Thon Maker reportedly ruled eligible for 2016 NBA Draft
Thon Maker recently announced his intention to declare for the 2016 NBA Draft, but his was a unique situation that would require the league to take a closer look to see if he would be eligible.
B/R Exclusive: 5-Star @ThonMaker14 will apply to enter the NBA draft; NBA must determine eligibilityhttps://t.co/431FiCTnzW
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 4, 2016
At 19 years old, Maker meets the NBA's minimum age requirement. The question surrounded whether or not an NBA season had elapsed since his graduation from high school, which reportedly took place in Canada in 2015. The league has decided that everything is in order, and that Maker is eligible to be drafted this summer, according to multiple reports.
Once the age limit was put into place, it prevented players from jumping straight to the NBA from high school like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant did all those years ago. Maker meets the new requirements, but he'll technically be the first player to go straight to the NBA out of high school since 2005.
That doesn't mean, however, that he's anything close to a lock to be selected in the first round.
After gathering extensive feedback from NBA decision makers in Portland, Maker debuts in 2nd round in our 2016 mock: https://t.co/UqObdacCIy
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 14, 2016
There will be plenty of workouts scheduled for Maker to make his case that he should be a first round pick, which is important because the contracts of second round picks are not guaranteed. And realistically, it only takes one GM to believe that Maker has enough upside to one day be an impact player in the league to take a chance on the 7-foot-1 prospect.
