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Report: NBA officially proposes lowering draft-eligible age to 18

Mike Stobe / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The NBA submitted a formal proposal to the NBPA that would lower the draft-eligible age from 19 to 18 in time for the 2022 NBA Draft, a source told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has previously stated that the league is "ready to make that change." The players' association is reportedly planning to review the proposal on Monday.

Both the NBA and the NBPA would need to agree for the rule change to take place. Zillgitt noted that the league wants a three-year gap before the rule change to give teams "ample time to prepare."

If the age is lowered, the change would mark the end of the controversial "one-and-done" era that requires players to either be 19 years old or complete their freshman year of college before declaring for the NBA draft. The NBA and NBPA signed off on that rule in the 2005 collective bargaining agreement.

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