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The National Basketball Association (NBA) has finally taken a call on the “transition take foul” rule and has completed the process of changing it. The board has approved a plan to award one free throw when teams are disadvantaged by the take foul. The board made the decision after a meeting on Tuesday. It also said that the play-in tournament is going to be around for the foreseeable future.
The Board of Governors approved that a heightened penalty will be imposed when a defensive player commits a “transition take foul”. The change in the rules now means that the offensive team will be awarded one free throw, which may be attempted by any player on the offensive team in the game at the time that the foul is committed.
Moreover, the offensive team will retain possession of the ball. The defensive player who commits the take foul will be assessed a common personal foul. Previously, the penalty for a take foul was a common personal foul on the offending player and (assuming the foul did not trigger or exceed the free throw "bonus" in a quarter) a side out for the offensive team.
Play-in tournament to stick around
With the Play-in tournament bringing enough success, the Board of Governors agreed to keep it on a permanent basis. The play-in tournament has been used in each of the last two seasons, where the teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th in the East and West face each other to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference.
The No. 7 team plays the No. 8 team, with the winner clinching the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The No. 9 team plays the No. 10 team, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to face the team that lost the 7-8 game. The winner of that matchup is the No. 8 seed. Notably, the Play-in Tournament for the 2022-23 season will take place from 11-14 April 2023, between the last day of the regular season on April 9 and the start of the playoffs on April 15.