The NBA and NBA Players Association tentatively agreed to end the lockout early Saturday morning. While there are still many things to be specifically ironed out, the timeline to see actual basketball will begin on Dec. 9. On that day NBA teams can begin training camps and that is the same day that free agency will begin.
The season is set to open on Christmas Day with the same scheduled triple-header of Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers. The entire season is to be 66 games and will last about one week longer than normal. Outside of the marquee Christmas Day schedule the 66-game schedule will be rewritten entirely. The All-Star game is going on as scheduled over Feb. 24-26 in Orlando, Fla.
Players that signed overseas -- such as Rockets Chase Budinger who recently signed to play in Russia on Nov. 23 -- will be heading back to the States to be with their NBA.
A reason for the late night deal was because both sides were getting desperate to make a deal:
"Everyone felt the urgency of getting a 'real' season," [David] Alridge said on NBA TV, which is owned by the league but operated by Turner Sports. "Nobody wanted a repeat of '99 with a 50-game season."
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