NBA Draft Age Limit Should be Removed

Breaking down why the NBA Draft age limit should be removed

The NBA Draft’s age limit is a topic of discussion for Commissioner Adam Silver and owners of the NBA. The issue was broached in April when the owners met and Silver explained that a majority of the owners felt that they had no choice but to go after draft prospects earlier than they want to. Raising the draft age limit would enable them to get more information on prospects, let the prospects develop more, and therefore make better decisions on whom to draft.

In similar news, adults demanded that greasy fast food restaurants raise their prices so that they won’t be inclined to buy it for themselves, even though they already know it is bad for them.

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Okay, that may have been a fake news story, but you get the picture. Raising the NBA draft age limit on the premise that the owners can’t help themselves is ridiculous. Once again the multimillion and, in some cases, billion dollar owners play the part of the victim and demand changes that will protect them from themselves.

Does this not sound vaguely familiar to anyone? These were the same arguments (as well as some other uncouth arguments) the owners were making in 2005 when the draft age was reluctantly raised from 18 to 19. The owners needed to concede more revenue share just to get that approved by the players.

Let us not forget how much they were hurting from the soft salary cap system that was in place before the current collective bargaining agreement that “forced” them to overpay for talent and then pay for a harsh luxury tax. So they had to “protect” themselves by setting a harsher luxury tax, set limits on max contracts based on the amount of revenue the league receives year to year and took away about 6% of the revenue from the players.

It seems like whenever owners make mistakes on their part, they want to blame everyone else and act like they are the ones suffering for it. Adam Silver did not hesitate to ban an owner who stepped out of line and he should not cave to the owners on this matter. The draft age limit should not be raised to 20 years old. If anything, the age limit should drop back to 18 years old where it belongs.

The owners are concerned with their ability to properly evaluate talent and make good decisions in the draft. I’m sorry, I thought the owners were investing millions of dollars into a business.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver addresses the crowd before the start of the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Are they admitting that they are too frugal to invest in competent scouts that can accurately evaluate talent? One would assume that since an owner made enough money to buy an NBA franchise, they are good enough businessmen to hire the right people. If they cannot do that, sounds like it is an issue with them and not with an 18 year old who feels they are ready to play in the NBA.

It’s not like those scouts did a terrible job in the past. A quick glance at the list of NBA players drafted straight out of high school yields 39 drafted players between 1995-2005. Of those 39, 10 became all-stars, 31 were regularly rotation players and 23 are still active in the NBA today as consistent contributors. Admittedly, for every Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, there is a Jonathan Bender or Leon Smith, but there is an explanation.

Luck. No matter how much prepared a team is for the NBA draft they never really know how a player is going to pan out. Teams do not have a wall in their draft rooms with all prospects names and goes in blindly pin-the-talk-on-the-donkey style to pick a name at random. These teams spend the year scouting and researching each player, but even with highly touted players from college like Greg Oden or Sam Bowie, sometimes things just do not work out. The situation with high school prospects would be no different.

Then there is the argument that players should be developed at the college level instead of being picked in the draft. The issue is that the NBA does not have an affiliated league that develops talent and gets them prepared for the level of competition in the NBA. Oh wait, they do!

If owners decide to draft an 18-year-old, and after training camp it is determined that they’re not ready for the NBA, they can play in the NBA Development League so they can have game experience against similarly talented players that they would not get languishing on the bench in the NBA.

NBA players getting regular minutes that called got called up from the D-League at one point include Jeremy Lin and former high school draft pick Gerald Green. Both used their time in the D-League to hone their skills to be prepared for the next level. Imagine what that sort of help the D-League can be for a high school draft pick who is not quite ready for the big time.

If this controversial rule were made more controversial by adding an additional year to the draft limit age, it would be another win for the owners and another loss for the players. It seems kind of strange that an 18-year-old can make the decision to potentially sacrifice his life in the military, yet cannot make the decision to play a game if he has the ability.

Players hoping to get into the league would have to go overseas or plod through college where both parties are aware that the only reason they are there is to play basketball. They would risk injuring themselves while playing and losing potential draft position.

So, Commissioner Silver, if you are in another meeting with the owners and they bring up the subject of raising the NBA draft age limit, you need to find that backbone you had when you ban-hammered Sterling. Tell them they need to lower the age limit back to a fair 18 years old because players at that age are legal adults and can make their own decisions.

If they start playing the victim card, you can tell them this draft strategy to help them out.

It is a pretty simple concept. If an owner does not want to draft an 18-year-old prospect, DON’T DRAFT HIM. There is a reason why there was a 20-year gap between Darryl Dawkins being drafted in 1975 directly from high school and Kevin Garnett getting picked fifth overall in 1995: Owners were fully aware the risks of taking a teenager and did not want to invest immediately.

If the owners do not draft high school prospects, they do not risk that pick washing out of the league, but they do not reap the reward if that prospect ends up being a star. That’s a choice they are going to have to make and live with like adults.

The owners have run out of excuses. Do not let them have their way with the NBA draft age limit again because they cannot be saved from themselves.

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