During NBA All-Star Weekend, both NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA National Basketball Players’ Association Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio spoke openly about the need to finalize a new CBA before the annual opt-out date of March 31 arrives.
“I would just say it’s an absolute priority for us as well to get a deal done as soon as possible,” Silver said at a press conference on Saturday night.
“Our players are very competitive, and we want to see [this to] completion as well. So, it is absolutely a priority for us,” Tremaglio added in a separate news conference.
One matter that could be discussed during CBA negotiations is the lowering of the NBA’s age requirement. Currently, players have to turn 19 before entering the league, but recent reports indicate that the league and the NBPA are “open” to the idea of lowering the age requirement to 18 years old. In doing so, the NBA would reopen itself to the possibility of drafting players upon their high school graduation.
“In our meetings today, we spent a lot of time talking about that,” Tremaglio said when asked about the possibility of lowering the league’s age requirement.
“We recognize that we really do need to make sure that we have the structure in place, if we’re going to have people join the league at the age of 18. We also appreciate that there is a lot of benefit to really having veterans who can bring those 18-year-olds along. And so you know, certainly anything that we would even consider, to be quite honest, would have to include a component that would allow veterans to be a part of it as well.”
