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The NBA lockout has officially ended.

Players and owners agreed to a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement last Thursday Dec. 8th, 2011; officially ending a prolonged lockout which began on July 1.

With the lockout lifted, training camps will open and free agency will begin today Friday Dec 9th, 2011 at 2 p.m. (ET). The regular season will commence December 25. Owners ratified the 10-year pact, which allows both parties the option to opt out after the sixth year, by a 25-5 vote.

Fundamental agreement points were highlighted in an official statement from the NBA yesterday; an integral part of this agreement includes a 50-50 split of basketball-related income (BRI), although players can receive as high as 51% or as low as 49%, depending on BRI. They received 57 per cent in the previous collective bargaining agreement.

A soft salary cap will remain in place and will be set for the 2011-12 season at $58.044 million, a tax level of $70.307 million and a minimum team salary of $46.435 million. Maximum contracts lengths will be reduced by one year, from six years to five years for a team’s own players and five years to four years for other players. Additionally, salaries in new player contracts may increase by up to 7.5 per cent per year for a team’s own players and 4.5 percent per year for other free agents.

Another key issue pertains to the luxury tax. For the next two seasons, the tax rate is $1 for every $1 in salary over the tax level. The rate will increase after the 2012-13 season, though.

The new pact also includes off-season drug testing and human growth hormone (HGH) testing once validated by a panel of scientific experts.