Report: NBA, NBPA Progressing on CBA with Lower Draft Age Limit, New Luxury Tax Rules

As the two sides continue negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association are making headway on two notable issues: the minimum age for players to be draft-eligible and the league's luxury-tax rules.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday the two sides "have momentum on an agreement to terms that would lower the age to 18 for the draft." They're also "negotiating new luxury-tax tiers and rates to increase the lower tier and make it more viable for teams to spend money into the tax."

Charania reported the NBPA is looking to offset the elimination of the one-and-done rule by "pushing for conditions that would facilitate veteran players providing tutelage and orientation to the high schoolers entering the league."

Lowering the age limit to 18 could push some older players out of the Association but is arguably a net benefit overall.

Players with pro aspirations could get to the NBA even earlier, though the dawn of the NIL era in college and the emergence of the NBA G League pathway and Overtime Elite are already allowing them to be compensated after they leave high school.

Still, keeping the age limit at 19 is making less and less sense when top prospective prospects are basically becoming professionalized by the time they're 18. The college game might get better as well since there would be fewer players who view it merely as a way station. Even the best programs can suffer when they're constantly having to replace multiple stars every single season.

The impact and overall utility of changes to the luxury tax are a little more difficult to discern.

In October, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBA was looking to effectively institute a hard cap in an attempt to improve competitive balance. However, that could punish smaller-market teams just as much as it would the more monied organizations.

As an example, let's say Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin are the nucleus of a title contender for the Indiana Pacers down the road. While the current system allows the Pacers to retain both as long as they're willing to pay up, more restrictive luxury-tax rules could put Indiana in a difficult predicament once Haliburton and Mathurin's rookie deals expire.

The NBA and NBPA extended the deadline to opt out of the current CBA to March 31. The CBA will end on June 30 if either side exercises its opt-out right.

Based on Charania's report, the NBA and NBPA are making the kind of progress that will help avoid a lockout.