NBA players have authorized the return of the players' association, with more than 300 submitting the necessary signatures to a third-party accounting group. With the union re-formed, negotiations with owners will resume Friday on the remaining issues that would be in the collective bargaining agreement, according to a person familiar with the plans. The hope is to complete the CBA next week so both sides can ratify it in time to open camps Dec. 9. When talks with the NBA broke down Nov. 14, the NBPA disclaimed interest in representing the players, paving the way for them to file an antitrust lawsuit against the league. But negotiations continued despite the litigation, and a tentative agreement was reached early last Saturday. The union needed at least 260 signatures from players to be received by the American Accounting Association by the end of the day Thursday and had easily surpassed that number by the close of business. Billups in trouble Chauncey Billups was yanked from his hometown and dropped into New York in February because of a superstar's discontent. Now another superstar's wanderlust could send him packing again. Ten months ago, it was Carmelo Anthony who spurred the relocation by forcing the Denver Nuggets into a blockbuster deal that sent Anthony and Billups to the Knicks. Now it is Chris Paul, the disenchanted New Orleans Hornets star, who is reportedly agitating for a trade to New York, at Billups's expense. Although a deal is only a remote possibility, it would surely involve Billups, who plays the same position (point guard). “It wouldn't make me happy,” Billups said Friday in a phone interview from his Denver home. “Because for me, at this juncture in my career, I just want to win.”
