Hunter is the problem here. He fucked up not taking the deal a month ago and he can't accept a worse deal now or look like a moron.
I think there is a lot of blame to go around, but let's face it, most of it belongs with the incredibly bad GMs who made the shitty contracts that got everyone into this situation of not being able to make money in a golden age of talent. I have complete confidence that no matter what the terms of the new CBA, GMs will still trip over themselves to hand out deals that anyone ITT could spot as throat-slittingly dumb.
My two-point solution for owners:
1) STOP HIRING EX-PLAYERS 'CAUSE THEY'RE 'COOL'.
2) HIRE SOME SHARKS WITH SOME ANALYTIC SKILLS AND TAKE A FUCKING BACKSEAT
For Hunter and Stern, stop thinking about how to split up the pie you already have in a manner that makes more people happy. This is fundamentally IMPOSSIBLE (as giving pie to one side means taking it from the other) and should not be the goal.
INSTEAD, YOU NEED TO MAKE MORE PIE. Focus on how to grow the league sensibly into China and Europe, how to poach more talent (both players, coaches and managerial) from those areas. Focus on how to get more people watching from home via the net, cable, whatever - regular folks only pay attention to grudge matches that prefigure playoff battles, the All Star Game, and playoffs. Make more of those by making the top teams play more against each other, cut down on meaningless regular season games and make the playoffs crazier. Use the lighter schedule to allow travel time for games overseas, which have league-seeding consequences. Create new championships to compete for like in soccer! Make every game mean something, and have every outcome in play. Then we'll be back to the golden days of everyone rolling so deep that no-one will need to bitch.