National Basketball Assn. Commissioner David J. Stern...

National Basketball Assn. Commissioner David J. Stern said he hopes the league can avoid a strike this season.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association expired last June, and there has been little progress in negotiations. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 28 in New York, with training camps set to open two weeks later. The regular season opens Nov. 6.

“There’s plenty of time to make a deal,” Stern said Friday during a press conference at the NBA team personnel meeting at Industry Hills.

The players are trying to abolish the draft so that college players could sign with any team they want. They also want total free agency, which would take away the teams’ right of first refusal to sign their own free agents. Additionally, they want to abolish the salary cap.