So much for the fade to black ...

The lockout is done, gone, finished. I read somewhere that we NBA fans will forget the lockout. Will forget? It's already forgotten. It left through the back door so quickly, and having left such a minimal impression on the game, that only the calendar can remind us that we aren't right where we're supposed to be. Only the fever-pitch craving of basketball can let us know that we should already be getting our fix. If you fell into a blissful slumber on June 30th and woke up today, you might never notice the difference.

The lockout has been (effectually) over for less than a week, and we're already right back into Dwight Howard rumors for the Lakers, and CP3 rumors for everyone else. That "Melo" rule the owners wanted, which would remove the ability of players to force their way into a situation of their choosing? Didn't make the cut. Howard and Paul still have every bit as much power today as Carmelo Anthony had in making the move to NYC.

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With a handshake agreement in place, most of the major points have been ironed out in the new CBA by the players and owners. Long divided by the size of each side's share of basketball-related income (BRI) and the so-called "system" issues such as the salary cap and the length of contracts, both sides came to a compromise after the owners relented on many of their more extreme demands, and rather than allow the present antitrust lawsuit to move forward, both sides agreed to salvage a 66 game season that will start on Christmas. Although many "B-list" issues such as the eligible age of draft eligible college players and similar are still at large and both sides have to actually vote to ratify the new agreement, nearly all media outlets have reported that the deal will go forward and any outstanding issues will be shuffled into committees that will resolve the problems over the course of the year.

Courtesy of SI's Sam Amick, we have the text of the actual agreement, and can examine the particulars of the new environment the league will operate under for at least the next six years. After the jump, we will review how the new CBA provisions such as the new midlevel exception (MLE), a stiffer luxury tax, and more affect the Lakers' flexibility in free agency, the trade market, and in other areas going forward.

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I've often seen these people, these squares at the table, short stack and long odds against them. All their outs gone. One last card in the deck that can help them. I used to wonder how they could let themselves get into such bad shape, and how the hell they thought they could turn it around.

The preceding quote is about poker.  It's quite obviously about poker, from a rather famous movie about poker.  The terms used are poker terms, and the concepts are poker concepts. The NBA lockout is not a poker term or a poker concept, but its not a stretch to label any sort of high stakes negotiation as a kind of heads up poker match.  There's no gambling involved, but then, knowledgeable folks will tell you there ain't much gambling in poker either if you know what you're doing.

Which brings us to the bottom line:  I can't think of a more apt metaphor to describe where we now stand.  And I don't need to tell you who the squares at the table are.

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[Editor's Note: Life is filled with color. A blue sky. Green grass. Red lipstick. At sunset, you get to take your pick. Sports is the same way. Tennessee orange. Bulls red. Celtics green.  And of course, our two favorite colors: Purple and Gold. Color is beauty. Color is life. That makes death the absence of color. Every one of us likes color. That's why most of us have wardrobes with many colors to choose from. And, unless you run in certain circles, there's only one type of gathering that has no color to see.

A funeral. That's what today is, the funeral to commemorate the beginning of the 2012 NBA season. And that's why Silver Screen and Roll, joined by all of our NBA brothers and sisters of SB Nation, are properly attired ... in black. -CAC]

1.     Jeffrey Osborne.

2.     The gleam of ceiling lights off the Lakers' logo at center court.

3.     Seeing "World Peace" on the back of a Lakers jersey.

4.     Kobe Bryant's midrange turnaround.

5.     Debating whether the Thunder have surpassed the Lakers in the Western Conference food chain.

6.     The opening chords of the Pau Gasol Redemption Tour.

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The Friday talks in NYC have ended without agreement on a new labor deal. For the first time this week, the two sides took up the question of how to divide league revenues, and from there the discussions quickly ran aground. Here's what we've been told:

• The players have offered to accept 52.5 percent of BRI. The owners are standing firm at either 47 or 50 percent. (It's a little unclear.) Derek Fisher says the union is "really not quite sure" whether owners are at 47 or 50. Billy Hunter said that David Stern "snookered" him and pulled the 50-50 offer that seemed to be on the table last week.
• "Snookered" is your new lockout meme.
• Several system issues, including the midlevel exception and the luxury tax, remain open. Fish says the union is fighting to preserve the right of taxpaying teams to use cap exceptions. As we talked about this morning, this one is critical for the Lakers.
• The league will soon cancel all games through November 30. At this point, the 82-game season is basically dead.

In theory talks could resume this weekend, but Fish is flying back to Los Angeles tonight. On previous occasions when negotiations broke down, he stayed in New York so he could drop into a meeting at a moment's notice.

We now return you to your previously scheduled despair.

OMG OMG OMG. It's almost over, right? RIGHT?!? Answer me, damn it!!

Last night, after two long days' worth of negotiations, David Stern and Billy Hunter sent a pulse of giggly excitement through the NBA world with statements suggesting the lockout may soon be at an end. Hunter said the two sides are "within striking distance" of a deal. Stern said he'd consider it a failure if one isn't reached in the next few days. Union and league negotiators are meeting in New York even as you're reading this (unless you're reading this, like, next week) in an effort to ride the forward momentum over the finish line. Is this really happening? Brothers and sisters, do we dare believe?

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This is my first installment of This Week In The Lockout.  It may also be my last.  After all, this is Dex's baby.  He started it as soon as the lockout got going, and every week he's ponied up the keyboard to give you the latest updates about the status of professional basketball in this country of ours.  He'll be back next week, and as far as either of us can tell at this juncture, for all the rest of the weeks thereafter.  So I may never write another TWITL again.  

Somebody will.  This lockout isn't going anywhere.  It's a festering mass, and it's infected tendrils have dug deep within the game.  The only thing that's certain anymore is that a pound of flesh will be taken when the infection finally does get cut out.  

In preparation for my time filling in on this auspicious, if not particularly enjoyable, assignment, I did two things.  First, I read a bunch of articles about the lockout over the past week, something I rarely do.  I usually ignore the lockout like I ignore a sink of dishes needing to be washed, and for the same reasons.  I don't see the point in learning about it, because the business aspect of basketball is not a subject that tips my interest scale.  All I know, all I need to know, is that the lockout is ongoing, and it will end eventually.

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This is part of NBA Fan Voice day.  Please take part by tweeting, liking, or blogging (by Posting a FanPost) about #NBAFanVoice - a day when the fan's voice will be heard by everyone.

My wife doesn't like sports.  There are times when she tries, when she'll watch what I'm watching.  She enjoys an impressive dunk or a great pass.  She marvels at a huge hit or an insane goal.  She even asks questions to try to gain a better understanding of the game, whatever that game is.  But sports did not play an important role in her childhood, and so she doesn't understand the appeal.  When I'm in a bad mood because my team lost, she doesn't understand why I let it get to me so much, why sports is worth it.  After all, if entertainment (and that is, ostensibly, what sports is) makes you feel like crap, doesn't it cease to be entertaining, and therefore, worthwhile?

Obviously, the answer is no, because sports is about more than entertainment.  It's about belonging, and about commitment, about being a part of something.  That's why sports teams bring communities together, and why even the suffering is worthwhile.  The Los Angeles Lakers aren't just L.A.'s basketball team.  They are a part of what makes L.A. what it is.  Through belonging, through being a part of something, and finally, if you are lucky enough, through the thrill of victory, sports makes your life better.

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