"As the calendar moves closer to the June 30 expiration of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, one thing is growing more clear.

"There will definitely be a lockout," says agent Steve Kauffman, who for years represented players but now has coaches as his clients. "The question is whether there will be (regular-season) games missed."

"A lockout is going to happen," says Frank Brickowski, one of six regional representatives for the NBA Players Association. "After that, you draw a series of lines.

"You draw a line at training camp. You draw a line at the start of the preseason. You draw a line at the start of the regular season. And at some point, the final line is, do we lose the season?"

Everything is a possibility at this point.

"I don't have the answer to what will happen," says Kauffman, who works for such names as Doc Rivers, Donnie Walsh, John Hammond, Rod Higgins, Ty Corbin, Paul Westphal and Monty Williams. "I don't know anyone who knows the answer. We just want it to be resolved."

"I always say this," adds Brickowski, a Lake Oswego resident who has served as West Coast rep for the players union for the past seven years. "I fervently hope that saner minds prevail."

The lines of sanity among the 30 owners — many of them billionaires — and the 400-plus players — who average $5 million annually in salary — are blurred.

With the NBA's popularity strong in most of the major markets (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston) and the league's television ratings for the playoffs up nearly one-third from a year ago, it seems a strange time for billionaires to quibble with millionaires over money.

"Things are rolling," says Brickowski, 51, who played 13 seasons with six teams during his NBA career. "No one wants to kill the golden goose. I mean, are they nuts?"

Brickowski, who works for the players, means the owners.

The same could be said for the players, who may find themselves out of work instead of playing basketball in November.

The sides have been negotiating for a new bargaining agreement since February 2010. Commissioner David Stern has met several times in recent weeks with Billy Hunter, the union's executive director. The league's labor relations committee — Trail Blazer President Larry Miller is the only non-owner among its 10 members — also has met several times since negotiations began."