<P> In the past, high school players were also eligible to be selected . However, starting in the 2006 draft, high school players were not eligible to enter the draft directly after graduating from high school . The rules now state that high school players will gain eligibility for draft selection one year after their high school graduation, and they must also be at least 19 years old as of the end of the calendar year of the draft . Some players have chosen to use that year to play professionally overseas for example, such as Brandon Jennings (Italy), Emmanuel Mudiay (China), and Terrance Ferguson (Australia). Thon Maker was eligible for the 2016 draft despite not going to college because he chose to undertake a postgraduate year, so he was technically one year removed from graduation . </P> <P> Some players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft, and a player who completed basketball eligibility at an American high school must also be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class . Restrictions exist on players signing with sports agents and on declaring for, then withdrawing, from drafts--although most of them are enforced by the NCAA rather than the NBA . There had been only 44 draftees from high school to college to play in the NBA throughout this process . Any players who are not an "international player", must be at least one year out of the graduation of his high school class in order for them to qualify for the upcoming draft . Not many high school players went directly to the NBA draft for almost 20 years after Darryl Dawkins in 1975 because of the exposure of the college games . </P> <P> In the early years of the draft, teams would select players until they ran out of prospects . The 1960 and 1968 drafts went 21 rounds . By 1974, it had stabilized to 10 rounds, which held up until 1985, when the draft was shortened to seven rounds . By agreement with the National Basketball Players Association, the drafts from 1989 onward have been limited to two rounds, which gives undrafted players the chance to try out for any team . </P> <P> From 2009 through 2015, the college underclassmen had until the day before the April signing period to withdraw their name from the draft and retain NCAA eligibility . Beginning in 2016, players could enter the draft and participate in the NBA Draft Combine multiple times and retain NCAA eligibility by withdrawing from the draft within 10 days after the end of the mid-May NBA draft combine . </P>

Why is there only 2 rounds in the nba draft