According to a source in contact with ownership, there has been "positive movement" from the owners in recent days "to get a deal done."  The calendar, more than the threat of the players' antitrust lawsuit, is the main force driving the owners to find a compromise. The NBA wants to kick off the regular season schedule no later than Christmas Day.

But the NBA is not expected to move in the players' favor on all of the thorniest system issues that still separate the parties.

Ken Berger writes that "it is possible that the split of revenues could inch upward above 50 percent for the players" to help seal the deal.