NBA G League Experimenting With Strange New Free Throw Rule in 2019-20

With basketball going full-force towards a run-and-gun style, the NBA is doing all they can in order to shorten the length of games while maximizing the action within them.

With that in mind, ESPN's Zach Lowe reports that the NBA's developmental circuit, the G League, will experiment with a new "single free throw rule" this season that would be worth one, two or three points depending on the scenario in which the foul was drawn.

For example, if a player is fouled while shooting a three-point attempt and misses the shot, the shooter would attempt one free throw worth three points rather than taking three individual shots. However, traditional free throw rules will still apply in the last two minutes of each game.

Odd.

The new rule is reportedly supposed to decrease G League game times by six to eight minutes, which could be a huge factor in getting a typical broadcast within two hours in length. We get that games can be drawn out a bit too much with replay review and intentional fouling, but this is getting out of hand, isn't it?

Even though this is far, far from a lock to make the NBA rulebook one day, imagine a scenario in which Stephen Curry or James Harden -- both lethal marksmen from three and the foul line -- get hacked while shooting from behind the arc... but they only have to make a single free throw as opposed to a trio in order to get those three points? That's quite possibly a recipe for setting all-time records for efficiency from the line.

The idea is both ludicrous and absurd, and while we're all for pushing the boundaries of a new NBA, the rule-makers have to step back and leave certain aspects of the game alone.