Teams will be permitted to compete in select high-profile high-school tournaments beginning this month.

The NBA intends to relax restrictions on teams scouting high school basketball players. Teams will be able to send personnel to select high-profile high-school tournaments beginning in mid-December.

High School Scouting

This decision will not affect the league's current age restrictions for new players. To be eligible, players must be 19-years-old in the draft year and removed from senior year of high school for a year.

Since David Stern insisted on no NBA scouts in high school gyms a decade ago, the NBA has steadily loosened its no-contact restrictions.

The move also seeks to close a gap opened by the NBA this fall, which allowed scouts nearly unrestricted access to Overtime Elite. They primarily consist of high school-age players, creating a competitive advantage in recruiting elite prospects. Until now, G League Ignite, NBA academies, and OTE, its six-team league, were the only platforms where high school players performed in front of NBA personnel. It created an inconsistency that some interpreted as preferential treatment.

The NBA will start allowing teams to attend several critical high school events featuring many of America's best non-draft-eligible players. This will surely have a great impact on the NBA draft betting odds, as the teams may find much needed players even before the draft.

The NBA is responding to a long-held desire among team front offices to gain greater access to elite prospects before they enter college.

Three players sat out their seasons before becoming draft eligible: Shaedon Sharpe, Mitchell Robinson, and Darius Bazley.

Scouts want to assess these players earlier in their careers.Three competitions have now been certified for scout attendance: the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, the Geico Nationals in Florida, and the Spalding HoopHall Classic in Massachusetts.

However, as the number of prospects who sit out the year after graduating from high school grows, front offices across the league have been pushing for more access to scout these players. One such example is Shaedon Sharpe. The Portland Trail Blazers picked him in this year's NBA Draft. Sharpe was a top recruit in his class who committed to Kentucky, but never played for the Wildcats. As a result, he was one of the draft's biggest unknowns; if teams had more information, he could have gone even higher.

There are significant obstacles to eliminating the rule, which is just one of many vital issues on which the NBPA and NBA must agree during upcoming labor talks.

Nonetheless, Adam Silver is on record saying that changing the age limit was right. He cited societal changes and noted that he was hopeful for a change in the next collective bargaining cycle in the next couple of years.

How Does NBA Scouting Work?

The NBA scouting process is extensive, detailed, and coordinated.

NBA scouts must make numerous efforts to ensure that their respective organization is fully aware of the player's personal history, athletic strengths/weaknesses, and potential to add/detract success to and from the organization.

The NCAA condenses future talents into a single 25-game league, allowing scouts to watch the best of the best compete and play under one roof multiple times a year. It is especially true during March Madness. It eliminates most of the guessing for scouts and boosts their confidence in prospects.

Scouts no longer need to go across the country to seek a single player. Instead, they have ready access to practically all available elite talent. During the college basketball season, scouts will study players they like and note their skills and flaws to get a sense of who would fit well with the present group.

When a club notices a player they are interested in, they will take note of their visible physical and athletic characteristics. They can see the player's height, weight, strength, speed, vertical, and other factors. Most of the time, this has little to no impact on the team's future decisions. After all, it doesn't matter if you're 6'2 if you can play basketball well, as scouts witnessed during the NCAA season.

Finally, if a team is still interested in the player, they will request that 'he or she' work out in front of coaches, staff, and possibly higher-ranking members of the organization. Workouts may vary but include dribbling, shooting, and passing to ensure a robust skill set.

The scouts, head coach, or general manager may also sit down with the prospect at this time to ask them about their past, basketball games, professional expectations, and so on. It is to ensure everyone is on the same page and that drafting the player is in both sides' best interests.

If everything goes as planned, the athlete will receive a call from their respective organization just before their name is called on draft night.