CLEVELAND, Ohio — Although the new collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players has yet to be ratified, things are slowly beginning to get back to normal prior to the scheduled opening of training camps on Dec. 9.

Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson and Samardo Samuels have been working out in Cleveland, and tweeting about it. Manny Harris and Ramon Sessions are likely to join them as soon as Thursday, when team facilities will open to the players for the first time since the lockout began on July 1. Top draft choice Kyrie Irving is still in school at Duke and is not expected to be joining the early workouts.

Team executives were able to start talking to agents on Wednesday, although no deals could be offered and no contracts signed before Dec. 9. A number of NBA team executives spoke to the media on Wednesday, with several more announcing their intentions to do so on Thursday. But there was no word from the Cavaliers on when, or if, General Manager Chris Grant would be available.

It is believed that the Cavs did receive an extension on the trade exception they received from Miami in the deal for LeBron James, but it appears unlikely the team actually will use it.

Story hour: After watching Ohio State’s big victory over visiting Duke on Tuesday night in Columbus, James showed up Wednesday morning at the Mason Community Learning Center in Akron, where he read the Dr. Seuss classic, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” to a couple hundred students.

The event originally was scheduled as part of the Google+ Homecoming Tour featuring four charity basketball games. Although the games, including Thursday’s at the University of Akron, were canceled, James still checked in with the students taking part in his Wheels for Education program, dedicated to seeing 342 third-graders through to their high-school graduations in 2021.

“This is my passion,” James told the crowd. “These kids are my love.”

Later Wednesday, he took part in a flag-football game against Oklahoma Thunder star Kevin Durant at Akron.

Merry Christmas: The New York Times reported that the league would hold five games on Christmas, instead of the regularly scheduled three. One of those games is expected to be a Finals rematch between Dallas and Miami. The rest of the games likely will be announced later this week, although there is still no word on when the entire schedule will be released.

Season ticket special: The Cavs have invited season-ticket holders to shoot around on The Q court from 3-7 p.m. Thursday. Tours of the locker room also will be conducted.

Tait signing: Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Tait will be signing copies of his new book, written with Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto, “Joe Tait: It’s Been a Real Ball” from noon to 2 p.m. on Friday at The Q. Michael Symon‘s B-Spot at The Q will be open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Pay raise: Bloomberg News reports that the average NBA player’s salary will be near $8 million by the end of the pending 10-year labor agreement, according to a letter sent to the players by union head Billy Hunter. NBA salaries averaged $5.2 million last season, compared to $3.3 million in Major League Baseball, $2.4 million in the National Hockey League and $2.2 million in the NFL.

The Associated Press and Yahoo! Sports contributed to this report.

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