Stern: Talks Will Resume

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Tuesday that talks between the league and the players’ union would resume soon.

A source told Associated Press that the meeting could happen this week. Stern said the league had spoken with the players association since talks broke off last week.

Dan Wasserman, a spokesman for the players’ union, was not available for comment.

Stern, however, laid out the framework for a new collective bargaining agreement. He said the league would guarantee that the players receive a 57% share of revenue, the same percentage they get under the agreement negotiated in 1999. He said the league would raise the salary cap three percentage points -- from 48% to 51% -- and minimize the level at which the luxury tax clicks in, making more money available for salaries.

Over the course of a possible six-year agreement, Stern said the average player salary would increase from its current level of $4.5 million to $5.5 million.

If the players accepted the framework, Stern said the only key areas left to be negotiated would be non-economic -- the length of player contracts, drug testing and minimum age.

If no new agreement is reached, the club owners could lock out the players on July 1.

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Brian Hill, fired by the Orlando Magic in 1997, was rehired to coach a team that finished 36-46 this season.

Hill, 57, an assistant with the New Jersey Nets the last two seasons, took the Magic to its only NBA Finals appearance in 1995. He has a career record of 222-227, including 191-104 with the Magic.

Hill replaces interim coach Chris Jent, who filled in after Johnny Davis’ firing in March.

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Wearing a clear mask, Phoenix Sun guard Joe Johnson went through his longest workout since breaking a bone near his left eye, then said “there’s a good chance” he’ll return for Saturday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

Johnson was hurt May 11 when he fell from the rim and crashed face-first. He had surgery the next day.