In an insightful article on the mindset of owners in the ongoing CBA negotiations, Jason Cole claims that the negotiations are moving into a critical stage. Judging by reports, steady progress has been made these past weeks, but a couple of days ago reports started appearing about a couple of owners who did not like where this was headed. Supposedly, they think the owners are giving up too much. It's a valid concern: if the owners don't think they're getting a fair deal, we could be right back in this spot in a couple of years. Of course, the same thing goes for the players: they need a fair deal as well, or we might see a repeat of 1987.
Now owners are going to have to discuss these negotiations among themselves. On Tuesday and Wednesday the owners will meet, discuss where they stand and then return to the negotiating table. Yes, this is a critical time, as all 32 owners will be involved this time. But it's no more or less critical than any of the previous weeks. Negotiations can blow up because of this, but negotiations can blow up any time. If the owners aren't happy with the current state of negotiations, they simply go back to the negotiating table and try to get more.
In addition to that, I'm a cynical person, and I can't help but think that information leaks like this are controlled by the owners themselves. It strikes me as an attempt to create more leverage, as that is what everything in negotiations is about.