NBA prospects will now be able to play the lottery long before they can be a part of the lottery.
The NBA and its players association reached a tentative consensus Tuesday on a new six-year collective bargaining agreement, which includes an increase in the league’s minimum age requirement. American players must now wait one year after the graduation of their high school class, while international prospects must turn 19 during the year in which they enter the draft.
National Basketball Players Association President Billy Hunter and NBA Commissioner David Stern held a press conference before Game 6 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio to announce the agreement in principle. This announcement marked the end of what had often been bitter and publicized discussions, with the threat of a lockout looming.
The age limit had been the center of much public debate, largely because high schoolers have flooded the NBA Draft in recent years. The trend peaked last year when a record eight prep stars were selected in the first round. In addition, three of the last four No. 1 overall picks—Kwame Brown, Dwight Howard and Lebron James—came straight from the high-school ranks.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said top high school players will now likely get more attention from the elite programs, whereas in recent years the phenoms may have been avoided out of a fear they would jump straight to the NBA without ever setting foot on campus.
“People in this [highest-rated] pool aren’t necessarily better right now than the people we’re recruiting—in fact some of them aren’t as good,” Krzyzewski said June 12. “But they have the physical characteristics that the NBA is looking for—potential.”
As part of the collective bargaining agreement the age limit of the National Basketball Development League, which will now act more like the NBA’s minor league, was lowered from 20 to 18 in order to accommodate players that have no desire to attend college. The NBDL pays its players, making it possible for a prospect to turn professional technically straight out of high school.
“This will encourage our scouts to spend time in D-league gyms rather than high school gyms,” Stern said of the changes.
With the new policies it is unknown how the college game will be affected. Prospects still have the options of prep school and the NBDL rather than playing in the NCAA. Some college coaches have said that prep schools may be a better option for a prospect who is solely trying to showcase his talent. College programs generally stress a team-first mentality, as evidenced by the situation of Marvin Williams—who may go No. 1 in Tuesday’s draft but did not start a single game for North Carolina last season.
Despite the other options, some college officials fear the new age minimum will bring an influx of athletes who plan on being NBA-bound after just a single season. While these players may bring more talent to the college game, their early exits could hurt a teams’ respective Academic Progress Rating—a figure used by the NCAA to evaluate an individual team’s academic performance. Teams that fail to meet certain standards risk the suspension of athletic scholarships.
Along with the age limit, the new collective bargaining agreement contains concessions and compromises from both sides. The owners agreed to increase the salary cap but shortened the maximum length of contracts for both veterans and rookies. Players were appeased by the reduction in escrow taxes on their salaries, and Stern got the increased age minimum he had been pushing for during this season.
Although the agreement has been agreed upon in principle, it must be ratified by both the NBA Board of Governors and the Players’ Association next week.
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