The NBPA had an "advisory meeting with about 20 agents
on Friday to discuss what the league had placed on the table
so far" in negotiations for a new CBA, according to Frank
Hughes on ESPN SportsZone. The "biggest news" from the
meeting is that while the league is claiming that 20 teams
lost money last season, the players' calculations show that
"only four" did. Hughes: "Among the other things the league
put on the table were not necessarily surprises, although
the starting point for negotiations may come as one." While
the league is looking to extend rookie contracts to four or
five years, what "was placed on the table" was "believed" to
be a proposal for six-year deals, "with no option to get
out." One agent told Hughes that the CBA resolution won't
come until the fall, and another predicted that if players
begin to see negotiations "dragging," a "good number" will
go to Europe (ESPN SportsZone, 5/13). In San Antonio, Briggs
& Rogers write that a Spurs player "confirmed" the union is
"considering decertification as a means to gain leverage" in
the CBA talks. That would allow players to sue to the
league under antitrust provisions (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 5/13).
