Union VP Matt Bonner Wants Deal Done, but "If that’s their best offer, we don’t have much choice but to fight for something better"

"Call me a dreamer,” Bonner said by telephone, “but I’m still hopeful we’ll be able to work something out.”

But Bonner admits what most NBA watchers are saying: The sport is on course for its first work stoppage since 1998-99.

“It doesn’t look good,” Bonner said. “There’s a lot of space between where the owners stand and where we stand.”

If that expanse cannot be bridged, owners are expected to impose a lockout, postponing the start of free agency and threatening the 2011-12 season. There is a chance, if headway is made today, both sides could agree to extend the current CBA a matter of days in order to continue negotiating.

Bonner said he did not know if the union would offer a counterproposal to the owners’ latest offer. He also would not speculate on whether the players, like their NFL counterparts, would vote to decertify the union in the event of a lockout.

The owners’ latest offer would guarantee players no less than $2 billion per year for the duration of a 10-year deal, at an average salary of $5 million per player. Union officials say that represents a pay cut of $7 billion over the life of the deal, compared with the system in place now.

Owners are also angling for a hard salary cap like the NHL’s, which players view as a nonstarter.

“They’re asking for a deal that is worse than hockey’s, which is considered to be the worst collective bargaining deal in sports history,” Bonner said. “If that’s their best offer, we don’t have much choice but to fight for something better.”