Up until 2005, NBA prospects could declare for the NBA Draft as 18-year-olds coming out of high school. However, that rule was changed to only allow 19-year-olds into the Draft process to give the prospects more security and encourage a year of professional basketball outside the US or a year in an NCAA college.
There are many players in the modern NBA that could have come into the league coming out of high school. A year in college or overseas helps them refine their game and make it better heading into the league because adjusting to NBA basketball can be a challenge coming out of high school. These avenues better prepare them for a career in the NBA.
Adam Silver has revealed that the league will try lowering the age back to 18 as ‘it is the right thing to do’.
Adam Silver is open to the possibility or lowering the age to enter the NBA from 19 to 18 👀
“It’s the right thing to do.”
(via @CBSSports) pic.twitter.com/jTXz58twEK
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 13, 2022
“I think there’s an opportunity [to change it]. It’s [based on] larger conversations than just whether we go from 19 to 18, but I’m on record: When I balance all of these various considerations, I think that would be the right thing to do and I am hopeful that that’s a change we make in this next collective bargaining cycle, which will happen in the next couple years.” (h/t ESPN)
Silver and the league will be making a very well-informed decision if they switch the age back to 18. The last group of players to come into the league straight from high school in the league are Dwight Howard (2004) and LeBron James (2003).
The next collective bargaining cycle is almost upon us and negotiations for the same are expected to begin over the course of this season or the next. Changing this rule will allow many basketball prospects a direct chance to earn as pro players rather than having to deal with a year of playing in the NCAA or in the G League.
