The one-and-done rule is staying in place, for at least the moment.
The NBA and its players’ union have agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement and the requirement that players be a year removed from their high school graduating class remains a part of the agreement, according to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
While the one-and-done rule will be a part of the new CBA, it could be negotiated during the life of the new agreement.
“The league and union will continue discussing alternatives to the draft-entry rule and could agree to change the early-entry rule over the course of the labor agreement, “ Wojnarowski wrote, citing league sources.
The NBA’s age requirement is one of the biggest influences on college basketball with players who would otherwise prefer to join the professional ranks right out of high school being, for all intents and purposes, forced into the NCAA. Kentucky, Duke and others have found great success recruiting such players who make immediate - and significant - contributions before moving on to the NBA.
Some players have found ways around the requirement, which was implemented in 2006, by heading overseas, most notably Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay and Terrance Ferguson, and that appears to be a continuing viable path for players that would rather be paid for their games.
It’ll be interesting to see how much this issue lingers beyond this initial agreement. Ben Simmons recently - and very publicly - criticized the requirement, which seem to jump start the conversation regarding the rule.
College basketball certainly benefits from having these top-tier players in the sport, if even only for a year, but the ancillary issues that arise due to their (essentially forced) presence certainly creates problems as well.