The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have expressed optimism over reaching a new collective bargaining agreement in the coming weeks before a key December date, according to a report by The Vertical.The current 10-year deal, signed in 2011, has a Dec. 15 opt-out clause, but both sides are looking to hammer a deal in place before that date.Sources have told ESPN that there is optimism on both sides of the table for a new agreement that would eliminate the possibility of a work stoppage in 2017.?With the league flush with money from its current television rights deals, both sides are motivated to get a deal done and avoid another lockout. The 2011-12 season was reduced by 16 games after the league and NBPA failed to reach a deal until December.NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts have had a high spirit of cooperation during the talks and are expected to make joint appearances in conjunction with the start of the season.An official update on the state of negotiations is likely in two weeks, when Silver makes his annual October address after a board of governors session.Among the items on the table, according to The Verticals report, are a higher rookie contract scale and two-way contracts between the NBA and NBA Development League.There have also been some discussions about making minor changes to the max contract scale. Kingsley Coman JerseySebastian Rode Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. http://www.soccerfcbayernshop.com/kids-rafinha-bayern-munich-jersey/ . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. Jan Kirchhoff Bayern Munich Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Sinan Kurt Bayern Munich Jersey . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Malcolm Knox, in the Sydney Morning Herald, on why the inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes had to happen.The pain that has been dredged to the surface has been horrible to see, and pity abounds for the players, umpires and others who have given evidence. But too many casual observers have given this pain a greater weight than the Hughes familys grief. They should move on. So easy for the uninvolved to say!The wider communitys sympathies rest decisively with the agonised players who have been examined; can we not also respect the all-consuming suffering that has been sitting in the courtroom in barely contained silence, and which wants the game of cricket brought to account? Is it too hard for us to understand that the inability to accept an accident as a mere stroke of fate is precisely what grief is about? ' ' '