I don't believe contraction will happen, but it's interesting now that it's being brought up.
The NBA wants a way to contract teams without having to run it by the union. Yeah, that'll fly.
What's the drop dead date before the entire season is lost? To me anything less than a 50-game season is a waste of time, really. So really unless a deal gets worked out by Jan. 1, I think you can kiss the season goodbye ...
UPDATE: Moments ago the union rejected the owners' offer and says they will decertify the union and pursue this as an antitrust issue. If this is true ... then the season is over.