Day 149: The NBA owners and players reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout.

The two sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, and after coming to terms, all that is left is for the owner and players to cross the i’s and dot the t’s.  If everything goes according to plan, the season begins on Dec. 25.

In the past few years, the NBA turned Christmas day into a spectacle, scheduling the top matchups between famed teams and players.  After long and grueling negotiations that predicted no season at all, what better way to bring holiday spirit than with the season opener of the 2011-2012 season.

The Boston Celtics open in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks on Christmas, but there is plenty of work to be done in the 31 days prior to the game.

The Celtics have six players under contract: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O’Neal, and Avery Bradley.  They also have three unsigned rookies: JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, and Gilbert Brown (they have no rights).

The biggest challenge for the Celtics in the short off-season is going to be who they decide to re-sign and who they let go to look for better options elsewhere.  Jeff Green is a restricted free agent and has expressed great interest in remaining with the Celtics, and the front office should keep him around and give him another opportunity to showcase what he has to offer.

Then there is Glen Davis, Delonte West, Nenad Krstic, Troy Murphy, Sasha Pavlovic, and Carlos Arroyo, who are all are unrestricted free agents.

The Celtics should look for a better option than Davis, whose play is inconsistent at best.  West should be resigned to come off the bench and provide support to Rondo and the other players in the backcourt.

Krstic signed with a team in Moscow and is not expected to be back in Boston.  Murphy, Pavlovic, and Arroyo probably will not return, and the Celtics can find much better players to fill their sport.

Hold on tight because this training camp period is going to go by very quickly, so stay tuned to see who goes and who stays as we anxiously await Dec. 25.

Happy Thanksgiving, Celtics fans.

It has been a rough few months with the lockout.  But, there is one thing to be thankful for: until the NBA officially cancels the 2011-2012 season, there is still hope.

Enjoy the day filled with family, friends, food, and football, and as we approach the holiday season, let us all ask Santa for a Christmas miracle to end the lockout.

It was no secret that Rajon Rondo was upset after the Boston Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The two formed a close friendship during their time together, and the duo could join forces again soon.

They reportedly contacted each of their representatives to look in overseas playing options.  They want to play in higher-paying countries like Spain or Russia, but nothing is definite yet.

Obviously neither player will finalize a contract until it is clear whether the 2011-2012 NBA season is completely cancelled.  As nice as it would be to see Rondo and Perkins on the same team again, hopefully the lockout ends and they have to go back to being foes on the court.

Well, Celtics fans, it’s been a few days to let the latest lockout news sink in.  It is pretty clear the NBA 2011-2012 season will be cancelled entirely after the players rejected the league’s latest offer and made the move to disband.

Rajon Rondo spoke with ESPN a few days ago saying:

“There’s some mixed emotions but this is what’s best for the league, it’s what’s best for our players.  We have to stand together.  It’s not about the Boston Celtics selfishly wanting to play this year, it’s about what’s best for us as a unit…It’s definitely difficult but right now I think it’s what we have to do.”

It is good the see the players stick together through this process because the lockout does affect all of them, but what does the lockout mean for the Celtics?

Initially, sources felt the lockout benefitted the Celtics to give their aging players a nice break to rest and heal any nagging injuries that plagued them the last few seasons.

While that theory is all well in good, a missed season still makes them one year older if and when play resumes.  Yes, taking a season off gives them a break from the wear and tear of tough competition, but that does not cancel out other possible injuries.

This year was the Celtics’ best chance to win another title with the team they have.  At this point, the team needs to look ahead to the future, and winning banner 18 with their current roster could be very difficult.

The NBA players union rejected David Stern’s latest offer yesterday, and now the league cancelled more games through December 15.  The lockout is in complete disarray as the players plan to disband the union and file an antitrust lawsuit against the league.

“The union decided in its infinite wisdom that the proposal would not be presented to membership [for a vote],” Stern told ESPN.

Executive director Billy Hunter and union president Derek Fisher said that court proceedings could be long, so the 2011-2012 season is in greater danger of being missed.

The players rejection also denies them of their first paycheck, which equals around $220,000.

NBA commissioner David Stern concluded Thursday’s meetings with an offer of a 72-game season that would begin December 15.

This proposal actually downgraded from the union’s acceptance of a 50/50 split of annual Basketball Related Income earlier this week, which upset the union leaders in attendance.

“It’s not the greatest proposal in the world,” Hunter said.  ”But I have an obligation to at least present it to our membership.  So that’s what we’re going to do.”

If the deal is accepted, Stern plans to open the season with a compressed free-agency period, and training camp will start after a 10-day resolve of ancillary items.

However, sources say they expect the deal to be rejected.  It features similarities of a hard cap that the union disagreed with since day one of the lockout.  The two main elements of Stern’s latest proposal are:

• A rise of the mini mid-level exception from $2.5 million every other season to $3 million every season.
• The creation of the additional $2.5 million exception for teams that qualify.

If this proposal is accepted, the players would only miss one paycheck, and the length of the season would be a lot longer than originally expected, considering Stern planned to cancel the entire year.

The NBA lockout reached day 132 today, and although both sides met again this afternoon, the lockout remains.

One person skeptical of the situation is former Boston Celtics player and television announcer Tommy Heinsohn.  During a Q&A for the upcoming Broadway play, Magic Bird, Heinsohn expressed displeasure with the state of the league.

“This thing, here, to me, is ridiculous,” he said.  ”For the last two years, we’ve been seeing in certain cities and towns that were mainstays, like Detroit, like Washington, like Philadelphia, where there weren’t people in the seats.  Now, I always thought the players were pretty smart and observant.  Well, where do they think they’re getting paid from?  All right, so they never really observed that.  And I think right now, when I was president and orgranized the players’ association way back in the ’60s, late ’60s, we had the benefit of the game.  We wanted to leave the game for the next generation of players in good shape, with something to look forward to.  I’m not so sure that’s what’s going on now.”

As days continue to pass without a deal, it appears the union will be closer to decertification.

The conflict regarding the basketball-related income is still the hot topic of the NBA lockout.  The owners want a 50-50 split, but the players do not want to go below 52%.

Today, Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis took to Twitter to plead for an agreement so the season can begin.

Davis may be ready to play, but he needs to be signed by someone first before he can step foot on the court.  He played all four season of his professional career in Boston, and he could be a viable option for the team to resign.

But the lockout needs to end before any of that can happen.

Happy Halloween, Celtics fans!

As we sit and wait for the NBA lockout to end, let’s be reminded of the awesomeness that this holiday can bring.  Take a look back at Halloween 2010 when Shaquille O’Neal sang Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams”.

Enjoy!

What could have been a major turning point in the NBA lockout ended up as a day dreaded by fans all week.  After many threats from commissioner David Stern about canceling more games, he finally made his move yesterday.

Stern cancelled all games through November, and he said there is no way of making those games up if and when the lockout ends.

“We held out that joint hope together, but in light of the breakdown of talks, there will not be a gull NBA season under any circumstances,” he said.  ”It’s not practical, possible or prudent to have a full season now.”

Basketball-related income remains the key issue preventing the lockout from ending.  The owners want a 50-50 split, but the players are not willing to go lower than 52 percent.  With both sides no closer to coming to an agreement than they were when talks resumed Friday morning, Stern worries about what is next.

The difference in percentages on the BRI is about $100 million, and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter said the players could be out $350 million for each month the players are locked out.

Reports sounded optimistic Friday morning that the lockout was nearing an end.  The players and owners tentatively agreed to a midlevel exception starting at $5 million, as well as contract lengths that would be five years for players staying with their trams and four when leaving for another.

But just like every other session during this lockout, things hit a roadblock concerning the split of the league’s revenues.

No further meetings were scheduled, so it still remains unclear when the lockout will end.