NBA Lockout: Deal On Smaller Mid-Level Exceptions Near, Says Report

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David Aldridge of NBA.com reports that, according to sources briefed on ongoing NBA lockout talks, the league and players' union are near a deal ... on changes to the mid-level exception. Needless to say, the mid-level is the cucumber slice in the grand salad of lockout trouble as the two sides work to hammer out a deal on Monday, lest NBA commissioner David Stern cancel the first two weeks of the regular season.

Mid-level exceptions allow teams over the salary cap to sign players to deals with a starting salary of up to $5.7 million. The deal must be three years long and can be as long as five years, with at least two seasons fully guaranteed. In practice, the mid-level is typically used to overpay middling veterans; rare is the mid-level exception player who earns out his deal.

But progress is progress. We'll see how far player concessions on the mid-level get us to a deal.