Lawyers for the NBA and its players union missed their self-
imposed deadline of having a new labor contract ready to be
signed by the close of business yesterday, but a league
spokesperson said the "300-plus" pages of paperwork should be
completed by noon, and today's 5:00pm ET lifting of a moratorium
on trades, negotiations and signings "should not be in jeopardy,"
according to the Mark Asher of the WASHINGTON POST. NBA
Commissioner David Stern had hoped to "sign off" on the CBA last
night so team execs could "scrutinize" all of the details,
including the revised rules governing the salary cap, for the
first time (WASHINGTON POST, 7/11). USA TODAY's David DuPree
writes unlike Tuesday, both sides "practically guarantee" the CBA
will be "tied up, signed and sealed" by 5:00pm (USA TODAY, 7/11).
CONTRACT TALK: Dave D'Alessandro writes in the Newark STAR-
LEDGER that David Falk's negotiations on Juwan Howard's contract
will "influence" the NBA's salary structure. He notes the values
of players above him, like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal are
"fairly clear," but if Falk can get an amount for Howard that
"surpasses market expectations, he can effectively increase the
value of the 170-some-odd free agents who follow" (Newark STAR-
LEDGER, 7/10). Falk, on Bullets Owner Abe Pollin's pledge in
the Washington Post to match donations to the Juwan Howard
Charitable Foundation, in an attempt to show support for Howard.
Falk:: "Overall, it was a nice gesture, but I think from a
standpoint of being genuine, it would have been a lot more
effective if he had done that on June 15 when Juwan had his
Foundation Gala ... and we were trying to solicit contributions
from the business community" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 7/10).
