My guess is that there is significant progress toward a deal and that much of it has happened in the last week. Notice I said that was a GUESS; I do NOT have a wire into the negotiating room.
However, you should notice that when you hear from anyone on either side of the table these days, it is not a spokesperson. You are hearing ONLY from the principles and the people who "in the room". The PR guys on both sides have been muzzled; the loose-lipped "inside sources" have all gone silent - - probably because they have been told to shut-up or because they have been excluded from the sessions where the real work is getting done.
Here is my GUESS at a timeline:
12-15 July: There is a handshake agreement on the structure of the new CBA and part of that agreement is that the owners will lift the lockout and the players will withdraw their lawsuits.
48 hours after that handshake agreement, free agency will start.
Training camps will open between 22 and 24 July.
The season will start on time.
The lawyers will massage the outline agreement that both sides shook hands on and produce a final agreement that will be ratified by both sides sometime in Sept/Oct.
[BTW, if the lawyers for either side screw up the final text of the agreement with some kind of off-the-wall failure to dot the eyes and cross the tees, fans should declare open season on all of those lawyers and drive them out of the country to reside on Pitcairn Island.]