The National Basketball Association and its players' union have agreed a new six-year collective bargaining contract, which features provisions favorable to both management and the players. As part of the new agreement, players will no longer be able to jump from high school into the pros, and must be 19 to be eligible for the NBA draft. The salary cap has been increased, maxiumum contract lengths will be reduced, and a bevy of other changes have been made to the current agreement, which expires June 30. Many feared that the two sides were headed for a second straight lockout, which has now been averted.
See "NBA Reaches New Six - Year Labor Agreement", Associated Press, The New York Times, June 21, 2005