It’s not melodramatic to suggest the beginning to the end of the 2011-12 NBA season could come today.
Now the revisions need revisions. According to union sources, Players Association officials will attempt to convince 30 player representatives in their 9 a.m. Midtown meeting to make revisions to David Stern’s supposed final “revised’’ 50-50 offer and send a counter-proposal back to the commissioner.
That probably won’t fly with Stern, but union sources said last night they seriously doubt the players will vote to accept Stern’s “revised’’ proposal as is, because the salary-cap system suppresses the free-agent market for the middle class.
As Stern finishes up his coffee and danish awaiting word, the players, who will total at least 50, could instead decide to reject the latest offer outright and begin the process of union decertification — a potential season-killer.
“The deal needs changes for it to be acceptable to the players,’’ a union official told The Post. “Not just tweaks, but significant changes. The main issue is maintaining a real market for the services of the middle class players, which the current proposal will virtually eliminate.’’
Ex-Knicks center Nazr Mohammed tweeted over the weekend, “This deal is so bad it amazes me the league would bring it to the table after all the concessions we already made.’’
Decertification could destroy hope for a season because of the snail-pace court process. However, from a PR standpoint, a counter-offer puts the ball back in King David’s court and forces the owners to decide if they want a season or not.
Today’s wild-card result is having the 50-plus players tell their union bosses they want to send the offer up for a rank-and-file vote to the 440 members tomorrow — a move that gives Stern’s 50-50 offer a fighting chance and could ignite the commissioner’s plan of a 72-game season beginning Dec. 15.
Stern already has stated he’s “through negotiating’’ on the “revised’’ offer presented Thursday night after 23 hours and two days of bargaining. Stern has stated if this “revised’’ proposal isn’t accepted as is, he will send the union a “reset offer,’’ with a 47-percent revenue split for the players and hardened salary cap.
The new proposal helps the Knicks as it bars sign-and-extend trades. Free-agents-to-be Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams wouldn’t be allowed to traded as anything but a rental, meaning they’d get to 2012 free agency when the Knicks should have significant cap space.
Union president Derek Fisher plans to urge the players today the deal isn’t good long-term.
“We realize that this particular agreement will live 6, 8, 10, 15, 20 years,’’ Fisher said last week. “We can’t rush into a bad deal just to save the season.”
Stern is concerned about the players’ threat to decertify, and blasted agents for pushing that strategy while suggesting $4 billion worth of contracts could be voided without a union.
Saturday night Stern continued his attack, telling AP agents are “the coalition of the greedy and the mendacious and trying to scuttle the deal,’’ and even went on Twitter to answer fans’ questions, an unprecedented move. Stern said the league would offer $10 post-lockout tickets, according to a slideshow on the NBA website.
The three key changes to Stern’s “revised’’ offer improves the “mini-midlevel’’ for luxury taxpayers from $2.5 million for two years every other season to $3 million for three years every season; allows taxpayers to do sign-and-trades for free agents for the first two years of a 10-year collective bargaining agreement instead of zero years; a $2.5M exception was added for teams near the cap.
Labor Day
More than 50 players are expected at today’s NBA player representativemeeting to gather with union officials. Here are their options:
1. Seek opinions on what changes need to be made to the league’s latest offer and submit a counter-proposal to commissioner David Stern.
2. Reject the proposal entirely and start a decertification process.
3. Convince union leaders to put the offer up to a rank-andfile vote for all 440 members tomorrow — a measure that increases the chances of a 72-game season and Dec. 15 opening night.
4. Convince union to accept the offer, which is highly improbable.