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April 10 Is Crunch Time

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April 10 has been identified as a “drop dead” date in labor negotiations between WNBA players and the league, which is scheduled to start its season June 10.

The WNBA negotiations are deadlocked over two issues:

* A league minimum salary. The union wants $45,000; the league is offering $20,000.

* The number of former American Basketball League players allowed in the 12-team WNBA. The union wants a maximum two per roster, the league wants five.

One source close to the negotiations said if no deal is struck, the league might threaten to fire all its two-year players and sign roughly half the players from the ABL, which folded in December.

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“It hasn’t been verbalized that way, but that’s simmering just below the surface,” one source said. There are 48 unsigned WNBA players who signed two-year deals before the first season.

The WNBA has scheduled an April 6 expansion draft (for new teams Orlando and Minnesota) and an April 27 college draft, which will include former ABL players.

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