Report: NBA proposing to lower draft age to 18

[February 22, 2019]    Lowering the draft-eligible age requirement in the NBA from 19 to 18 is one step closer to reality after the league submitted a proposal to the National Basketball Players Association, USA Today reported Thursday.

NBA Logo Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Scott Heavey - MT1ACI6417003

The report, citing a source, also indicated the union and executive director Michele Roberts plan to review the proposal Monday. The timing, according to USA Today, does not coincide with the knee injury suffered Wednesday night by Duke freshman Zion Williamson, the expected No. 1 pick on the 2019 NBA draft.

The reported proposal is the first step in making the change by the 2022 draft. Players would be allowed to enter the NBA right out of high school.

High school players were negotiated out of the draft by the league in the 2005 CBA with the one-and-done rule, which stated players must be one year removed from their high school class graduation or be 19 years old to enter the draft. But NBA commissioner Adam Silver has recently helped changed that way of thinking.

At the NBA owners meeting in July, Silver said he thought the league should consider lowering the age to 18. He also reportedly met with the players union last year about lowering the draft age.

Both sides must collectively bargain any changes to a CBA that was ratified in 2016.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.