NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr will not be taking the same position with the NBA players union, a source told Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal.

Executive director Billy Hunter’s future with the NBPA is considered tenuous after he was placed on indefinite leave Friday.

Fehr was first linked to the NBAP through a CBSSports.com report of an influential group of NBA player agents pushing for his hire. Fehr’s recent handling of the NHLPA’s new CBA and his past success as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association reportedly could provide enough clout to win approval of NBA players.

Fehr originally declined to comment on the report while Hunter still holds his title as the NBPA executive director. Hunter was placed on leave following a negative independent review of his business practices, including the involvement of family members as NBPA employees and vendors.

Source close to Don Fehr: "Don is very happy in his current role and has absolutely no plans to leave the NHLPA." (1/3)—
Liz Mullen (@SBJLizMullen) February 05, 2013

Donald Fehr is the choice of many NBA agents to be the NBPA’s next leader. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

NBA agents are floating prominent sports union leader Donald Fehr as the next possible head of the National Basketball Players Association, CBS Sports’ Ken Berger reported Monday.

Fehr is the current executive director of the NHL Players Association and also was the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

He would replace Billy Hunter, who was placed on indefinite leave last week by a committee organized by union president Derek Fisher. That committee formed in order to “move the organization forward” after a stinging report by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, an independent firm that was hired to investigate the union’s business practices under Hunter’s leadership.

Fehr did not comment when reached by Berger.

While representing NHL players during the recent NHL lockout, Fehr earned the notorious distinction of becoming the first players union director to lead two work stoppages. Fehr also presided over the MLB lockout of 1994-95, which canceled the entire 1994 postseason, including the World Series.

Hunter has been the head of the NBPA since 1996. Because the firm’s report found that Hunter’s contract was never “properly approved,” it said that the contract could be terminated.

The NHL and its players association have reportedly made progress toward ending the league’s 67-day lockout during their meetings in New York on Wednesday.

The NHLPA proposed a five-year deal that would set Dec. 1 as the start date to a 68-game season, according to The Globe and Mail‘s James Mirtle. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr estimated that there is a $182 million gap between the players’ latest offer and the NHL’s last offer.

An integral part of the players’ proposal is $391-million in “make whole” money over the five years, which is substantially more than the $211-million the owners last had on the table but less than the $592-million the NHLPA had previously asked for.

Included was a proposal by the union on eliminating heavily front-loaded contracts, the only element of contract rights the NHLPA included in its offer.

Fehr also said the players’ proposal for the first time deals in percentages as opposed to a guaranteed share.

“About as good as we can do,” Fehr told reporters in attendance.

The decision in now in the league’s hands, and its response is expected to come at 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun tweeted the following quote from Rangers star Brad Richards.

NYR star B. Richards via text on PA proposal: "It is a move in their direction again and based off of their proposal. There has to…" Cont—
Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) November 21, 2012

… "an effort from them to get this done now." End quote—
Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) November 21, 2012

The Globe and Mail provided full details of the proposal. Several reporters, including CSNPhilly.com’s Tim Panaccio, raised doubts about the accuracy of Fehr’s estimate.

CAUTION: from the start, the NHL and NHLPA have never agreed on the math in terms of how far apart they are …—
Tim Panaccio (@tpanotchCSN) November 21, 2012

NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr encouraged the league to continue negotiations last week. The players’ association is expected to have a new proposal to present on Wednesday. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The NHL Players’ Association is expected to deliver a new CBA proposal on Wednesday, reports TSN. The two sides met on Monday night for 90 minutes and the league asked for a comprehensive offer on revenue shares and player contract rights. The union is working internally on Tuesday and could meet with the league on Wednesday.

“We’ve never heard a full proposal from them,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. “We’ve heard their proposal on economics, they’re still suggesting that they’re moving in our direction on economics… We’d like to hear it all together.”

The players’ association and league will also have to decide how to pay for damage caused by the lockout–the NHLPA’s most recent offer on Nov. 7 did not include the mechanism to account for reduced revenue as a result of a shortened 2012-13 season. The lockout is into its 10th week and all regular season games through Nov. 30 have been cancelled. The sides considered taking a break from negotiations last week, but the NHLPA encouraged continued meetings.

“It’s hard for me to see how you make an agreement if you aren’t talking and so you talk,” said NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. “Sometimes it doesn’t lead anywhere, perhaps very often it doesn’t lead anywhere, but if you aren’t talking it’s 100 per cent sure it doesn’t lead anywhere.”

According to USA Today’s Kevin Allen, talks will resume on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league’s most recent proposal would be withdrawn. All games in November may be cancelled. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The NHL plans to withdraw its most recent proposal to the NHLPA once the Thursday deadline passes, according to a report from ESPN:

“When we delivered the proposal last Tuesday, we told them it would be on the table through today,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN.com Thursday afternoon. “Having not reached agreement through today, I expect that we’ll formally notify the union Friday that the proposal is no longer on the table. We’re going to take it back internally and figure out where we go from here.”

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr was not surprised by the league’s withdrawal. He commented,

“Review the history here: they make a proposal, it’s essentially a take it or leave it, we respond on the core economics, they take 10 minutes and say no…. It takes two to negotiate. They seem to be really good at imposing deadlines and issuing ultimatums and having lockouts. It seems to be something they’re well-practiced at.”

Daly said the proposal would no longer work because it was created under the pretense of having an 82-game season. The league is expected to cancel games through the end of November on Friday.