a legitimate shot to be moved (Iguodala).

Granger isn’t available.  Gay may eventually become available but not until the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and Marc Gasol’s restricted free agency is resolved.

The Portland Trail Blazers are apparently asking the world for Batum.

For the Clippers, they’ve had Chris Kaman available to the Philadelphia for months so obviously it’s not an overly-compelling proposition to the Sixers.

Part of the issue is Kaman’s expiring contract.  Philadelphia would actually like a player with a few more years on his deal.

The Sixers don’t want to get out of Iguodala’s contract only to feel compelled to reinvest in a large, long-term deal to Kaman.

If he’s a one-year rental, there are teams out there with trade exceptions and picks (Cleveland with the #4) who can erase that salary immediately and allow for another young player.

The Sixers would like an impact veteran big and Kaman may be the best offer they get on that front before July.

If that’s not enough for Philadelphia, what’s the harm in waiting until the new CBA is ratified?

There’s no sense a deal is near but then things may change rapidly over the next 24-48 hours.

{AUTHOR_BOX} Other options for LA?  There may be plenty of opportunities ahead but most after June.  Still, the Clippers are motivated to get something done now if they can.

As far as the draft on Thursday, the Clippers have the 37th and 47th picks.   They’ll be looking for the best talent available, hoping for a sleeper.

Lakers May Move but Not Big
To say the Lakers would move Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum for the right deal would be accurate.

Right now, there’s not going to be the right deal.

Barring Dwight Howard, Chris Paul or Deron Williams suddenly announcing that they want trades immediately, won’t re-sign and will only play for the Lakers (and even then) . . . none of the three are going to be dealt before July.

Had the Wolves been open to the idea of Kevin Love and the #2 pick (plus filler), that’d be enough for the Lakers to make a change.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are rumored to have a similar package available built around Anderson Varejao and the #4 pick but the Lakers aren’t going to move Gasol or Bynum in that kind of package.

Lamar Odom instead may be the lone attractive piece the team would be willing to move.

LA has been linked to the Denver Nuggets and Raymond Felton and Odom seems to be the obvious bait.

Nothing appears to be close but that’s immaterial.  Trades are rarely close until they’re consummated.

The Lakers may have an opportunity to buy a first-round pick or even deal multiple seconds (they have 41, 46, 56 and 58) for a higher pick.  They may just wait to see who is there at 41.

Deeper Draft than Expected but Light On Top
The knock on this draft is that Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams, projected to be the top two picks, may be starters and strong players but locks to be All-Stars?

Maybe not.

The draft doesn’t have any true star power but it’s relatively solid all the way into the second round.

It’s why projecting this one is so difficult.  There’s some much on-par talent that it becomes more about personality, need and intangibles.

It’s why the Wolves are having such a difficult time getting a high-level veteran for their #2 pick.

“Very unpredictable draft with large variance in draft orders across the league,” tweeted Houston Rockets’ General Manger Daryl Morey early Wednesday morning.  “Most teams will leave the draft happy with their pick(s).

“Our rankings have 22 1st round quality players in the draft.  Normal range is 15-19.”

Where does a player like Darius Morris or Norris Cole fit into that?  Both are on the first-round bubble.

Fortunately Thursday will end the pre-draft mockery . . .