New York, NY

Time is running out for the NBA and its players to agree to a new deal in time to save some semblance of a full regular season but it does not appear that the latest proposal from the owners is going to get it done.

According to sources, it is hard to imagine NBA players accepting the owners' new contract proposal which would mean a Dec. 15 start to the season.

Some of the issues outlined in a report on ESPN.com include a clause that opens a way for more player demotions to the D-League.

According to the report, the D-League clause is one of several elements in the owners' proposal to the locked-out players that prompted one agent to describe the proposal as "draconian."

The clause would give teams the right to send a player down to the NBA Development League at any time during his first five years, paying him a reduced contract while he's there according to the source.

Once down in the D-League would be paid at a pro-rated scale of $75,000 a season, which is slightly above the current D-League maximum but roughly one-sixth of the NBA minimum, the source said.

The owners' new proposal also would prohibit luxury tax-paying teams from sign-and-trade deals after a two-year "phase-in" period, according to sources. Non-tax-paying teams also would be prohibited from using the mid-level exception if doing so would take them over the salary cap, sources said.

"They don't want to do a deal," one agent said of the owners' proposals. "And what they've underestimated is the resolve of the players."

The owners also proposed offseason drug testing and raising the age limit to 20 years old to enter the league, sources said.

The report said a league official qualified both those issues and the NBDL clause as "B List" items that are still open to negotiation and not among the main points commissioner David Stern said are no longer up for discussion.

"We both recognize the seriousness of what we're facing," Stern said. "I think both sides would like to begin the season on Dec. 15th, if that's possible. I think our teams want to start playing. That desire is matched by our players. We've done the best we can to cause that to happen. "

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