Hunter Ready to Make an Overture

Union director Billy Hunter, eager to close a deal but fearful of getting burned, said Saturday that negotiations to end the NBA lockout should resume later this week.

Hunter, speaking by telephone from Oakland, said he plans to return today to New York.

“Once I get back, I’ll reach out to [Commissioner] David [Stern],” Hunter said, adding that the next negotiation session probably will include only one or two representatives from each side.

No talks have been held since Wednesday night, when Stern and Hunter met for several hours in Los Angeles at the office of agent Leonard Armato. There was an expectation that talks might resume this weekend, but nothing came to fruition.

The two sides, fighting over how to distribute about $2 billion in annual revenue, must make a deal by mid-January to save a 45- to 50-game season. The league has scheduled a board of governors meeting for Jan. 7, and Russ Granik, the deputy commissioner, said he will recommend canceling the season if a deal isn’t reached by then.

Although many complicated issues remain in the dispute, it has become apparent that the one critical area that is the key to a settlement is the league’s insistence on setting an absolute maximum salary for players with more than six years’ experience. The owners want the maximum salary tied to a percentage of the salary cap, and the players have proposed a luxury tax on any owner who signs a player to a multiyear contract starting at more than $15 million.

The union already has offered a $10-million limit on the starting salary for any player with less than seven years’ experience.

Hunter has said he will not accept a maximum salary on veteran players unless the league reciprocates with an equally concessionary gesture that ends the lockout.

Hunter conceded Saturday he is wary of giving the owners another concession and then having them walk away from the bargaining table saying it isn’t enough.