On April 27, the NBA announced its list of early entrants for June’s 2026 draft. Only that list was much smaller than in years past. 

The total number announced in April sat at 71 players. That’s 33% lower than the 106 who filed last year — and nearly 80% lower than the all-time high of 353, set just five years ago in 2021. 

The figure is so low that you have to go back to 2012 to find a year with fewer early entrants. In 2012, the NBA announced a list of 66 players. Since then, it never dipped below 75. 

Until this year. 

The drop is hardly unexplained. In July 2021, the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era began, which allowed college players to earn money in amounts previously impossible. 

Since then, the number of entrants into the NBA draft has steadily dwindled — every year since 2021 has seen the early entry list drop by at least 14%.  

It’s also worth noting that a 2016 rule change by the NCAA allowed players to sign up for the draft, and then later withdraw and keep college eligibility. After that change, the number of early entrants rose sharply in the next five years to the 2021 figure of 353 players. 

However, the NIL era has meant that some players can earn more by staying in school than they might as a late draft pick, two-way player or undrafted pro.  

“For a lot of these players, it’s more money than they could make. Way more money than making a G League roster,” Brian Meehan, an economics professor at Berry College with a research interest in the economics behind NIL’s effects on draft prospects, told USA TODAY Sports. “Even if they’re on a two-way contract, staying in school and playing for a team with lots of collective money is more lucrative.” 

A paper which Meehan co-authored, published in 2025 in the Journal of Sports Economics, found that 81% of draft-eligible prospects in The Athletic’s top 100 prospects list entered the draft in 2021, the final year before NIL deals took shape. By 2022, right after the start of the NIL era, the share dropped to 52%.  

“If you forgo the eligibility and you go into the NBA draft and you’re undrafted, you don’t make a roster, or you’re a late second-round pick, and you don’t have a guaranteed contract. That’s a risky place to be for a person who maybe just completed a first or second year in a college program,” Meehan added. 

The 2026 NBA draft will be held on June 23 and 24 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. If a player wants to retain their college eligibility, they’ll need to withdraw from the draft by May 27. 

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Methodology note: Yearly early-entry list data based on figures released annually by the NBA.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chart: NBA draft early-entry list has shrunk in NIL era