Sam Amico of NBA.com writes that the Lakers are worried about giving coach Phil Jackson a long-term contract because they believe a lockout is looming.

It was reported last week that Jackson would likely have to take a pay cut to remain with Los Angeles.

Amico also writes that the Lakers want to eventually replace Jackson with Brian Shaw.

"Lakers want to replace PJ w/Brian Shaw at some point. They're convinced lockout looms, so don't want to give PJ a multi-year deal," Amico wrote on his Twitter page.

A source told Frank Isola that Daryl Morey was fined by the NBA league office for giving an opinion on the collective bargaining agreement in a discussion with Bill Simmons of ESPN.

The fine on Morey is believed to be $100,000.

Isola also states that Donnie Walsh is careful to avoid public statements about LeBron James because of how controversial the idea of James joining the Knicks is around the league.

"The Knicks president is more mindful of tampering than any other team executive because he knows that few want to see LeBron end up in New York and will do anything to prevent it," writes Isola.

Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA Players Association, said on Thursday that the union is in the process of engineering a proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement and will submit it to the league before the end of June.

The league's owners and commissioner David Stern crafted a proposal and gave it to the players during All-Star weekend in Dallas in mid-February. The players were unanimously dismissive of the owners' plan to virtually redefine the parameters of an agreement that Stern said will force the owners to lose as much as $400 million combined this year.

Hunter said during a news conference in Dallas that he and the players' leadership told owners they would create their own, separate proposal, though he left open the date for handing over that proposal. Now, he says, he is instituting a soft deadline.

"We are demonstrating an open-ended willingness and desire to get a deal done instead of just talking about it," Hunter told SI.com. "This is about good will. Our timing will give the owners the entire summer to review what it is we are proposing and decide what they want to do next."