After 148 days and plenty of excruciatingly long meetings, the NBA lockout seems to be on the verge of ending. The NBA’s players and owners have reached a “tentative understanding” on a new collective bargaining agreement, which will yield a 66-game season that is expected to begin on December 25.

Now, the National Basketball Players Association must reform in order to vote on the agreement and the Labor Relations Committee must approve of the deal, as well. The players are expected to vote in the coming days and the committee has scheduled a conference call for tomorrow. Both sides will have their lawyers look over the potential deal and work out the remaining kinks. Following yesterday’s 15-hour meeting, David Stern and Billy Hunter addressed the media in a joint press conference.

“We’re optimistic,” Stern said. “We expect our Labor Relations Committee to endorse this tentative agreement. We expect a CBA will arise out of this deal.”

“We’ve reached a tentative litigation settlement,” Hunter said. “We’ll turn it over to the lawyers and work out all of the details. I’m confident we can get it done.”

The details weren’t made available because the two sides wanted to inform their members before announcing the deal’s complexities. With that said, Hunter hinted that the details will be released in the next few days.

If everything goes as planned, free agency and training camps will start simultaneously on December 9. If the NFL’s condensed free agency was any indication, the two-week period will be just as exciting as it is chaotic.

Then, the focus will shift back to basketball and the season will kick off on Christmas Day with a triple-header featuring some of the league’s best teams.

“We look forward to opening up on Christmas Day,” Adam Silver said. “We’re excited about bringing the NBA back. That is what’s most important.”

When the union chose to disclaim interest last week, there seemed to be little hope for an NBA season. However, the owners were willing to come back to the table and make compromises in order to avoid a legal battle.

“It’s over,” texted one source who was in the room on Friday. Everyone involved is relieved that the process is coming to an end because it has been frustrating and exhausting.

Stern and Hunter said they expect this agreement to yield a deal and that they would be disappointed if this were to fall through. They’ll return to their respective camps and go through the remaining steps to finalize this new collective bargaining agreement.

After several months of drama and setbacks, the NBA lockout is finally coming to an end.

Next Step, Free Agency: Assuming this tentative agreement yields a new deal, free agency will begin in 13 days. This has been a very unusual offseason for free agents because they haven’t been able to communicate with team employees and each franchise’s financial situation has been up in the air without a collective bargaining agreement in place.

Now, free agents will have a very small window to sign with their new teams and get acclimated before the season starts on December 25. Teams will likely have less time to match offer sheets for their restricted free agents, players won’t be able to hold as many workouts as usual and, overall, the period will be somewhat chaotic.

In order to start preparing for free agency, here are some of the notable players at each position:

Point Guards: Aaron Brooks* (Restricted), Rodney Stuckey (Restricted), J.J. Barea (Unrestricted), T.J. Ford (Unrestricted), Mario Chalmers (Restricted), Sebastian Telfair (Unrestricted), Patrick Mills* (Restricted), Pooh Jeter (Unrestricted), Delonte West (Unrestricted), Charlie Bell (Early Termination Option), Ronnie Price (Unrestricted), Earl Watson (Unrestricted), Chris Quinn (Unrestricted), Sundiata Gaines (Unrestricted), Earl Boykins (Unrestricted), Acie Law (Unrestricted), Anthony Carter (Unrestricted), Ben Uzoh (Unrestricted), Marcus Banks (Unrestricted), Royal Ivey (Unrestricted)

Shooting Guards: Jamal Crawford (Unrestricted), Jason Richardson (Unrestricted), Arron Afflalo (Restricted), J.R. Smith* (Unrestricted), Marcus Thornton (Restricted), Nick Young (Restricted), Shannon Brown (Unrestricted), Sonny Weems* (Restricted), Mike Dunleavy (Unrestricted), DeShawn Stevenson (Unrestricted), Michael Redd (Unrestricted), Willie Green (Unrestricted), Daequan Cook (Restricted), Mo Evans (Unrestricted), Chris Douglas-Roberts (Unrestricted), Anthony Parker (Unrestricted), Tracy McGrady (Unrestricted), Sasha Vujacic (Unrestricted), Roger Mason (Unrestricted), Marquis Daniels (Unrestricted), Von Wafer (Unrestricted), Marco Belinelli (Restricted), Gary Forbes (Restricted), Alonzo Gee (Unrestricted), Dominic McGuire (Unrestricted)

Small Forwards: Wilson Chandler* (Unrestricted), Caron Butler (Unrestricted), Thaddeus Young (Restricted), Grant Hill (Unrestricted), Tayshaun Prince (Unrestricted), Shane Battier (Unrestricted), James Jones (Unrestricted), Reggie Williams (Restricted), Josh Howard (Unrestricted), Earl Clark (Unrestricted), Al Thornton (Unrestricted), Jeremy Evans (Unrestricted), Jason Kapono (Unrestricted), Jamario Moon (Unrestricted), Rasual Butler (Unrestricted), Peja Stojakovic (Unrestricted), Shawne Williams (Unrestricted), Ime Udoka (Unrestricted), Rodney Carney (Unrestricted), DaJuan Summers (Unrestricted), Quinton Ross (Unrestricted),

Power Forwards: David West (Unrestricted), Carl Landry (Unrestricted), Andrei Kirilenko (Unrestricted), Jeff Green (Restricted), Troy Murphy (Unrestricted), Kenyon Martin* (Unrestricted), Glen Davis (Unrestricted), Kris Humphries (Unrestricted), Reggie Evans (Unrestricted), Chuck Hayes (Unrestricted), Yi Jianlian (Restricted), Luc Mbah a Moute (Restricted), Josh McRoberts (Unrestricted), Jared Jeffries (Unrestricted), Dante Cunningham (Restricted), Jonas Jerebko (Restricted), Leon Powe (Unrestricted), Craig Smith (Unrestricted), Juwan Howard (Unrestricted), Jason Smith (Restricted), Joey Dorsey (Unrestricted), Joe Smith (Unrestricted), Brandon Wright (Unrestricted), Darius Songaila (Unrestricted), Chris Wilcox (Unrestricted), Josh Powell (Unrestricted), DJ Mbenga (Unrestricted), Brian Cardinal (Unrestricted), Brian Scalabrine (Unrestricted), Melvin Ely (Unrestricted)

Centers: Marc Gasol (Restricted), Nene (Unrestricted), Tyson Chandler (Unrestricted), Greg Oden (Restricted), Samuel Dalembert (Unrestricted), DeAndre Jordan (Restricted), Joel Przybilla (Unrestricted), Spencer Hawes (Restricted), Nenad Krstic (Unrestricted), Shelden Williams (Unrestricted), Brian Skinner (Unrestricted), Kyrylo Fesenko (Unrestricted), Erick Dampier (Unrestricted), Jeff Foster (Unrestricted), Kurt Thomas (Unrestricted), Francisco Elson (Unrestricted), Aaron Gray (Unrestricted), Dan Gadzuric (Unrestricted), Kwame Brown (Unrestricted), Theo Ratliff (Unrestricted), Hilton Armstrong (Unrestricted), Jamaal Magloire (Unrestricted), Etan Thomas (Unrestricted), Jason Collins (Unrestricted), Eddy Curry (Unrestricted), Alexis Ajinca (Unrestricted), Hamed Haddadi (Restricted)

The list of free agents may grow if players are waived as a result of an amnesty clause.

*These players signed overseas without NBA-opt out clauses.

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