The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been trying to find ways to expedite the game and its latest innovation will have a test run at the upcoming Summer League.
The NBA announced on Thursday that the ‘one free throw’ rule will be used at the Summer League, which is set to kick off this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.
Reports say the regulation means that any foul that would typically result in the awarding of one, two or three free throws will instead result in a single free-throw attempt.
That attempt will be worth the same total number of points as the free throws it replaces.
The G League has implemented this rule since the 2019-20 season.
However, the NBA noted the regulation will not apply for the last two minutes of fourth quarters and in all of overtime as standard free-throw rules – two shots for a two-shot foul and so on – will be utilised.
No decision on regular-season games
It is not yet clear if the rule could eventually be used in regular-season NBA games, although previous tweaks, including coaches’ challenges, have been tested in the G League and Summer League before they were widely adopted.
Summer League play, in which all 30 teams field rosters of rookies, second-year players and G League prospects, will take place from July 3 to 19.
The California Classic Summer League runs from Friday through Monday in San Francisco and Sacramento with seven teams taking part.
Four teams will take part in the Salt Lake City Summer League on Saturday through Tuesday, and all 30 teams will field teams in the Las Vegas Summer League between July 9 and 19.
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League to test ‘connected’ ball
This year’s contests will also use a ‘connected basketball’ with an embedded sensor.
The league said the ball will provide data to support future officiating applications such as last-touch out-of-bounds calls.
It is not noticeable and does not change the way the ball feels or plays, and the weight difference is minute at best.
The NBA Draft’s top two picks – AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson – are scheduled to play against each other in the Summer League when the Washington Wizards take on Utah Jazz on July 9.
The Wizards selected BYU’s Dybantsa as top pick while the Jazz took Kansas’ Peterson a pick later.
Summer League play begins on Friday with the start of the California Classic, which will be hosted by the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.
Golden State, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers will play in San Francisco, while a second Golden State team, Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks will play in Sacramento.
The Salt Lake City Summer League features Utah, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder, with third-overall pick Cameron Boozer on the Grizzlies roster.
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