Summer League games might end a few minutes earlier than usual this year.
The NBA announced Thursday that the “one free throw rule” will be used at the summer leagues happening this month in Salt Lake City, Northern California and Las Vegas.
The rule — designed to speed up play — means 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 used this rule since 2019-20.
The rule doesn't apply to the entire game. Standard free-throw rules — two shots for a two-shot foul, etc. — will be utilized for the last two minutes of fourth quarters and in all of overtime.
It's unclear if the one-free-throw rule will make it into NBA games, but Summer League has been a proving ground for eventual rule changes.
The G League and Summer League have been used many times in recent years as testing labs for the league before bringing rule changes or amended policies into NBA games. Among those that started at those levels and eventually got to the NBA: the coaches’ challenge, resetting the 24-second shot clock to 14 seconds in offensive rebound situations and the one-shot award for a transition take foul — which is when a defender intentionally commits a foul to halt a transition opportunity for the opposition.
Summer League play begins Friday with the start of the California Classic, which will be hosted by the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings — with games in San Francisco and Sacramento through Monday. Golden State, Miami, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers will play in San Francisco; a second Golden State team, plus Sacramento, Brooklyn and Milwaukee will play in Sacramento.
The Salt Lake City Summer League — featuring Utah, Atlanta, Memphis and Oklahoma City — will have games on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. No. 2 drafy pick Darryn Peterson of the Jazz and No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer of Memphis are on the rosters for that event.
And the official NBA Summer League, with all 30 teams playing at least five games, runs from July 9 through July 19 in Las Vegas. No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa is scheduled to make his summer debut on July 9 when Washington takes on Utah — setting up a possible No. 1 vs. No. 2 pick matchup if Peterson plays in that game.
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