Ending one-and-done among "top priorities" for NBA's next CBA

Rumors of the NBA potentially ending the “one-and-done” draft rule began to swirl like a whirlpool in September, but there was no firm confirmation that anything was impending.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported on Sept. 19 that the league expected to lower the NBA Draft eligibility age from 19 to 18, which would allow high schoolers to jump straight to the professional ranks and avoid college altogether. But hours later that same day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said talks were stalled and a potential end to the one-and-done could still be several years out.

On Friday afternoon, Wojnarowski provided another update, if only a minor note. In an article detailing the NBA’s pursuit of an upper Spending Limit, Woj reports that one of the league’s “top priorities” for a new collective bargaining agreement includes ending the one-and-done rule. The NBA’s current CBA expires after the 2023-24 season, although the league and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) hope to agree to a new CBA by the Dec. 15 deadline.

Wojnarowski outlined three of the NBA’s other “top priorities” for the next CBA. Here is what he wrote about the one-and-done rule:

To end the “one-and-done” early entry rule and allow high school players back into the NBA draft, the league wants a requirement that player agents can no longer pick and choose the teams with which they supply prospects’ physicals and medical information. The NBA also wants some minimal requirements around presence and participation in the draft combine.

Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN

If the NBA were to remove the one-and-done rule in the next CBA, it would not take effect until the 2024 NBA Draft. In that case, the current group of high school juniors (class of 2024) would be the first batch of propsects elgibile to jump straight to the NBA. Kentucky’s 2023 class consisting of Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, Robert Dillingham, and Reed Sheppard would not fall into that category.